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HISTORY  OK  THE 
ARCHDIOCESE  OK  ST.  LOUIS 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://www.archive.org/details/historyofarchdio01roth 


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Archbi&hop  ol 


.nt   Louis. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ARCHDIOCESE 
OF  ST.  LOUIS 

In  its  Various  Stages  of  Development 
from  4.  D.  1673  to  A.  D.  1928 


by 


REV.  JOHN  ROTHENSTEINER 

Archivist  of  the  Catholic  Historical  Society 
of  St.  Louis 


VOLUME  I 


Containing  Parts  One  and  Two 


ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 
1928 


NIHIL  OBSTAT 

H.  HUSSMANN 

Censor  librorum.  Deputatus 
Sti.  Ludovici,  die  23.  Novembris  1928. 


IMPRIMATUR 

►J-  JOANNES  J.  GLENNON 

Archiepiscopus 
Sti.  Ludovici,  die  24.  Novembris  1928. 


Copyright  192H 
Rev.  John  Rothensteiner 


Phess  of 

BLACKWELL  WIELANDY  CO. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  U.  S.  A. 


To  His  Grace 


THE  MOST  REVEREND 
JOHN  JOSEPH  GLENNON,  D.  D. 

Archbishop  of  St.  Louis 
In  Memory  of  the 

TWENTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY 

OF  HIS  SUCCESSION 
to  the 

ARCHDIOCESE  OF  ST.  LOUIS 

OCTORER  13,  1903 

The  Author 


Mr.  Edward  Brown 


Rev.  Gilbert  J.Garrcfdhan  S.J. 


COMMITTEE   ON   PUBLICATIONS 


PREFACE 

Lovers  and  students  of  the  past  have  frequently  remarked  with 
feelings  of  profound  surprise  and  regret,  that  the  great  Archdiocese 
of  St.  Louis  has  no  written  history  worthy  of  the  name.  The  nearest 
approach  to  such  a  desideratum  is  found  in  the  various  chapters  on 
Xew  Orleans  and  St.  Louis  in  John  Gilmary  Shea's  History  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States.  But  these  chapters,  being  part 
of  an  extensive  whole,  and  consequently  restricted  in  scope,  cannot  fill 
the  demand  for  a  detailed  history  of  the  diocese. 

It  was  long  known  that  the  Church  in  these  parts  has  a  history 
and  a  most  interesting  one,  a  history  of  heroic  endeavor  and  sacrifice, 
of  beautiful  and  saintly  lives,  a  history  of  failures  mingled  with  the 
successes,  of  temporary  reverses  and  final  -triumph.  For  so  glorious 
a  present,  as  the  Archdiocese  offers  today,  with  its  noble  Cathedral, 
its  Seminary,  its  hundreds  of  Churches  and  Schools,  its  great  University, 
its  Colleges  and  Academies,  its  Hospitals,  Orphanages,  and  other  In- 
stitutions of  Religion  and  Charity,  and  lastly  its  devoted  army  of 
priests  and  religious,  presupposes  a  great  and  ever  memorable  past. 
For  if  the  Catholic  Church  today  lives  and  labors  among  us  with  all 
the  youthful  courage  and  hope,  and  with  all  the  superior  wisdom  of 
age,  she  most  assuredly  owes  it  largely,  under  God,  to  her  humble, 
loving  and  heroic  founders,  the  bishops  and  priests  of  her  early  dawn. 
To  recall  to  the  memory  of  the  present  generation,  and  to  transmit 
to  future  ages  the  record  of  the  deeds  and  sufferings  and  sacrifices  of 
these  pioneers  of  the  Church  in  the  heart  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  is 
the  purpose  of  these  volumes. 

The  main  credit  for  this  undertaking  belongs  to  His  Grace,  the 
present  Archbishop  of  St.  Louis,  the  Founder  and  chief  Patron  of  the 
Catholic  Historical  Society  of  St.  Louis.  This  Society  was  organized 
in  1917,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  and  preserving  materials  of 
all  kind,  "relating  to  the  Catholic  history  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis 
and  of  whatever  territories  and  places  that  were,  at  any  time,  associ- 
ated with  St.  Louis  in  the  same  Ecclesiastical  division,  and  of  institu- 
ting, carrying  on  and  fostering  historical  research  on  subjects  per- 
taining to  the  field  of  inquiry  above  described,  and  disseminate  such 
information." 

In  December,  1918,  the  first  number  of  a  quarterly  publication 
was  issued  by  the  Society  under  the  editorship  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles 
L.  Souvay,  CM.  D.D.    Dr.  Souvay's  associates  in  the  so-called  Committee 

(v) 


vi  Preface 

on  Publication  were  the  Rev.  Fathers:  F.  G.  Holweck,  Gilbert  J.  Gar- 
raghan,  S.J.,  John  Rothensteiner,  and  .Mi'.  Edward  Brown.  The  five 
members  of  this  Committee  worked  together  in  perfect  harmony  and 
mutual    helpfulness.      A    number   of   informal    meetings   were    held    in 

which  cadi  < 's  newly-gained   information   was  communicated  to  all. 

At  stated  times  historical  papers  were  read  and  discussed,  rousing 
fresh  interest   in  other  members  of  the  Society  and  even  beyond. 

Much  useful  and  interesting-  material  was  found  hidden  away, 
like  the  golden  nuggets  in  the  quartz,  in  a  mass  of  histories,  biographies, 
books  of  travel,  historical  articles  and  occasional  notes  in  Reviews  and 
Magazines.  Sometimes  very  pleasant  surprises  were  met  with  in  most 
unpromising  places. 

The  richest  source,  however,  of  our  diocesan  history  Avas  found  in 
the  Archives  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  and  of  the  St.  Louis  University, 
and  the  Archives  of  Notre  Dame.  These  manuscript  sources  super- 
seded, to  a  great  extent,  the  printed  materials,  offering  an  unprecedented 
mass  of  new  facts  and  interpretations  of  old  ones,  vouched  for  by 
the  very  actors  and  eyewitnesses  of  what  transpired. 

For  the  earlier  part  of  our  history  we  found  great  help  in  the 
various  volumes  of  the  so-called  Jesuit  Relations,  and  of  the  Virginia 
and  British  Series  of  the  Illinois  Historical  Collections.  The  annual 
publications  of  the  Leopoldine  Association  of  the  Austrian  Empire,  and 
the  A  u  miles  ill  lii  propagation  <l<  In  Foi  of  Lyons,  have  also  been 
put  under  contribution,  and  have  yielded  generous  spoils,  whilst  pri- 
vate individuals  and  religious  communities  were  equally  generous,  if 
not  equally  rich  in  their  offerings.  From  many  sources,  therefore,  came 
together  the  almost  innumerable  data  that  were  to  form  the  body  of 
this  History  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis. 

For  a  history  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  in  its  fullest  extent,  was  in 
contemplation  from  the  start.  The  five  volumes  of  the  St.  Louis  Catholic 
Historical  Review,  the  numerous  articles  published  by  members  of  the 
"Committee  on  Publication"  in  the  Catholic  Historical  Review,  of 
Washington  D.  C,  the  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,  of  Chicago 
and  in  the  Watchman  and  Church  Progress  of  St.  Louis,  as  well  as 
in  the  German  Pastoral-Blatt,  and  the  Central-Blatt  and  Social  Justice, 
also  of  St.  Louis,  were  but  preparatory  steps  towards  the  much-desired 
achievement. 

For  a  time  it  was  considered  advisable  that  the  immense  material 
be  divided  into  four  or  five  grand  divisions,  and  that  each  member  be 
intrusted  with  the  work  of  sorting,  and  arranging  one  of  them  and 
presenting  it  in  literary  form.  The  consequent  difference  of  style, 
and,  perhaps,  also  of  the  historical  point  of  view,  in  the  various  divisions 
of  the  work,  however,  was  found  objectionable.     One  man  must  write 


Preface  vii 

the  history,  to  secure  unity  of  arrangement  and  a  proper  perspective 
of  events. 

According  to  the  judgment  of  all,  the  Editor-in-chief  of  the 
Review,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  L.  Souvay,  CM.  was  the  man  to  give  us 
the  classical  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis.  He  possessed, 
in  an  eminent  degree,  the  penetrating  mind  and  retentive  memory,  as 
well  as  the  critical  faculty  and  the  graces  of  style,  requisite  in  a  true 
historian.  But  alas,  Dr.  Souvay  was  already  overburdened  with  priestly, 
professional  and  literary  work,  and  felt  obliged  to  decline,  whilst 
promising  every  aid  to  the  one  that  should  undertake  the  task.  Next 
to  Dr.  Souvay,  and  equal  to  him  in  many  particulars,  was  the  Rev. 
Gilbert  J.  Garraghan,  S.J.  of  St.  Louis  University.  His  beautiful 
books  on  Chicago,  Kansas  City,  and  St.  Ferdinand  de  Florissant,  and 
his  articles  of  ripe  scholarship  in  the  Historical  Reviews,  seemed  to 
point  to  Father  Garraghan  as  the  coming  historian  of  the  Archdiocese 
of  St.  Louis.  But  this  hope,  also,  was  destined  to  be  nipped  in  the 
bud.  Father  Garraghan  was  commissioned  by  his  Superiors  to  write 
the  History  of  the  Missouri  Province  of  the  Societ}^  of  Jesus,  a  work 
of  tremendous  proportions.  Father  Frederick  G.  Holweck  was  a  man 
of  many  gifts  and  graces,  a  facile  writer,  possessed  of  a  most  remarkable 
store  of  information  on  almost  every  possible  subject,  and  the  gift  of 
putting  it  into  vivid,  and  often  picturesque,  form.  His  English  was 
not  always  pure  and  idiomatic,  but  some  mere  stylist  could  have  easily 
remedied  these  defects.  Yet,  a  strange  fatality  seemed  to  stand  in 
our  way :  Father  Holweck  was  busily  engaged  with  the  composition 
of  his  two  great  works :  Biographical  Dictionary  of  Saints  and  the 
Calendarhtm  Liturgicum  Festorum  Dei  et  Dei  Matris.  As  a  possible 
writer  of  the  proposed  Diocesan  History,  Father  Holweck  declared  he 
was  out  of  question.  Mr.  Edward  Brown,  though  a  writer  of  ability, 
served  on  our  Committee  as  business  manager  and  literary  adviser, 
rather  than  as  a  practicing  historian.  The  Committee  had  by  May 
1925,  arrived  at  a  choice,  by  way  of  elimination ;  the  present  writer  was 
the  only  eligible  member  left.  Either  he  must  undertake  the  great  and 
laborious  work,  or  the  whole  undertaking  must  fail.  There  was  no 
escape  for  me.  I  had  no  large  literary  work  in  view.  I  had  parish 
work  to  do,  a  parochial  school  to  manage  and  a  new  school-building  to 
erect,  and  to  raise  the  money  for  it.  But  other  priests  also  had  these 
things  to  do.  I  was  approaching  my  sixty-sixth  year,  and  my  health 
was  impaired  though  not  yet  broken.  At  last  I  yielded  gracefully, 
as  I  thought,  and  promised  to  do  my  best:  the  Archbishop  gave  his 
approval  and  the  assurance  of  his  support.  My  friends  of  the  Com- 
mittee felt  relieved  and  delighted.  I  might  command  whatever  they 
had.  There  was  to  be  no  question  as  to  mine  and  thine  between  us. 
The   History    of   the    Archdiocese   was   their    sole    object;    as    members 


viii  Preface 

of   the    Committee    on    Publication    they    would    do    all    they    could    to 
further  the  project. 

The  time  when  I  received  this  urgent  invitation  from  the  Catholic 
Historical  Society  of  St.  Louis,  I  had  but  a  faint  idea  of  what  was  before 
me.  I  had,  indeed,  for  a  number  of  years,  done  research  work  in 
the  history  of  the  earliest  period  of  Catholic  endeavor  in  the  Miss- 
issippi Valley.  I  had  published  a  number  of  historical  sketches  and 
articles  and  Chronicles  of  my  former  Parish  of  St.  Michaels,  Frederick- 
town.  But  to  attempt  a  work  of  such  vast  proportions,  and  requiring 
such  diversified  knowledge,  as  a  history  of  the  earliest  and  most  com- 
prehensive diocese  of  the  West,  had  never  entered  my  mind. 

Three  full  years  have  passed  since  that  day:  many  hundreds  of 
days  and  nights  of  study  and  search  and  toil :  a  few  months  of  serious 
illness  intervened,  during  which  the  pen  dropped  from  my  hands.  A 
tornado  smashed  almost  every  window7  in  my  Church.  But  the  thought, 
now  or  never,  animated  the  drooping  spirit,  and  here,  at  last,  is  the 
work   I  was  asked  and  almost  forced  to  compose. 

To  the  Most  Reverend  Archbishop  of  St.  Louis,  to  Msgr.  John  J. 
Tannrath,  Chancellor  of  the  Archdiocese,  to  the  members  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Publication,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  L.  Souvay,  CM.,  Father 
Gilbert  J.  Garraghan,  S.J.,  the  lamented  Monsignor  F.  G.  Holweck. 
and  Mr.  Edward  Brown,  I  am  so  deeply  indebted  that  I  can  truly  say: 
what  is  good  in  the  work  is  largely  theirs;  only  the  faults  and  short- 
comings are  altogether  mine.  Yet  I  have  labored  hard  to  marshal  the 
thousand  and  ten  thousand  events  and  incidents,  facts  and  dates,  into 
an  intelligible  whole:  The  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis. 
May  it  preserve  the  memory  of  those  that  have  gone  before,  the  heroic 
souls,  as  well  as  the  lesser  kind;  and  may  it  inspire  the  clergy  and 
the  people  of  today  and  the  coming  years  with  a  strong  resolve  to  do 
all  they  can  to  speed  the  day  when  the  wandering  sheep  shall  hear 
the  Savior's  voice,  and  there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one  Shepherd. 

Feast  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  1928. 

JOHN  ROTHENSTEINER. 

The  Author's  grateful  acknowledgements  are  due,  and  herewith 
expressed  to  the  following  contributors  of  valuable  materials  towards 
this  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis-. 

To  the  Burrows  Brothers  Company  for  courteous  permission  to 
make  copious  extracts  from  their  superb  edition  of  the  Jesuit 
Relations  by  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites. 

To  the   Illinois   State    Historical   Library    of    Springfield,    Illinois. 

To  the  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Societv  of  Chicago. 


Preface  ix 

To  His  Grace,  Most  Rev.  John  J.  Glennon,  D.I),  the  Archbishop  of 

St.  Louis. 

To  Msgr.  John  J.  Tannrath,  Chancellor  of  the  Archdiocese  of 
St.  Louis. 

To  Father  Regnet,  the  Librarian  of  the  St.  Louis  University, 
St.   Louis,  Mo. 

To  the  Jesuit  Fathers  Gilbert  J.  Garraghan,  S.J.,  Lawrence  J. 
Kenny,  S.J..  and  Charles  II.  Metzger,  S.J. 

To  the  Lazarisl  Fathers  Charles  L.  Souvay.  CM.,  D.D.,  and 
Martin  J.  O'Malley,  CM. 

To  The  Franciscan  Fathers  of  Washington,  Missouri  and  P.  Francis 
B.  Steck,  O.F.M.  Ph.D.,  of  Quincy,  Illinois. 

To  the  Rt.  Rev.  and  Rev.  Fathers  Msgr.,  Frederick  G.  Holweck, 
D.D.,  Ciarles  Van  Tomenhout,  P.R.,    and  AVilliam  Walsh. 

To  Rev.  George  Haukap. 

To  Mr.  John  II.  Geerling  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

To  Mrs.  Ida  Schaaf  of  St.  Mary's,  Missouri. 

To  Miss  Constance  Smith  of  St.  Louis  and  Mrs.  Nettie  II.  Beaure- 
gard, Archivist;  Miss  Stella  M.  Drumm,  Librarian  of  the 
Missouri  Historical  Society  and  Mr.  William  C.  Breckenridge 
now  deceased. 

To  Rev.  Henry  Hussmann  and  Mr.  Edward  Brown,  and  Miss  Mary 
Constance  Smith  for  the  great  help  in  reading  the  proofs  with 
me,  compiling  the  index  and  other  favors ;  and  finally  the  many 
friends  and  well-wishers  who  filled  out  to  the  best  of  their 
ability,  the  questionnaire  I  sent  them  three  years  ago.  May  the 
good  God  reward  all  their  kindness  and  good  will. 

In  conclusion  the  Author  would  bless  the  memory  of  a  former 
Chancellor,  the  Very  Rev.  Henry  Van  der  Sanden,  for  the  great 
solicitude  with  which  he  helped  to  gather,  and  preserve  from  waste 
so  many  of  the  precious  memorials  of  our  historic  past. 

Our  heartfelt  thanks  to  all. 


INTRODUCTION 

History  is  the  deliniation  of  a  chosen  period  of  human  events  in 
their  natural  sequence.  Absolute  devotion  to  truth  is  its  very  soul. 
Facts,  not  theories,  are  its  necessary  material.  Fullness  and  exactitude 
of  detail  is,  therefore,  its  first  law.  Opinions  and  guesses  have  no  place 
in  history :  The  statement  of  facts  must  rest  on  documentary  evidence. 
The  very  words  of  the  document  are,  as  a  rule,  to  be  preferred,  yet 
they  should  be  used  in  the  briefest  possible  form,  so  as  not  to  interrupt 
the  flow  of  the  narrative.  Where  the  line  of  demarcation  lies  between 
the  two  advantages  sought,  is  not  always  easy  to  determine.  In  a  work 
like  this  history,  doing  pioneer  service  in  a  wide  field,  the  ipsissima 
verba  of  the  actors  themselves  carry  greater  weight  than  the  words  of 
the  historian  merely  giving  the  sense.  Yet,  a  sequence  of  documents, 
no  matter  how  important  or  interesting  it  be,  is  not  history,  but  only 
a  collection  of  material.  To  find  the  causal  nexus  between  the  isolated 
facts  is  the  chief  business  of  the  historian.  It  is  the  "largeness  of 
tii-asp,"  as  Lord  Roseberry  called  it,  the  orderly  and  vivifying  group- 
ing of  the  historical  data  into  a  true  and  intelligible  presentation  of 
the  period  under  consideration,  that  mai'ks  the  true  historian.  The 
imagination  also  has  an  important  part  in  the  writing  of  history.  It 
bodies  forth  the  images  of  men  and  scenes  of  the  past  and  makes 
them  live  and  move  once  more.  But  it  must  always  follow  the  control 
of  reason  as  reflected  from  the  well-ascertained  facts. 

There  is  however,  one  great  fact,  easily  ascertainable  by  historical 
methods,  yet  often  ignored  by  so-called  historians,  the  presence  of  God 
among  men  and  His  influence  upon  the  course  of  events. 

All  history  is  the  record  of  the  world-wide  battle  between  the 
spirit  of  light  and  the  spirit  of  darkness,  between  the  principle  of 
good  and  the  power  of  evil.  For  some  mysterious  reason  God 
permits  the  machinations  of  his  enemies  and  their  seeming  triumph. 
"But  God  still  rules  the  world,"  as  William  Von  Humboldt  says,  "and 
it  is  the  purpose  of  history  to  discover  these  eternal  mysterious  decrees." 
If  this  be  true  in  regard  to  all  history,  it  is  certainly  most  clearly 
manifested  in  the  history  of  the  Church  of  God.  Evil-minded  or 
ignorant  men  attempt  to  destroy  or,  at  least,  to  hamper  her  in  her 
benign  efforts :  for  a  time  they  seem  to  succeed,  but  in  the  end  they 
have  to  confess,  even  againsl  their  will,  with  the  Apostate  Julian : 
"Thou  hast  conquered,  <>  Galilean!" 

The  restless  greed  for  gold  and  peltry  opened  the  roads  for  the 
missionaries    in    their   unselfish    quest    of    souls.      The    horrors    of    the 

(xi) 


xii  Introduction 

French  revolution  drew  multitudes  of  cultured  and  deeply  religious 
men  into  the  wilderness  of  Louisiana  to  become  the  founders,  not 
only  of  eilies,  but  of  dioceses  and  religious  institutions,  in  fact  of 
a  mighty  province  of  God's  Kingdom.  The  terrible  famine  in  Ireland, 
and  the  religious,  and  political  disturbances  in  Europe  broughl  millions 
of  intelligenl  and  able  bodied  men  and  women  to  the  prairies  and  fruit- 
ful valleys  of  Illinois,  Missouri,  Iowa  and  Arkansas,  as  the  lirst  claim- 
ants of  the  virgin  soil;  and  the  over-weening  pride  of  the  instigators 
of  the  socalled  Kultur-Kampf  in  the  newly  founded  Empire  of  Germany 
compelled  thousands  of  noble  priests  and  religious  to  seek  a  new  field 
of  labor  in  a  foreign  land,  which  was  to  become  dearer  to  them  than  the 
land  of  their  birth.  Misguided  men  in  their  pride  of  heart,  and  the 
destroying  elements  in  league  with  them,  rose  in  anger  against  God's 
mysterious  purposes:  but  one  by  one  they  Tailed,  and  left  us  but 
another  proof  of  God's  interposition  in  the  affairs  of  men,  "reaching 
from  v\u\  to  end  mightily  and  disposing  all  things  sweetly."' 

Whilst  then  we  endeavor  to  recognize  the  guiding  hand  of  Divine 
Providence  in  all  the  changes  of  history,  we  are  not  disconcerted  by 
the  discovery  of  evil  within  tlie  pale,  nay  in  the  very  sanctuary  of 
Cod's  Church.  A  history  must  above  all  things  be  true;  and  as  a 
non-Catholic  historian  justly  says,  "glozing  of  faults  and  apologizing 
for  wrong  deeds  is  not  the  part  of  an  honest  friend  or  of  an  honest 
man.  The  Church  can  afford  to  have  the  truth  told  even  about  herself." 
The  sanctity  of  the  Church  remains  untouched  even  by  the  failings 
and  misdeeds  of  her  children.  Yet  the  Savior  tells  us:  "By  their 
fruits  you  shall  know  them."  The  Church  has  produced  wonderful 
fruits  in  the  wide  fields  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  Not  only  fruits 
of  everlasting  life  in  the  inward  beauty  and  holiness  of  countless  souls, 
but  also  in  the  outward  works,  the  cultural  values  of  education,  civic 
virtue  and  the  arts,  especially  of  architecture,  scultpure  and  painting. 
It  will  be  the  historian's  most  pleasant  task  to  trace  the  influences  of 
the  Church  upon  the  Communities  in  which  she  has  lived  and  labored 
for  up  wards  of  250  years. 

I  say  250  years,  although  it  is  Avell  known  that  the  Diocese  of 
St.  Louis  bears  only  one  hundred  years  in  its  crown  of  glory.  Yet 
the  period  of  one  and  one-half  century  intervening  between  the 
foundation  of  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  Kaskaskia 
and  the  erection  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  -with  Joseph  Rosati  as 
,ts  first  bishop,  was  but  a  time  of  preparation  for  the  coming  greatness 
and  power  of  St.  Louis;  and  Kaskaslria  itself,  with  its  idyllic  days 
and  ways,  appears  as  the  Alba  Longa  of  the  future  Rome  of  the 
West.  In  the  first  chapter  of  his  History  of  Rome,  Livy  speaks  of 
things  that  have  happened  "before  the  building  of  the  City,  or  be- 
fore   its    building   was   contemplated,"    of    the    foundation    of    Lavmium 


Introduction  xiii 

by  Aeueas,  and  of  the  foundation  of  the  town  of  Alba  Longa  by  his 
son  Ascanius.  Then  he  shows  how  the  overflow  population  of  these 
two  places  was  diverted  to  the  new  city  on  the  Tiber,  compared  with 
which  both  Alba  Longa  and  Lavinium  should  appear  insignificant. 
' '  Supererat  multitudo  Albanorum  Latinorumque ;  qui  omnes  facile 
spem  facerent  parvam  Albani,  parvum  Lavinium  prae  ea  urbe,  quae 
conderetur,  fore."  Whilst  then,  in  point  of  time,  our  narrative  will 
have  to  concern  itself  with  the  missionary  efforts  of  the  Jesuits,  the 
Priests  of  the  Foreign  Missions,  and  the  early  Kecollets,  as  a  distinct 
part  of  the  history  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis,  it  will,  in  point  of 
territorial  extension,  find  itself  taking  in  its  purvue  certain  places  and 
churches  no  longer  associated  with  the  present  Archdiocese. 

When  the  almost  boundless  Diocese  of  Louisiana,  as  it  existed 
under  Bishops  Peiialver  and  Du  Bourg  was  divided  in  1826,  and  the 
city  of  St.  Louis  became  an  episcopal  see  under  Bishop  Joseph  Rosati, 
the  dividing  line  as  against  New  Orleans  was  the  southern  border 
of  Arkansas.  The  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  comprised  all  of  Arkansas, 
Missouri  and  Iowa  and  the  Indian  Territory  as  far  as  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  even  beyond.  The  western  half  of  Illinois  also  came 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop  of  St.  Louis,  at  first  by  delegation 
from  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  Flaget,  and  eventually,  by  a  Papal 
Decree.  Even  Chicago  was  for  a  time  under  the  episcopal  care  of 
Bishop  Rosati  who,  at  the  request  of  Bishop  Brute  of  Vincennes,  sent 
Father  Irenaeus  Saint  Cyr,  across  the  prairies  of  Illinois  to  build  and 
administer  the  first  church  in  the  future  Great  City  of  the  Northwest. 

In  tracing  the  development  of  religious  life  in  the  Diocese  of  St. 
Louis  it  will,  therefore,  be  necessary  to  take  regard  to  the  widely 
scattered  missions  of  Bishop  Rosati 's  Diocese,  that  have  now  become 
the  twenty  or  more  Archdioceses  and  dioceses  of  the  States  of  Illinois. 
Wisconsin,  Missouri.  Arkansas,  Oklahoma,  Kansas,  Iowa,  Nebraska, 
Minnesota  and  beyond.  New  Orleans,  however,  must  be  left  out  of  the 
count,  because  its  territory  was  never  under  the  rule  of  St.  Louis. 

Bishop  Du  Bourg,  whilst  residing  in  St.  Louis  for  a  time,  and 
occasionally  signing  himself  "Bishop  of  St.  Louis,"  really  held  the 
title  of  "Bishop  of  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas,"  with  New  Orleans 
as  his  appointed  seat.  The  scope  and  subject  matter  of  the  History 
of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis,  therefore,  divides  itself  into  three 
distinct,  yet  disproportionate  parts : 

PART  1.        THE  ERA  OF  PREPARATION. 

Which  embraces  the  events  from  Father  Marquette's 
voyage  to  the  erection  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  under 
Bishop  Joseph  Rosati,  1673  to  1827,  a  little  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  This  Part  I.  is  subdivided 
into  three  books : 


XIV 


Introduction 


Book  1.     Tin;   E.un.v    Missions   on   tue  Illinois  and   Mississippi 
Rivers. 

Book  2.     Tin:  Church  ok  St.  Louis  in  the  Transition  Period 

Book  3.     Tin.  Church  op  St.  Loris  Under  Bishop  Du  Bourq  op 
Louisian  \. 


PART  II.       THE  DIOCESE  OF  ST.  LOUIS. 

Tli is  embraces  the  events  From  the  division  of  the  diocese 
of  Louisiana  into  the  dioceses  of  St.  Louis,  and  New 
Orleans,  until  the  erection  of  St.  Louis  into  an  Arch- 
diocese under  Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  1827  to  1847,  a 
period  of  only  twenty  years.  It  is  subdivided  into  three 
rather  unequal  books : 

Book  1.     Bishop  Joseph  Rosati  of  St.  Louis. 

Book  2.     Bishop   Peter    Richard   Kenrick,  Coadjutor  to  Bishop 

Rosati. 
Book  3.     Peter  Richard  Kenrick.  Bishop  of  St.  Louis. 

PART  III.     THE  ARCH-DIOCESE  OF  ST.  LOUIS. 

This  final  part  of  the  History,  extending;  from  1847  to 
1927,  is  likewise  divided  into  three  books: 

Book  1.     Archbishop  Peter  Richard  Kenrick. 

Book  2.     Archbishop  John  Joseph  Kain. 

Book  3.     Archbishop  John  Joseph  Glennon. 

The  splendid  administration  of  Archbishop  Glennon  is, 
as  yet,  too  fresh  in  the  memory  of  men  and  too  sparsely 
documented  to  allow  the  proper  perspective,  required  in 
scientific  history.  It  will,  no  doubt,  in  some  future 
work,  form  the  crowning  glory  of  a  long  series  of 
beautiful  developments  of  the  Church  in  the  Miss- 
issippi Valley.  But  for  the  present,  a  rapid  description 
of  what  was  accomplished,  must  suffice.  In  this  regard 
we  may  say:  Si  historiam  requiris,  circumspice. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Part  I 

THE   ERA   OF   PREPARATION 

Book  I 

The  Early  Missions 

PAGE 

Chapter     1.  The  Cross  Triumphant  and  the  Blood  of  Martyrs  1 

2.  Father  James  Marquette  and  M.  Joliet 7 

3.  La  Salle,  De  Tonti  and  the  Recollets 19 

4.  On  the  Illinois  River 27 

5.  The  Gentlemen  op  the  Seminary  of  Quebec 34 

6.  The  Kaskaskias  on  the  RrvER  Des  Peres 42 

7.  Cahokia  and  the  Seminary  Priests 51 

8.  Last  Days  of  Gravier  and  Marest 60 

9.  Kaskaskia  and  its  Dependencies — 1 65 

10.  Kaskaskia  and   its  Dependencies — II 73 

11.  Ste.   Genevieve  and   its   Dependencies 80 

12.  Banishment   of   the   Jesuits 86 


Book  II 
The  Church  in  the  Valley  during  the  Transition  Period 

Chapter    1.  The  Founding  of   St.   Louis 99 

2.  Civil  Allegiance  and  Ecclesiastical  Authority.  .  109 

3.  Return  of  Father  Sebastian  Meurin 115 

4.  Meurin  and  Gibault 124 

5.  Father  Gibault,  the  Patriot  Priest 132 

6.  St.  Louis  as  a  Canonical  Parish 140 

7.  Father   Bernard's    Congregation 149 

8.  Discord  in  Church  and  State 156 

(xv) 


xvi  Tub! <   of  Conti  nts 

PAGE 

Chapter     9.  Results  op  the  Discord 168 

10.  The  Sulpicians  ix  the  [llinois  Cottntry 184 

11.  Vicar-General  James  Maxweli 198 

12.  Wandering    Westward 210 

13.  Father  Dunand  and  His  Trappist  Brethren 218 

14.  Father  Dunand  the  Lone  Missionary 228 


Book  III 
The  Church  of  St.  Louis  under  Bishop  Du  Bourg  of  Louisiana 

Chapter     1.  Bishop  Louis  William  Valentin  Du  Bourg 'I'M 

2.  Church  Government  by  Marguilliers 247 

3.  Bishop  Flaget's  Interest  in  St.  Louis 251 

4.  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  <  Ioming  to  St.  Louis 261 

5.  Bishop  Du   Bourg's  Difficulties 268 

6.  Father  Xiel  and  the  Church-Wardens 278 

7.  Father   Felix   De   Andreis 285 

8.  St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens  under  Father  Rosati.  .  292 

9.  The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart 300 

10.  Father  Charles  Nerinckx  and  His  Relations  with 
St.    Louis 308 

11.  The  Indian  Missions  and  the  Jesuits — 1 318 

12.  The  Indian  Missions  and  the  Jesuits— II 327 

13.  Tin:  Jesuit  Beginnings  at  St.  Ferdinand 335 

14.  The  First  Indian  School  in  Missouri 340 

15.  The    First    Indian    Missionary    Efforts    of    the 
Jesuits :547 

16.  The    St.    Louis   University 354 

17.  Ste.     Genevieve     I'xder     Fathers     Pratte     and 
Dahhen     361 

18.  Catholic  New  Madrid 371 

19.  St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens  Under  Father  Torna- 
tore    379 

20.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  the  Coadjutorship 386 

21.  Rosati 's  Election  as  Coadjutor-Bishop 399 

'I'l.  Linking  Old  and  New 408 


Table  of  Contents  xvii 

Part  II 
THE    DIOCESE   OF   ST.  LOUIS 

Book  I 
Bishop  Joseph  Bosati  of  St.  Louis 

PAGE 

Chapter     1.  The  Diocese  op  St.  Louis 419 

2.  Rosati's  Visitation  in  the  Diocese  of  New  Orleans  431 

3.  Progress  op   a   Decade 438 

4.  The   Sisters   of   Charity 447 

5.  Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  Indian  Missionary.   452 

6.  Father    Edmund    Saulnier    and    the    Church    of 
Arkansas     469 

7.  Post  of  Arkansas,  New  Gascony  and  Little  Rock.  479 

8.  The  Church  in  Cape  Girardeau 490 

9.  The  Dawn  of  a  New  Era 499 

10.  Bishop  Rosati's  Cathedral 508 

11.  The  Missouri  River  Parishes 515 

12.  The  Good  Shepherd  in  the  Wilderness 523 

13.  Three  Crowded  Years  of  Bishop  Rosati's  Life.  .  .  .   528 

14.  Galena,  Dubuque  and  Prairie  Du  Chien — 1 537 

15.  Galena,  Dubuque  and  Prairie  Du  Chien — II 543 

16.  Father  Saint  Cyr  and  the  Church  in  Chicago.  .  .   552 

17.  Peter  Paul  Lefevere  of   Salt  River 565 

18.  Father  Lefevere's   Far-flung  Missions 579 

19.  Father  Samuel  Mazzuchelli,  0.  P 590 

20.  Father  Mazzuchelli  and  the  Church  of  Galena:  .   599 

21.  Catholic  Beginnings  of  Kansas  City 608 

22.  Father  Brickwedde  of  Quincy 614 

23.  The  Visitandines  of  Kaskaskia 626 

24.  The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph 634 

25.  Tin;   Ivickapoo  Mission 640 

26.  The  Potawatomi  Mission  op  Council  Buffs 653 

27.  The  Beginnings  op  the  Oregon  Missions 664 

28.  The  Potawatomi  Mission  op  Sugar  Creek 677 

29.  Early  Church  Foundations  in  Central  Missouri.   689 

30.  Father  John  Timon,  Visitor  op  the  Lazarists.  .  .  .    701 


xviii  Table  of  Contents 

PAGE 

Chapter  31.  The  La  Salle  Mission 707 

32.  St.    Michael's    of    Predeeicktown    and     Father 
Cellini     721 

33.  The  First  Synod  op  St.  Louis 730 

:!4.  Along  Sangamon  River  and  Crooked  Creek 7-tl 

35.  Father  Hilary  Tucker  in  Quincy 753 

36.  The   Early   German    Parishes   op   Southwestern 
Illinois    76.") 

37.  The  Early  English  Speaking  Parishes  op  South- 
western   Illinois 774 

38.  Bishop  Rosati 's  Last  Year  in  His  Diocese 77!) 


Book  II 
Bishop   Peter   Richard  Kcuricl:,   Coadjutor   to    Bishop   Rosati 

Chapter     1.  Bishop  Rosati  and  His  Coadjutor 787 

2.  Bishop  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  of  St.  Louis 795 

3.  The  Cathedral  Parish  of  St.  Louis 802 

4.  The  St.  Louis  University  and  the  College  Church  809 

Book  III 
Peter  Richard  Kenrick  Bishop  of  St.  Louis 

Chapter     1.  Bishop  Kenrick  and  the  Leopoldine  Society 817 

2.  The  First  Fruits  of  Bishop  Kenrick 's  Solicitude.  825 

3.  The   Diocesan    Seminary 836 

4.  Northeast     Missouri 845 

5.  Loss  of  Territory  but  Gain  of  Souls 854 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Archbishop  John  J.  Glennon frontispiece 

page 

The  Committee  on  Publication v 

Father  James  Marquette,  S.  J 1 

Kaskaskia    College 10 

Old  Bell  op  Kaskaskia 65 

Map  of  Earliest  St.  Louis 99 

Signatures  of  Priests  and  Prelates 108 

Father  P.  Gibault 124 

The  Old  Spanish  Church 140 

Signatures  of  Ste.  Genevieve  Priests 198 

Signatures  of  Early  Catholic  Laymen 247 

Bishop  William  L.  V.  Du  Bourg 261 

Bishop   Du   Bourg  's   Cathedral 268 

Father  Felix  De  Andreis,  CM 285 

Jesuit   Novitate   at   Florissant 335 

The  Old  St.  Louis  University 354 

Father  Dahmen's  Church  at  Ste.  Genevieve 361 

St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens 379 

Outline  Map  of  St.  Louis  Diocese. 417 

Bishop  Joseph  Rosati  of  St.  Louis 439 

Post  of  Arkansas  .  .  .- 479 

Father  John  Timon,  CM 490 

Bishop  Rosati 's  Cathedral 508 

Bishop  Brute's  Map  of  "Wisconsin 537 

Map  of  the  Missionary  Country 640 

Bishop  Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  Coadjutor 795 


PART  ONE 


THE  ERA  OF  PREPARATION 

BOOK  I 

The  Early  Missions 
On  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Rivers 


Rev.  James  Makquette,  S.  J. 
First   White  Resident  of  Chicago. 


BOOK  I 

THE  EARLY  MISSIONS 

Chapter  1 
THE  CROSS  TRIUMPHANT  AND  THE  BLOOD  OF  MARTYRS 

It  is  an  incontestable  fact  that  the  beautiful  forest-clad  embankment 
of  the  river  whereon  the  great  spiritual  as  well  as  civic  Metropolis  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley  was  to  arise  in  splendor  and  wealth  and  power, 
had  been  beheld  by  no  white  man's  eye  before  that  memorable  day  at 
the  end  of  June  1673,  when  Joliet  and  Marquette,  and  their  five  com- 
panions swept  by  in  two  fragile  barks  on  the  united  but  not  commingled 
current  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi,  on  their  voyage  of  exploration 
to  the  unknown  lands  of  the  South.  The  central  region  of  the  future 
diocese  and  archdiocese  of  St.  Louis,  though  bright  and  beautiful  by 
nature,  still  lay  in  the  darkness  of  ancient  night,  illumined  only  by  a 
few  faint  stars  of  natural  religion.  The  Indian  tribes  that  regarded  it 
as  their  ancestral  home,  the  Osage,  Missouri  and  Illinois,  like  all  the 
other  nations  of  North  America,  were  individually  a  strange  combina- 
tion of  noble,  and  often  heroic,  qualities  with  the  most  abject  super- 
stition and  moral  turpitude.  The  Indian  was  by  nature  generous  and 
hospitable,  and  yet  he  could  become  guilty  of  the  most  savage  cruelty 
Loving  his  native  valleys  and  hills  he  was  a  wanderer  without  a  fixed 
abode.  His  faith  in  the  great  Spirit  was  deep  and  sincere  and  }7et  he 
had  no  outward  sacrifice,  no  outward  form  of  worship.  A  certain  glamour 
of  mystery  encompassed  him  when  viewed  from  a  distance,  but  quickly 
vanished  on  nearer  approach. 

To  Avin  such  tantalizing  creatures  for  the  Kingdom  of  God ;  to 
bring  them  the  light  of  Faith,  to  raise  the  Cross  triumphant  among  them 
was  the  desire  of  countless  souls  since  the  days  of  the  earliest  explorers 
and  conquerors  of  the  New  World. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  great  age  of  European  discovery  and  con- 
quest two  of  its  leading  maritime  nations,  Spain  and  France,  still  ad- 
hered with  heart  and  soul  and  mind  to  the  Catholic  Faith  as  a  living 
reality.  Accordingly  the  cross  accompanied  the  national  banner;  the 
priest  and  monk  walked  side  by  side   with   the   commander;   the   con- 

'  (1) 

Vol.  1-1 


-  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

version  of  the  natives  to  the  true  religion  was  one  of  the  main  objects 
of  every  expedition. 

Sn  it  was  in  Spanish  America,  so  it  was  in  the  French  possessions 
in  Canada,  the  region  of  the  Great  Lakes,  iii  the  Illinois  Country 
and  Louisiana.  But  whilst  the  French  were  the  first  to  arrive  in  the 
heart  of  the  continent,  the  Spaniards  preceded  them  by  ~\'V2  years,  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  future  Arch-diocese  of  St.  Louis,  in  Arkansas  its 
southern  limit,  and  in  Kansas  or  Nebraska  to  the  West.1 

The  first  efforts  to  carry  the  lighl  of  the  gospel  into  the  heart  of 
this  vast  and  sparsely  populated  region  date  hack  to  the  year  1541,  132 
years  before  the  voyage  of  Lather  Marquette.  It  was  in  1  r>41  that  the 
Spaniard  Fernando  De  Soto  crossed  the  Mississippi  River  at  a  point  a 
few  miles  below  the  present  city  of  Memphis,  and  marched  northward 
along  the  western  border  of  the  "Great  River",  through  the  country 
now  called  Arkansas,  and  arrived  at  a  place  near  New  Madrid,  in  South- 
Last  Missouri.  And  it  was  in  the  same  year  that  Don  Francise  i  Vasquez 
de  Coronado  reached  the  goal  of  his  journey  in  the  country  of  Quivira, 
somewhere  "in  northeastern  Kansas  perhaps  not  far  from  the  boundary 
of  Nebraska."  Both  expeditions  were  accompanied  by  priests:  Coronado 
by  the  Franciscan  Friar  Juan  de  Padilla,  De  Soto  "by  twelve  priests, 
eight  brothers  and   four  monks." 

De  Soto  ami  his  little  army  arrived  on  the  coast  of  Florida  on 
Whitsunday,  1539  and  after  many  days  of  toil  and  strife  reached 
the  town  on  the  Mississippi  River  over  which  the  Cazique  Casqui  pre- 
sided.2 

"The  greater  part  of  the  way,"  says  one  of  the  companions  of 
De  Soto,  "lay  through  fields  thickly  set  with  great  towns,  two  or 
three  of  them  to  be  seen  from  one.  De  Soto  sent  word  by  an  Indian 
to  the  cacique,  that  he  was  coming  to  obtain  his  friendship;  to  which 
he  received  for  answer,  that  he  would  be  welcomed,  and  all  that  his 
Lordship  required  from  him  should  be  done.  And  the  cacique  or  chief, 
sent  him  on  the  road  a  present  of  skins,  shawls  and  fish."3 


i  The  limits  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  at  the  tune  of  its  largest  extent  under 
Bishop  Rosati  were  the  southern  bounds  of  Arkansas,  to  a  line  drawn  northward  from 
Fort  Massac,  near  Cairo,  through  Illinois  to  the  southern  bounds  of  Canada,  thence 
westward  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  following  them  to  the  latitude  of  the  southern 
boundary  of  Arkansas  back  to  the  start. 

2  There  are  three  accounts  of  De  Soto's  Expedition  by  e.ye  witnesses:  The 
Narrative  of  the  Gentleman  of  Elvas;  The  Relation  of  Biedma  and  The  Narrative  of 
Ranjel.  Then  there  is  the  "La  Florida  del  Inr-a"  of  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  who 
states  that  in  Peru  he  had  met  many  of  De  Soto's  gentlemen  and  soldiers.  It  is 
Garcilasso  that  mentions  the  names  of  the  priests  and  monks  with  the  expedition. 
The  Narrative  of  the  Gentleman  of  Elvas  may  be  found  in  a  good  translation  in 
Spanish  Explorers  in  the  Southern  United  States,  pp.  129-272. 

3  Lewis,  Theodor  H.,  in  Spanish  Explorers,  p.  206. 


The  Cross  Triumphant  and  the  Blood  of  Martyrs  3 

Accompanied  by  many  of  his  people,  the  cacique  came  half  a  league 
on  the  road  from  the  town  to  receive  the  Governor,  and  greeting  him 
very  humbly  he  invited  him  to  take  lodging  in  his  houses.  The  cacique 
went  home  for  the  night,  but  "returned  with  many  Indians  singing, 
who,  when  they  had  come  to  where  the  Governor  was,  all  prostrated 
themselves.  Among  them  were  two  blind  men."  The  cacique  made 
an  address  of  which  the  writer  gives  but  the  substance:  "The  cacique 
said,  that  inasmuch  as  the  Governor  was  the  son  of  the  Sun,  he  begged 
him  to  restore  sight  to  those  Indians.  Whereupon  the  blind  men  arose 
and  very  earnestly  entreated  him  to  do  so.  De  Soto  answered  them 
that  in  the  heavens  above  there  was  One  who  had  the  power,  to  make 
them  whole  and  do  whatever  they  could  ask  of  Him,  whose  servant 
he  was ;  that  this  great  Lord  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and 
man  after  His  image,  that  He  had  suffered  on  the  cross  to  save  the 
human  race,  and  risen  from  the  tomb  on  the  third  day  in  what  of 
man  there  was  of  him  dying,  what  of  divinity  being  immortal ;  and 
that,  having  ascended  into  heaven,  He  was  there  with  open  arms  to 
receive  all  that  would  be  converted  to  Him."  The  Governor  then 
directed  a  lofty  cross  of  wood  to  be  made  and  set  up  on  the  highest  part 
of  the  town,  declaring  to  the  cacique,  that  the  Christian  worshipped 
that  cross  in  the  form  and  memory  of  the  true  one  on  which  Christ 
suffered.  He  placed  himself  with  his  people  before  it,  on  their  knees, 
which  the  Indians  did  likewise;  and  he  told  them  that  from  that  time 
on  they  should  thus  worship  the  Lord,  of  whom  he  had  spoken  to  them, 
that  was  in  the  Heavens,  and  should  ask  Him  for  whatsoever  they 
stood  in  need  of."4  After  this  they  chanted  the  Te  Deum  Laudamus, 
that  canticle  which  the  custom  of  the  Catholic  Church  has  consecrated 
to  be  at  once  a  testimonial  of  public  joy,  and  thanksgiving  for  favors 
received  from  Heaven,  and  a  prayer  for  a  continuance  of  its  mercies. 

The  Indians  broke  forth  in  demonstrations  of  joy  and  gratitude. 
The  Governor  marched  away  to  other  scenes,  in  his  weary  quest  after 
gold  and  adventure,  to  find  his  last  resting  place  in  the  waters  of  the 
Great  River  he  had  discovered.  But  far  away  to  the  Northwest,  yet 
within  the  one-time  limits  of  St.  Louis  Diocese,  a  similar  scene  was 
enacted.3 

It  was  in  the  year  1530  that  Francisco  Vasquez  Coronado,  having 
reached  Cibola,  asked  the  people  of  the  province  "to  tell  their  friends 
and  neighbors  that  Christians  had  come  into  the  country,  Avhose  only 
desire  it  was  to  be  their  friends,  and  to  find  out  about  good  lands  to 
live  in."6 


4     Ibidem,  pp.  207-208. 

s     Narrative  of  the  Expedition  of  Coronado,  by  Pedro  de  Castaiieda,  edited  by 
F.  W.  Hodge,  in  Spanish  Explorers,  pp.  275-387. 
fi     Ibidem,  p.  306. 


I  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

Coronado  had  in  his  company  four  friars,  three  of  wh  m  were 
priests,  and  the  fourth  a  Lay-brother.  Pray  Marcos  de  Nizza,  the  Pro- 
vincial of  the  Order  in  Mexico,  returned  home  after  the  army  reached 
Lune-Cibola,  in  1540.  Fray  Juan  de  la  Cruz,  already  of  advanced  age, 
and  Brother  Louis  remained  with  the  Indians  in  New  Mexico.  The 
fourth  Pray  Juan  de  Padilla,  comparatively  a  young  and  vigorous  man. 
accompanied  Coronado  to  Quivira,  thai  is,  the  region  of  northeastern 
Kansas,  probably  near  the  Nebraska  border.7  "The  Quiviras  were 
Indians  of  the  plains  Living  chiefly  from  the  buffalo,  and  from  very 
limited  agriculture,  changing  the  sites  of  their  hamlets  as  the  bison 
moved   to  and   fro." 

Some  say  they  were  of  the  tribe  of  the  Wichitas:  Father  Shine 
places  their  habitat  considerably  farther  north  in  the  interior  of  the 
state  of  Nebraska.8  Bui  as  both  Locations  are  within  the  ancient 
limits  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  we  need  not  here  decide  the  question, 
although  the  opinion  of  Bandelier  seems  to  have  greater  weight. 

Certain  it  is  thai  the  Quivira  Indians  were  glad  to  have  Pray  Juan 
de  Padilla  with  them.  When  Coronado  and  his  Little  army  started 
on  the  homeward  journey  from  New  Mexico,  in  April  1542,  Fray  Juan 
de  Padilla  asked  and  received  permission  to  return  to  the  Quivira 
Indians,  because  his  teaching  seemed  to  bear  fruit  among  them.  lie 
took  along  the  most  necessary  equipments  for  saying  .Mass,  seme  pro 
visions,  and  al  least  one  horse.  His  Journey  fell  in  the  Late  summer  or 
early  fall  of  1542.  Tie  had  with  him  Fray  Juan  de  la  Cruz,  one 
Portuguese  soldier,  two  servants  and  some  Mexican  Indians.  On  their 
way  they  passed  through  Pecos,  where  Brother  Louis  was  already  estab- 
lished.    They  reached  Quivira  and  were  well  received.9 

Coronado  had  caused  a  large  cross  to  be  erected  in  or  near  one 
,,!'  the  villages.  This  cross  was  a  starting  point  for  the  missionary. 
All  went  well  for  a  lime;  but  I  he  zeal  of  I  he  missionary  inspired  him 
with  the  desire  of  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  neighboring  nations  also. 
This  was  interpreted  by  the  Quiviras  as  the  act  of  a  traitor,  and  by 
the  other  tribes  as  that  of  a  spy.  The  outcome  of  this  missionary 
rney  is  related  by  Mota-Padilla  in  his  History  of  New  Galicia:  "The 
Friar  nil  Quivira  with  a  small  escort,  againsl  the  will  of  the  Indians 
of  that  village,  who  loved  him  as  their  father.  Hut  al  one  day's 
journey  lie  was  met  by  Indians  on  the  war-path,  and  knowing  their 
evil  intentions,  he  requested  the  Portuguese  to  flee,  since  the  Latter 
horseback,  and   to  take  with   him  the    Donados  and    the   boys, 


t  Bandeliei  \.  I'.  Pray  Juan  de  Padilla  in  American  Catholic  Quarterly,  vol. 
X  \  ,  i>.  51 

-  Shine,  Rev.  Michael  A.,  "The  Lost  Province  of  Quivira"  in  The  Catholic 
Historical  Review,  vol.  II,  April  191C,  p.  3-18. 

o     Spanish    Explorers,   pp.  372  :S7:'>. 


The  Cross  Triumphant  and  the  Blood  of  Martyrs  5 

who.  being  young,  were  able  to  run  and  save  themselves.  Being  de- 
fenceless, they  all  fled  as  he  desired,  and  the  blessed  Father,  kneeling 
down,  oft'ei-ed  up  his  life,  which  he  sacrificed  for  the  good  of  the  souls 
of  others.  He  thus  realized  his  most  ardent  desire — the  felicity  of 
martyrdom  by  the  arrows  of  these  barbarians,  who  afterwards  threw 
his  body  into  a  pit  and  covered  it  with  innumerable  rocks.  The  Portu- 
guese and  the  Indians,  returning  to  Quivira,  gave  notice  there  of 
what  happened,  and  the  natives  felt  it  deeply  on  account  of  the  love- 
which  they  had  for  their  Father.  They  would  have  regretted  it  still 
more  had  they  been  able  to  appreciate  the  extent  of  their  loss.  The 
day  of  his  death  is  not  kown,  although  it  is  regarded  as  certain  that 
it  occurred  in  the  year  1542.  Don  Pedro  de  Tobar,  in  some  papers 
which  he  wrote  and  left  at  the  town  of  Culiacan,  stales  that  the  Indians 
had  gone  out  to  kill  this  blessed  Father  in  order  to  obtain  his  ornaments, 
and  that  there  was  a  tradition  of  miraculous  signs  connected  with 
his  death,  such  as  inundations,  comets,  balls  of  fire  and  the  sun  becom- 
ing darkened.  "10 

How  the  two  companions  of  Fray  Juan  de  Padilla  died,  we  have 
no  direct  testimony.  Yet,  it  seems  very  probable  that  they  also  gained 
the  crown  of  Martyrdom.  As  Bandelier  so  touchingly  says:  "Such  is 
the  funeral  oration — simple,  bul  pathetic  from  its  very  simplicity.  Of 
these,  the  two  old  monks.  Fray  Juan  de  la  Cruz  and  Fray  Luis,  remain- 
ing alone  in  the  newly-discovered  land,  happy  to  conclude  their  days 
there  in  whichever  way  it  might  be,  provided  it  was  in  the  service  of 
their  Lord  and  Master  and  for  the  honor  and  glory  of  his  name. 

"The  end  of  fray  Juan  de  Padilla  was  different.  As  his  life  had 
been  of  a  more  vigorous  cast,  so  his  martyrdom  sounded  high  through 
the  land.  His  Sepulchre  in  Kansas  has  never  been  found,  but  it  is 
noteworthy  that  from  Mexico,  as  well  as  in  later  years  from  New 
Mexico,  all  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  Spaniards  to  penetrate  beyond 
the  region  where  his  death  occurred  have  signally  failed.  That  region 
is  the  same  where  the  hardiest  pioneers  of  Catholic  civilization  coming 
from  the  south  met,  figuratively  speaking,  the  pioneers  of  Catholic 
civilization  from  Canada.  The  tomb  of  Fray  Juan  de  Padilla.  there- 
fore, marks  not  a  ne  plus  ultra,  but  the  point  where  the  two  standard- 
bearers  of  Catholicism  came  together  to  join  both  ends  of  the  advance 
of  Catholic  faith  across  the  North  American  Continent."11 

It  is  a  reflection  replete  with  interest,  that  nearly  four  centuries 
ago,  the  Cross,  the  type  of  our  beautiful  religion,  was  planted  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi   and  of  the  Missouri,  and  the  silent  forests  of 


10  Mota-Padilla,  Historia  de  Nuova  Galicia,  p.  167,  quoted  by  Bandelier,  1.  c, 
pp.  5C3-564. 

11  Bandelier,  1.  c,  p.  565. 


(>  History  of  lh<   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  South  were  awakened  by  the  Christian's  hymn  of  gratitude  and 
praise,  and  the  broad  plains  of  the  West  were  bedewed  by  the  blood 
of  martyrdom. 

The  effect  of  both  journeys  was  vivid,  but  transitory,  "a  voice 
crying  in  the  wilderness,''  and  was  not  to  be  heard  again  in  those 
savage  regions  for  many  generations  to  come.  It  was  as  if  a  lightning 
gleam  had  broken  for  a  moment  upon  a  benighted  world,  startling  it 
with  sudden  effulgence,  only  to  leave  it  in  tenfold  gloom.  The  real 
dawning  was  yet  afar  off  from  the  hills  and  prairies  of  this  far  western 
land. 

It  came,  at  last,  with  Joliet  and  Marquette's  discovery  of  the 
.Mississippi  River,  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  years  ago. 


Chapter  2 
FATHER  JAMES  MARQUETTE  AND  M.  JOLIET 


In  recounting  the  labors  and  vicissitudes  of  the  early  explorers 
of  the  Mississippi  River  and  its  tributaries  we  must  invert  the  usual 
order  of  appreciation.  To  the  Church-historian  the  lives  and  deeds  of 
Marquette,  Hennepin,  Saint  Cosme,  of  Joliet,  La  Salle  and  Tonti,  and 
the  magnificent  band  of  their  companions  and  successors,  are  important, 
first  of  all,  in  .as  far  as  they  served  the  cause  of  religion,  and  only  in 
a  secondary  way,  as  serving  the  cause  of  geographic  knowledge  and 
the  spread  of  commerce  and  civilization.  It  is  therefore  of  little  con- 
sequence here  whether  Father  Marquette  or  Louis  Joliet  was  the  official 
leader  of  the  first  voyage  of  exploration.1  What  interests  us  most  is 
that  Father  Marquette  was  the  first  Catholic  priest  that  traversed 
the  full  length  of  the  territory  which  was  to  become  the  Arch- 
diocese of  St.  Louis,  from  Prairie  du  Chien  to  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas 
river,  whilst  the  priestly  companions  of  De  Soto  and  Coronado  only 
touched  its  southern  and  western  fringes.  It  is  the  glorious  name  of 
Father  Marquette,  Jesuit  priest  and  missionary,  that  stands  at  the  head 
and  front  of  Christianity  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  For  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Christian  religion  in  the  heart  of  the  continent  began 
with  the  conversion  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  Peoria  Indians  on  the  Illinois 
river,  a  work  which  Father  Marquette  inaugurated  by  his  perilous 
voyage.  Yet,  even  in  this  regard  Joliet  deserves  warm  recognition, 
as  he  was  beyond  doubt  the  official  commander  of  the  expedition  and, 
as  such,  greatly  advanced  the  spiritual  interests  for  which  Father 
Marquette  had  been  sent  along  with  him  by  his  superiors.  But  if 
Joliet  was  the  commander  of  the  expedition,  as  he  certainly  was, 
Father  Marquette  was  just  as  certainly  no  mere  chaplain.  Indeed 
the  expedition  was  sent  out  by  the  government  for  the  purpose  of 
discovery  and  the  formation  of  friendly  relations  with  the  natives : 
yet  the  spread  of  religion  among  the  tribes  was  never  absent  from 
the  intentions  of  the  government  of  Catholic  France.  As  Bancroft 
tells  us,  "It  was  neither  commercial  enterprise,  nor  royal  ambition 
which  carried  the  power  of  France  into  the  heart  of  our  continent: 
the  motive  was  religion."2  Hence  the  representative  of  the  civil  power 


i  On  this  question  and  on  the  entire  matter  the  learned  work  of  the  Franciscan 
Father  Francis  Borgia  Steck,  Ph.  D.,  "The  Joliet-Marquette  Expedition  1673"  gives 
the  most  exhaustive  and  reliable  information,  although  not  all  the  conclusions  seem 
convincing. 

2     History  of  the  United  States,  1844,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  121. 

(7) 


8  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Loins 

cooperated  with  the   representative  of  the  Church:  and  each   had  an 

equal  interest  in  the  project,  and  deserves  an  equal  share  in  the  honor. 
That  the  person  of  Juliet  became  obscured  by  the  more  illustrious 
personality  of  Father  Marquette  is  owing  to  several  unfortunate  circum- 
stances, chief  among  them  the  loss  of  his  papers  just  before  his 
arrival  at  Quebec,  thus  leaving  Father  Marquette  as  the  main  witness 
in   regard  to  the  momentous  events  of  their  common  voyage. 

Neither  Joliel  nor  Marquette  was  the  first  to  divine  the  secret 
of  the  mighty  river  of  the  West.  Others  had  blazed  the  way  to  the 
post  of  vantage,  Machillimackinac,  at  the  juncture  of  Lake  Superior 
and  Michigan,  and  had  gathered  information  from  the  Indians  thai 
proved  very  useful  to  the  explorers.  They  were  for  the  most  pari 
children  of  Catholic  France,  the  France  of  Louis  XIII  and  his  splendid 
son,  brave,  joyous,  cultured,  and  above  all,  animated  by  the  spirit 
of  religion ;  men  to  whom  the  task  was  assigned  by  Providence  to 
open  the  interior  of  the  North- American  continent  to  the  Church  and 
civilization.  Following  in  the  wake  of  ('artier,  the  intrepid  Champlain 
founded  the  city  of  Quebec  at  the  junction  of  the  St.  Charles  River 
with  the  St.  Lawrence — 1608,  and  proceeding  up  the  mighty  river, 
planted  the  Lilies  of  France  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Huron  long  before 
the  landing  of  the  May-Flower  on  the  rugged  coast  of  New  England — 
1620.  The  first  part  of  the  Seventeenth  century  was  devoted  to  the 
exploration  of  the  Great  Lakes.  In  1634  Jean  Nicollet,3  one  of 
Champlain 's  companions,  passed  through  the  Straits  of  .Mackinac  and 
reached  the  country  around  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers.  Mean- 
while the  Jesuit  Fathers  had  begun  a  flourishing  mission  among  the 
Huron  Indians  at  the  foot  of  Lake  George.  From  this  as  a  base,  in 
1643,  a  missionary  exploring  party  wenl  to  the  strait  where  the  waters 
leap  down  from  Lake  Superior.  This  they  christened  the  Sault  de 
Ste.  Marie.4  It  was  here  that  St.  Isaac  Jogues  prayed  and  preached 
to  the  tribesmen  of  the  upper  lakes.  In  1669  Father  Claude  Allouez, 
who  had  traced  the  entire  coast-line  of  Lake  Michigan  before  1670 
opened  a  number  of  missions  in  the  Indian  Villages  (in  the  eastward 
(lowing  streams,  and  incidentally  gathered  all  information  about  the 
Far  western  countries  and  the  mysterious  river  flowing  either  to  the 
west  or  south. 

It  was  a  younger  companion  of  Allouez,  Father  .lames  Marquette, 
that  was  to  plow  the  waves  of  the  great  river  and  to  carry  the  first 
tidings  of  the  Gospel  to  the  nations  living  on  its  borders.  James 
Marquette   was   born    at    Lann    in    1637,    entered    the    Jesuil    Order    in 


3  R.  S.  Thwaites,  Father  Marquette,  p.  160,  <■!'.  "The  Journey  of  .lean  Nicolel  " 
by  Father  Vimont,  1634,  in  "Early  Narratives  of  the  Northwest,"  edited  by  Louise 
Phelps  Kellogg,  Ph.  I). 

•*     Ibidem,  p.  4. 


Father  James  Marquette  and  M.  Joliet  9 

1654,  was  sent  to  the  mission  in  Canada  in  1666,  and  appeared  in 
the  west  in  1669  at  the  mission  of  Pointe  de  St.  Esprit,  near  the 
western  end  of  Lake  Superior.  Here  he  received  frequent  visits  from 
certain  Illinois  Indians,  who  had  made  a  thirty  days  journey  by  land 
from  their  home  which  lay  to  the  southwest  of  La  Pointe,  and  "piteously 
entreated"  him  to  visit  their  people.  "They  believe"  wrote  Father 
Marquette,  "that  I  will  spread  peace  everywhere  I  go."  "When  the 
Illinois  come  to  La  pointe,  they  pass  a  large  river  almost  a  league  wide. 
It    runs   north    and   south    and    so    far   that    the    Illinois,    who    do   not 

know  what  canoes  are.  have  never  yet  heard  of  its  mouth;" "If  the 

Indians  who  promise  to  make  me  a  canoe,  do  not  fail  to  keep  their 
word,  we  shall  go  into  this  river  as  soon  as  we  can  with  a  Frenchman. 
We  shall  visit  the  nations  that  inhabit  it  in  order  to  open  the  way  to 
so  many  of  our  Fathers  who  have  long  awaited  this  happiness."5 

In  1671  Father  Marquette  was  forced  by  the  threatened  attack 
of  the  Sioux  to  fly  with  his  band  of  Huron  Christians  to  the  shelter 
of  St.  Ignace  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Strait  of  Mackinac.  Here 
the  great  call  to  more  heroic  endeavor  reached  him.  We  will  give  his 
own    words: 

"The  Feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin — 
Whom  I  have  always  invoked  since  I  have  been  in  this  country  of 
the  Ottowas,  to  obtain  from  God  the  grace  of  being  able  to  visit  the 
nations  who  dwell  along  the  Mississippi  River,  was  precisely  the  day 
on  which  Monsieur  Joliet  arrived  with  orders  from  Monsieur  the 
Count  de  Frontenac,  Our  Governor,  and  Monsieur  Talon,  our  Intendant, 
to  undertake  this  discovery  with  me.  I  was  all  the  more  delighted  at 
this  good  news,  since  I  saw  that  my  plans  were  about  to  be  accomplished; 
and  since  I  found  myself  in  the  blessed  necessity  of  exposing  my  life 
for  the  salvation  of  all  these  peoples,  and  especially  of  the  Illinois, 
who  had  very  urgently  entreated  me,  when  I  was  at  the  Pointe  De 
St.  Esprit,  to  carry  the  word  of  God  to  their  country.  Accordingly, 
on  the  17th  day  of  May,  1673,  we  started  from  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignace 
at  Michilimakinac,  where  I  then  was.6 

Above  all,  I  placed  our  voyage  under  the  protection  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Immaculate,  promising  her  that,  if  she  granted  us  the  favor 
of  discovering-  the  great  river,  I  would  give  it  the  name  of  the  Concep- 


5  These  quotations  are  taken  from  Relation  1669-70,  Ottawa  Part  in  Shea 
"Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  pp.  LIV-LVI,  passim. 

G  "Jesuit  Relations  and  Allied  Documents"  edited  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites,  vol. 
59,  p.  89 — Doubt  has  been  cast  on  the  authenticity  of  Father  Marquette's  Narrative 
of  1673;  yet  whether  it  be  Marquette's  own  work  or,  as  Dr.  Steck  holds,  "in  sub- 
stance the  account  drawn  up  by  Joliet  and  sent  to  Quebec  to  Marquette  shortly  before 
the  latter 's  second  voyage  to  the  Illinois  Country, ' '  it  can  certainly  be  relied  upon 
for  the  discoveries  made  and  the  events  recorded.  Cf.  Steck,  Rev.  F.  B.,  "The  Joliet  - 
Marquette  Expedition,  1673,"  p.  312. 


]()  History   of   the   Archdiocese   of  St.    Louis 

tkm,  and  thai  I  would  also  make  the  first  Mission  that  1  should  estab- 
lish among  those  new  peoples,  bear  the  same  name.  This  I  have 
actually   done,   among  the   Illinois."7 

Father  Marquette  was  ready  to  start  at  once,  undismayed  by  the 
glowing  terms  which  some  of  the  Indians,  among  whom  he  labored, 
set  forth  the  relentless  cruelty  of  the  nations  he  was  about  to  visit. 
"I  shall  gladly  lay  down  my  life  for  the  salvation  of  souls,"  was 
the  reply  with  which  he  silenced  every  suggestion  of  affectionate  appre- 
hension. With  Joliet  as  his  principal  companion  and  five  others 
whose  names  have  not  reached  our  times,  he  set  out  on  his  adventurous 
expedition,  in  two  birch-bark  canoes  from  the  bay  of  Lake  Michigan 
now  called  (Jreen  Bay. 

Ascending  Fox  River,  in  navigating  which  they  encountered  con- 
siderable difficulty,  in  consequence  of  the  numerous  rapids  which 
obstruct  its  course,  they  reached  a  high  point  near  its  source:  where 
they  found  a  village  consisting  of  three  tribes,  Miamis,  Maskoutens, 
and  Kikabous.  Father  Marquette  was  greatly  consoled  at  seeing  a 
handsome  Cross  erected  in  the  middle  of  the  village,  and  adorned  with 
many  white  skins,  red  belts,  and  bows  and  arrows,  which  these  good 
people  had  offered  to  the  great  Manitou  (This  is  the  name  which  they 
give  to  God).  They  did  this  to  thank  Him  for  having  had  pity  on  them 
during  the  winter,  by  giving  them  an  abundance  of  game  when  they 
most  dreaded  famine.'"* 

The  party  continued  their  journey  on  the  next  day.  They  knew 
they  stood  upon  the  great  divide  between  the  valley  of  the  great 
lakes  and  the  valley  of  the  mysterious  river  they  were  seeking.  Father 
Marquette  says:  "We  knew  that,  at  three  leagues  from  the  Maskoutens, 
was  a  river  which  discharged  into  the  Mississippi.  We  knew  also 
that  the  direction  we  were  to  follow  in  order  to  reach  it,  was  west- 
southwesterly.  But  the  road  is  broken  by  so  many  swamps  and  small 
lakes  that  it  is  easy  to  lose  one's  way,  especially  as  the  river  leading 
thither  is  so  full  of  wild  oats,  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  the  channel.  For 
this  reason  we  greatly  needed  our  two  guides,  who  safely  conducted 
us  to  a  portage  of  2,700  paces,  and  helped  us  to  transport  our  canoes 
to  enter  that  river;  after  which  they  returned  home,  leaving  us  alone 
in  this  unknown  country,  in  the  hands  of  Providence."9  Having  passed 
over  the  portage  which  divided  the  Fox  from  the  Wisconsin  Rivers, 
they  once  more  committed  themselves  to  their  frail  barks,  following 
the  course  of  the  river  which  flows  westwardly,  until  they  found  them- 
selves floating  on  the  bosom  of  the  Father  of  Waters,  on  the  17th  of 
June,  Ki7:'>.     Greal  and  inexpressible  was  the  joy  of  Father  Marquette. 


7  Ibidem,  p.  93. 

8  "Jesuit   Relations,"  vol.  59,  p.  103. 
s     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  59,  p.  105. 


Father  James  Marquette  and  M.  Joliet  11 

But  his  labor  had  scarcely  begun.  On  and  on  they  drifted  on  the  placid 
waters  through  scenes  as  fresh  and  beautiful  and  strange  as  if  they 
had  just  been  called  forth  from  nothingness  by  the  voice  of  God.  It 
was  a  land  of  mountains  and  plains,  of  forests  and  prairies,  of  birds 
and  beasts,  but  seemingly  devoid  of  human  life.  "We  continued  to 
advance,"  says  Father  Marquette,  "But  as  we  knew  not  whither 
we  were  going, — for  we  had  proceeded  over  one  hundred  leagues  with- 
out discovering  anything  except  animals  and  birds, — we  kept  well 
on  our  guard.  On  this  account  we  made  only  a  small  fire  on  land, 
toward  evening,  to  cook  our  meals;  and,  after  supper,  we  remove 
ourselves  as  far  from  it  as  possible,  and  pass  the  night  in  our  canoes, 
which  we  anchor  in  the  river  at  some  distance  from  the  shore."10 

"Finally,  on  the  25th  of  June,  we  perceived  on  the  water's  edge 
some  tracks  of  men,  and  a  narrow  and  somewhat  beaten  path  leading 
to  a  fine  prairie.  We  stopped  to  examine  it;  and,  thinking  that  it 
was  a  road  which  led  to  some  village  of  savages,  we  resolved  to  go 
and  reconnoiter  it.  We  therefore  left  our  two  canoes  under  the  guard 
of  our  people,  strictly  charging  them  not  to  allow  themselves  to  be 
surprised;  after  which  Monsieur  Joliet  and  I  undertook  this  investiga- 
tion— a  rather  hazardous  one  for  two  men  who  exposed  themselves, 
alone,  to  the  mercy  of  a  barbarous  and  unknown  people.  We  silently 
followed  the  narrow  path,  and  after  walking  about  two  leagues,  we 
discovered  a  village  on  the  bank  of  a  river,  and  two  others  on  a  hill 
distant  about  half  a  league  from  the  first.  We  therefore  decided  that 
it  was  time  to  reveal  ourselves.  This  we  did  by  shouting  with  all 
our  energy,  and  stopped,  without  advancing  any  farther.  On  hearing 
(lie  shout,  the  savages  quickly  issued  from  their  cabins,  and  having 
probably  recognized  us  as  Frenchmen,  especially  when  they  saw  a 
black-gown, — or,  at  least  having  no  cause  for  distrust,  as  we  were 
only  two  men,  and  had  given  them  notice  of  our  arrival, — they  deputed 
four  old  men  to  come  and  speak  to  us.  Two  of  these  bore  tobacco- 
pipes,  finely  ornamented  and  adorned  with  various  feathers.  They 
walked  slowly,  and  raised  their  pipes  toward  the  sun,  seemingly  offering 
them  to  it  to  smoke, — without,  however,  saying  a  word.  They  spent 
a  rather  long-  time  in  covering  the  short  distance  between  their  village 
and  us.  Finally,  when  they  had  drawn  near,  they  stopped  to  consider 
us  attentively.  I  was  reassured  when  I  observed  these  ceremonies, 
which  with  them  are  performed  only  among  friends;  and  much  more 
so,  when  I  saw  them  clad  in  cloth,  for  I  judged  thereby  that  they  were 
our  allies.  I  therefore  spoke  to  them  first,  and  asked  them  who  they 
were.  They  replied  that  they  were  Illinois ;  and,  as  a  token  of  peace, 
they    offered    us    their    pipes    to    smoke.      They    afterward    invited    us 


10     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  59,  p.  110. 


12  History  of  tin    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

to  enter  their  village,  where  all  the   people   impatiently   awaited  us. 
These  pipes  for  smoking  tobacco  are  called  in  this  country  Calumets."11 

"At  the  door  of  the  cabin  in  which  we  were  to  be  received  was 
an  old  man,  who  awaited  us  in  a  rather  surprising  attitude,  which 
constitutes  a  part  of  the  ceremonial  that  they  observe  when  they 
receive  strangers.  This  man  stood  erect,  and  stark  naked,  with  his 
hands  extended  and  lifted  toward  the  sun,  as  if  he  wished  to  protect 
himself  from  its  rays,  which  nevertheless  shone  upon  his  face  through 
his  fingers.  When  we  came  near  him,  he  paid  us  this  compliment: 
"How  beautiful  the  sun  is,  0  Frenchman,  when  thou  comest  to  visit 
us!  All  our  village  awaits  thee,  and  thou  shalt  enter  all  our  cabins 
in  peace."  Having  said  this,  he  made  us  enter  his  own,  in  which  were 
a  crowd  of  people ;  they  devoured  us  with  their  eyes,  but,  nevertheless, 
observed  profound   silence. 

After  we  had  taken  our  places,  the  usual  civility  of  the  country 
was  paid  to  us,  which  consisted  in  offering  us  the  Calumet. 

While  all  the  elders  smoked  after  us,  in  order  to  do  us  honor, 
we  received  an  invitation  on  behalf  of  the  great  Captain  of  all  the 
Illinois  to  proceed  to  his  village  where  he  wished  to  hold  a  Council 
with  us.  We  went  thither  in  a  large  company.  For  all  these  people, 
who  had  never  seen  any  Frenchmen  among  them,  could  not  cease 
looking  at  us.  They  lay  on  the  grass  along  the  road;  they  preceded 
us,  and  then  retraced  their  steps  to  come  and  see  us  again.  All  this 
was  done  noiselessly,  and  with  marks  of  great  respect  for  us.12 

"Seeing  all  assembled  and  silent,  I  spoke  to  them  by  four  presents 
that  I  gave  them.  By  the  first,  I  told  them  that  we  were  journeying 
peacefully  to  visit  the  nations  dwelling  on  the  river  as  far  as  the  sea. 
By  the  second,  I  announced  to  them  that  God,  who  had  created  them. 
had  pity  on  them,  inasmuch  as,  after  they  had  so  long  been  ignorant 
of  Him,  He  wished  to  make  Himself  known  to  all  the  peoples ;  that  I 

sent  by  Him  for  that  purpose;  and  that  it  was  for  them  to  acknowl- 
edge and  obey  Him.  By  the  third,  I  said  that  the  great  Captain  of 
the  French  informed  them  that  He  it  was  who  restored  peace  every 
where j  and  that  He  had  subdued  the  Iroquois.  Finally,  by  the  fourth 
we  begged  them  to  give  us  all  the  information  that  they  had  about  the 
sea,  and  about  the  nations  through  whom  we  must  pass  to  reach  it. 

"When  I  had  finished  my  speech,  the  Captain  arose,  and,  resting 
his  hand  upon  the  head  of  a  little  slave  whom  he  wished  to  give  us, 
he  spoke  thus:  'I  thank  thee.  Black  Gown,  and  thee,  0  Frenchman '~ 
addressing  himself  to  Monsieur  Joliet, — 'for  having  taken  so  much 
trouble  to  come  to  visit  us.  Never  has  the  earth  been  so  beautiful, 
or  the  sou   so  bright,  as  today;   never  has  our  river  been  so  calm,  or 


«     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  50,  p.  115. 
i^     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  59,  p.  110. 


Father  James  Marquette  and  M.  Joliet  13 

so  clear  of  rocks,  which  your  canoes  have  removed  in  passing;  never 
lias  our  tobacco  tasted  so  good,  or  our  corn  appeared  so  fine,  as  we  now 
see  them.  Here  is  my  son,  whom  I  give  thee  to  show  thee  my  heart. 
I  beg  thee  to  have  pity  on  me,  and  on  all  my  Nation.  It  is  thou  who 
knowest  the  great  spirit  who  has  made  us  all.  It  is  thou  who  speakest 
to  Him,  and  who  nearest  His  word.  Beg  Him  to  give  me  life  and  health, 
and  to  come  and  dwell  with  us,  in  order  to  make  us  know  Him.'  "13 

This  first  meeting  of  white  men  and  Illinois  Indians  in  their  home 
on  the  Mississippi  took  place  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  Des  Moines 
River14  at  its  confluence  with  the  Mississippi.  The  Illinois  were  a 
confederation  of  five  tribes,  with  villages  on  both  sides  of  the  Great 
River.  On  Father  Marquette's  map  as  well  as  on  that  of  Joliet 
(1674)  the  villages  of  the  Illinois  that  were  visited,  are  placed  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Mississippi.  The  main  habitat,  however,  was  Central  Illi- 
nois. The  Illinois  are  of  the  Algonquin  stock,  and  Father  Marquette,  who 
had  learnt  five  different  Indian  languages,  was  able  to  converse  with 
them  in  their  own.  The  reference  to  the  Iroquois  made  a  deep  impression 
on  all,  as  this  cruel  and  warlike  nation,  or  rather  confederacy  of 
nations,  was  then  waging  a  war  of  extermination  against  all  the  more 
peaceful  tribes  of  the  lake-region,  and  threatening  fierce  inroads  into 
the  very  country  of  the  Illinois. 

Father  Marquette's  Journal  contains  many  a  word  of  high  praise 
for  his  new  friends  and  children.  "Their  bodies  are  shapely;  they 
are  active  and  very  skillful  with  bows  and  arrows.  They  also  use  guns, 
which  they  buy  from  our  savage  allies  who  trade  with  our  French. 
They  use  them  especially  to  inspire,  through  their  noise  and  smoke, 
terror  in  their  enemies ;  the  latter  do  not  use  guns,  and  have  never 
seen  any,  since  they  live  too  far  toward  the  West."15  Having  received 
the  Calumet,  the  pipe  of  peace,  from  his  friends  and  having  promised 
to  visit  their  people  in  their  ancestral  home  on  the  Illinois  River,  Father 
Marquette  and  his  companions  returned  to  their  boats  and  abandoned 
themselves  to  the  current.  In  the  neighborhood  of  what  is  now  the 
city  of  Alton  they  discovered  a  strange  monument  of  ancient  days. 
"While  skirting  some  rocks,  which  by  their  height  and  length  inspired 
awe,  Ave  saw  upon  one  of  them  two  painted  monsters,  which  at  first 
made  us  afraid,  and  upon  which  the  boldest  savages  dare  not  long 
rest  their  eyes.  They  are  as  large  as  a  calf;  they  have  horns  on  their 
heads  like  those  of  deer,  a  horrible  look,  red  eyes,  a  beard  like  a 
tiger's,  a  face  somewhat  like  a  man's,  a  body  covered  with  scales,  and 
so  long  a  tail  that  it  winds  all  around  the  body,  passing  above  the  head 


is     "Jesuit  Relations, "  vol.  59,  p.   121. 

14     C.  S.  Weld  in  his  "Joliet  and  Marquette  in  Iowa"  maintains  that  this  group 
of  villages  was  not  on  the  Des  Moines  but  on  the  Iowa  River, 
is     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  59,  p.  138. 


14  History  of  the  Archdiocese  <>]'  St.   Louis 

and  going  back  between  the  legs,  ending  in  a  fish's  tail."10  The 
explorers  of  the  Mississippi  were  about  to  discover  the  mouth  of  its 
greatest  tributary,  the  .Missouri.  Father  Marquette  continues .-"  While 
conversing  about  these  monsters  and  sailing  quietly  in  clear  and  calm 
water,  we  heard  the  noise  of  a  rapid,  into  which  we  were  about  to 
run.  1  have  seen  nothing  more  dreadful.  An  accumulation  of  large 
and  entire  trees,  branches,  and  floating  islands,  was  issuing  from  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Pekitanoui,  with  such  impetuousity  that  we  could 
not,  without  great  danger,  risk  passing  through  it.  So  great  was  the 
agitation  that  the  water  was  very  muddy,  and  could  not  become  (dear."17 
Passing  unharmed  through  this  dangerous  whirlpool,  the  little  canoes- 
bore  on  with  greater  speed  over  the  waters  that  washed  the  rocky  shore 
whereon  the  great  city  of  St.  Louis  was  to  rise  in  beauty  at  some 
far  off  date,  passed  the  village  of  the  Tamaroa  on  the  eastern  bank, 
greeted  the  little  river  that  was  to  receive  the  flight  of  the  Kaskaskias, 
and  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  skirted  the  grand  tower 
that  separated  the  river  into  two  channels,  and  sped  through  the  cross- 
current made  by  the  mighty  Ohio,  the  Beautiful  River  of  later  times. 
Pursuing  their  course  without  the  occurrence  of  any  incident  until  the 
party  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  River.  "We  had  gone 
down  to  near  the  33rd  degree  of  latitude,"  says  Father  Marquette, 
"having  proceeded  nearly  all  the  time  in  a  southerly  direction,  when 
we  perceived  a  village  on  the  water's  edge,  called  Mitchigamea.  We 
had  recourse  to  our  Patroness  and  guide,  the  Blessed  Virgin  Immaculate; 
and  we  greatly  needed  her  assistance,  for  we  heard  from  afar  the 
savages  who  were  inciting  one  another  to  the  fray  by  their  continual 
yells.  They  were  armed  with  bows,  arrows,  hatchets,  clubs  and  shields. 
They  prepared  to  attack  us,  on  both  land  and  water;  part  of  them 
embarked  in  great  wooden  canoes — some  to  ascend,  others  to  descend 
the  river,  in  order  to  intercept  us  and  surround  us  on  all  sides.  Those 
who  were  on  land  came  and  went,  as  if  to  commence  the  attack.  In 
fact,  some  young  men  threw  themselves  into  the  water,  to  come  and 
seize  my  canoe;  but  the  current  compelled  them  to  return  to  land. 
One  of  them  then  hurled  his  club,  which  passed  over  without  striking 
us.  In  vain  I  showed  the  calumet,  and  made  them  signs  that  we  were 
not.  coming  to  war  against  them.  The  alarm  continued,  and  they 
were  already  preparing  to  piei'ce  us  with  arrows  from  all  sides,  when 
God  suddenly  touched  the  hearts  of  the  old  men,  who  were  standing  at 
the  water's  edge.  This,  no  doubt,  happened  through  the  sight  of  our 
calumet,  winch  they  had  not  clearly  distinguished  from  afar;  but  as  I 
did  not  cease  displaying  it,  they  were  influenced  by  it,  and  checked  the 
ardor  of  their  young  men.     Two  of  these  elders  even,— after   casting 


"Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  59,  p.  139. 
"Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  50,  p.  141. 


Father  James  Marquette  and  M.  Joliet  15 

into  our  eanoe,  as  if  at  our  feet,  their  bows  and  quivers,  to  reassure 
us — entered  the  canoe,  and  made  us  approach  the  shore,  whereon  we 
landed,  not  without  fear  on  our  part.  At  first,  we  had  to  speak  by 
signs,  because  none  of  them  understood  any  of  the  six  languages  which 
I  spoke.  At  last,  we  found  an  old  man  who  could  speak  a  little 
Illinois."18  Father  Marquette  soon  succeeded  to  conciliate  them.  He 
informed  them  that  his  party  were  going  to  the  sea.  He  also  spoke  to 
them  about  God  and  about  matters  pertaining  to  their  salvation.  "This 
is  a  seed  cast  into  the  ground,  which  will  bear  fruit  in  due  time" 
said  the  good  Father.  The  Indians  told  them  that  there  was  another 
village  called  Akansea,  eight  or  ten  leagues  lower  down  where  they 
might  obtain  the  information  they  desired. 

The  exploring  party  embarked  early  on  the  following  day  and 
were  kindly  received.  But  from  all  they  heard  about  the  dangers  of 
the  way,  and  from  clue  consideration  of  the  rapid  depletion  of  their 
.stock  of  provisions,  Marquette  and  Joliet  determined  on  a  homeward 
course.  They  had  attained  the  object  of  their  desires,  they  had  dis- 
covered the  great  western  river,  they  had  floated  down  its  broad 
expanse  of  water  upwards  of  nine-hundred  miles.  Its  unvaried  southern 
direction  could  not  be  a  matter  of  a  moment's  doubt;  and  that  it 
debouched  into  the  great  Mexican  Gulf  was  now  satisfactorily  ascer- 
tained. "We  therefore  reascend  the  Mississippi"  writes  Father 
Marquette,  "which  gives  us  much  trouble  in  breasting  its  currents. 
It  is  true  that  Ave  leave  it,  at  about  the  38th  degree,  to  enter  another 
river,  the  Illinois,  which  greatly,  shortens  our  way,  and  takes  us  with 
but  little  effort  to  the  lake  of  the  Illinois,"  that  is,  Lake  Michigan.19 
"We  found  on  it  a  village  of  Illinois,  called  Kaskaskia,  consisting  of 
74  cabins.  They  received  us  very  well,  and  obliged  me  to  promise  that 
I  would  return  to  instruct  them.  One  of  the  chiefs  of  this  nation,  with 
his  young  men,  escorted  us  to  the  lake  of  the  Illinois,  whence,  at 
last,  at  the  end  of  September,  we  reached  the  Bay  des  Puants  from 
which  we  had  started  at  the  beginning  of  June."20  During  the  Fall  and 
Winter  Father  Marquette  wrote  out  copies  of  his  Journal  for  his 
Superior,  Father  Claude  Dablon,  and  then  during  the  summer  months 
recuperated  at  the  Mission  of  St.  Francis  Xavier.  Here  he  received 
orders  to  proceed  to  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  at 
Kaskaskia,  and  departed  on  the  25th  of  October  1674.  Hampered  by 
rain  and  hail  and  snow  he  crossed  the  portage  from  Sturgeon  Bay  to 
Lake  Michigan;  then,  prevented  by  illness  from  traveling,  he  decided 
to  winter  on  the  river  that  leads  to  the  Illinois.21     Here  in  a  wretched 


J»  "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  59,  p.  151. 

io  "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  59,  p.  161. 

2"  "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  59,  p.  162. 

21  The  Chicago  River  near  the  Portage. 


16  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

cabin  he  said  mass  regularly  and  administered  Holy  Communion  to 
his  two  eompanionSj  Jacques  and  Pierre,  shortly  after  Christmas, 
he  and  his  companions  made  a  Novena  in  honor  of  the  [mmaculate 
Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  that  he  mighl  have  the  grace  to 
take  possession  of  his  mission  among  the  Illinois.  Their  prayer  was 
"•ranted,  and,  on  the  29th  day  of  March  1675,  Father  Marquette  started 
for  thai  place  with  joy  and.  after  eleven  days  on  the  way,  arrived  at  his 
destination  three  days  before  Easter,  "lie  was  received  like  an  angel 
From  heaven."  But  we  musl  let  Father  Dablon  tell  the  splendid  story 
of  this  reception. 

"After  he  had  assembled  at  various  times  the  chiefs  of  the  nation, 
with  all  the  old  men,  that  he  mighl  sow  in  their  minds  the  first  seeds 
of  the  gospel,  and  after  having  given  instruction  in  the  cabins,  which 
were  always  filled  with  a  great  crowd  of  people,  he  resolved  to  address 
all  in  public,  in  a  general  assembly  which  he  called  together  in  the 
open  air,  the  cabins  being  too  small  to  contain  all  the  people.  It  was 
a  beautiful  prairie,  close  to  a  village,  which  was  selected  for  the  great 
C  imcil;  this  was  adorned,  after  the  fashion  of  the  country,  by  cover- 
ing it  with  mats  and  bearskins.  Then  the  Father,  having  directed 
them  to  stretch  out  upon  lines  several  pieces  of  Chinese  taffeta,  attached 
to  these  four  large  pictures  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  were  visible 
on  all  sides.  The  audience  was  composed  of  500  child's  and  elders 
seated  in  a  circle  around  the  Father,  and  of  all  the  young  men,  who 
remained  standing.  They  numbered  more  than  1,500  men,  without 
counting  the  women  and  children,  who  are.  always  numerous, — the 
village  being  composed  of  5  or  600  fires.  The  Father  addressed  the 
whole  body  of  people,  and  conveyed  to  them,  ten  messages,  by  means  of 
ten  presents  which  he  gave  them.  He  explained  to  them  the  principal 
mysteries  of  our  Religion,  and  the  purpose  that  had  brought  him  to 
their  country.  Above  all,  he  preached  to  them  Jesus  Christ,  on  the 
very  eve  (of  that  great  day)  on  which  He  had  died  upon  the  Cross  for 
them,  as  well  as  for  all  the  rest  of  mankind;  then  he  said  Holy  Mass. 
On  the  third  day  after,  which  was  Easter  Sunday,  things  being  pre- 
pared in  the  same  manner  as  on  Thursday,  he  celebrated  the  holy 
mysteries  for  the  second  time;  and  by  these  two,  the  only  sacrifices 
ever  offered  there  to  God,  he  took  possession  of  that  land  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  gave  to  that  mission  the  name  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  He  was  listened  to  by  all  those 
peoples  with  universal  joy;  and  they  prayed  him  with  most  earnest 
entreaty  to  come  back  to  them  as  soon  as  possible,  since  his  sickness 
obliged  him  to  return.  The  Father,  on  his  side,  expressed  to  them  the 
affection  which  he  felt  for  them,  and  the  satisfaction  that  they  had 
given  him;  and  pledged  them  his  word  that  he,  or  some  other  of  our 
Fathers,  would  return  to  carry  on  that   mission  so  happily   inaugurated. 


Father  J  nuns  Marquette  and  M.  J  olid  17 

This  promise  he  repealed  several  limes,  while  parting  with  them  to 
go  upon  his  way;  and  he  set  out  with  so  many  tokens  of  regard  on 
the  part  of  those  good  peoples  that,  as  a  mark  of  honor,  they  chose 
to  escort  him  for  more  than  30  leagues  on  the  road,  vying  with  each 
other  in  taking  charge  of  his  slender  baggage."22 

In  order  to  reach  his  home  at  St.  [gnace  Father  Marquette  with 
his  two  companions  entered  Lake  Michigan  and  coasted  along  its 
southern  and  western  shore,  but  he  felt  so  feeble  and  exhausted  that 
he  was  obliged  to  disembark  from  his  canoe,  and  on  the  banks  of  what 
is  since  know  as  Pere  Marquette  River,  he  yielded  up  his  spirit  in  the 
depths  of  the  wilderness,  thanking  the  Almighty  far  his  mercy  in 
permitting  him  to  die  in  the  Society  of  Jesus,  alone  amidst  the  forest. 
!  I  is  frail  body  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  spot  his  death  had  consecrated; 
but  two  years  later  was  removed  to  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignace  at 
\i.ickinack,  where  the  hones  were  placed  in  a  small  vaidl  in  the 
middle  of  the  church.  "The  savages  often  come  to  pray  at  his  tomb," 
adds  Father  Claude  Dablon. 

Father  Marquette  was  succeeded  in  the  Illinois  Mission  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception  by  Father  Claude  Allouez,  his  former  Superior 
at  the  Pointe  de  Saint  Esprit.  In  his  sincere  and  deep  humility  Father 
Marquette  never  realized  the  vast  significance  of  his  discovery.  He 
was  glad  to  do  a  service  to  his*  country  France,  but  his  greal  delighl 
and  comfort  were  the  souls  whom  he  had  won  for  Christ.  He  resembled 
St.  Francis  Xavier,  nut  only  in  the  variety  of  Barbarian  languages, 
which  he  mastered,  but  also  in  the  range  of  his  zeal,  which  made  him 
carry  the  faith  to  so  many  unknown  nations,  in  the  <jentleness  of  his 
love  which  rendered  him  beloved  by  all,  in  the  beauty  of  his  child-like 
candor,  with  which  he  disclosed  his  heart  to  his  superiors,  in  his 
angelic  chastity  and  uninterrupted  union  with  God.23 

Of  Louis  Joliet,  Father  Marquette's  companion  of  the  voyage,  or 
if  you  will,  the  leader  of  it,  history  must  in  future  speak  with  the 
highest  respect.  He  had  the  good  will  of  both  Frontenac  and  Talon, 
and  as  it  would  seem,  the  Jesuit  Superior  had  commended  him  to 
Talon  for  the  enterprise.  He  knew  several  of  the  Indian  languages, 
and  manifested  remarkable  faith  in  his  dealings  with  the  natives.  He 
had  an  intrepid  spirit  and  a  romantic  turn  of  mind.  His  bodily 
constitution  was  hardened  to  all  kinds  of  hardships  and  privations. 
He  was  one  heart  and  one  mind  with  Father  Marquette:  With  him 
he  shared  the  dangers  of  the  voyage,  and  he  must  share  with  him  the 
"•lory   of   the   great    discovery.      Father   Marquette    would    be    the    first 


22  "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  50,  p.  189. 

23  Cf.   Claude   Dablon 's   Circular   letter   apud    Thwaites,    "Father    Marquette," 
page  232. 


18  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

one  to  give  testimony  in  his  favor,  if  he  could  be  called  before  the 
tribunal  of  history,  which  has  long  since  decided  in  his  own  favor. 
Father  James  Marquette's  successor  at  the  mission  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  at  Kaskaskia  was  Father  Claude  Allouez,  a  man  not 
inferior  in  zeal  or  ability  to  any  of  the  great  missionaries  of  his  time. 
He  sailed  from  France  in  1658,  and  after  a  thorough  study  of  the 
Algonquin  language  in  Quebec,  was  sent  to  the  west.  On  April  27, 
1677,  he  arrived  at  Kaskaskia  on  the  Illinois  River.  "I  immediately 
entered  the  cabin  where  Father  Marquette  had  lodged,  and  the  sachems 
with  all  the  people  being  assembled,  I  told  them  the  object  of  my  coming 
among  them,  namely  to  preach  to  them  the  true  living  and  immortal 
God  and  His  only  Son  Jesus  Christ."  Father  Allouez  found  the 
village  much  increased.  It  was  before  composed  only  of  one  nation, 
the  Kaskaskias,  there  were  now  eight,  the  Kaskaskias  having  called 
the  others  who  dwelt  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Mississippi.  After 
some  acquaintance  the  priest  pronounced  these  savages  as  naturally 
high  spirited,  valorous  and  daring.  "The  women  dress  modestly,  the 
men  feel  no  shame  at  their  own  nudity."  Polygamy  is  the  chief 
obstacle  to  their  adopting  the  Christian  religion.  But  Allouez  is  very 
hopeful  of  a  great  change  to  be  effected  by  the  children  as  they  grow 
up.  Even  of  the  adults  he  does  not  despair,  as  he  w?rites;  "I  laid 
the  foundation  of  this  mission  by  the. baptism  of  thirty-five  children, 
and  a  sick  adult,  who  soon  after  died  with  one  infant,  to  go  and  take 
possession  of  heaven  in  the  name  of  the  whole  nation.  And  we, 
to  take  possession  of  these  tribes  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  on  the 
third  day  of  May,  the  Feast  of  the  Holy  Cross,  planted  in  the 
middle  of  the  village  a  Cross  thirty-five  feet  in  height,  chanting  the 
"Vexilla"  in  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of  Illinois  of  all  the 
nations.  Of  these  I  can  say  in  truth  that  they  did  not  regard  Jesus 
Christ  crucified  as  a  folly,  or  a  scandal;  on  the  contrary,  they  assisted 
at  the  ceremony  with  great  respect,  and  listened  with  admiration  to 
all  I  had  to  say  regarding  the  mystery.  The  children  even  came 
devoutly  to  kiss  the  cross,  while  the  grown-up  people  earnestly  en- 
treated me  to  plant  it  there  so  firmly  that  it  might  never  be  in  danger 
of  falling."24  This  was  the  last  official  act  of  Father  Allouez  among 
his  Illinois  children.  He  promised  them  to  return  the  next  year  1678; 
and,  as  Father  Claude  Dablon  states  at  the  end  of  Father  Allouez's 
narrative,  he  did  set  out  for  the  mission  to  remain  there  two  years. 
But  ere  he  could  carry  out  his  purpose  La  Salle  and  his  force  arrived 
in  the  Illinois  country  with  three  Recollet  Fathers,  Ribourde,  Mambre 
and  Hennepin. 


24     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  70,  p.  165. 


Chapter  3 
LASALLE,  DE  TONTI  AND  THE  RECOLLETS 


Whilst  Father  Marquette's  voyage  can  be  justly  compared  to  the 
journey  of  an  apostle,  quiet  and  lonely  in  outward  form,  yet  borne 
onward  by  a  burning  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  the  succeeding 
expedition  conducted  by  LaSalle  and  Tonti  and  accompanied  by  the 
Recollet1  Fathers  Ribourde,  Mambre  and  Hennepin,  bears  greater  i*e- 
semblance  to  a  romantic  adventure  of  Knightly  Crusaders.  Both  bore 
the  crown  of  Christ  on  their  banners.  Both  strove  and  suffered  for 
the  winning  of  souls.  With  LaSalle  this  purpose  often  seems  secondary, 
with  Father  Marquette  it  always  stands  foremost  and  highest.  This 
may  be  partly  owing  to  the  fact  that,  although  Joliet  was  the  official 
leader  of  the  vojrage  of  exploration  Father  Marquette  was,  both  intel- 
lectually and  by  force  of  character,  its  very  head  and  soul;  whilst 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Sieur  de  LaSalle  was  in  every  sense  the  con- 
trolling spirit  and  heroic  soul  of  the  entire  undertaking.  It  is  a 
fascinating  story  of  courage,  determination  and  political  wisdom, 
qualities  that  would  have  led  to  the  grandest  achievements,  if  they 
had  been  combined  with  the  gentleness  of  manner  and  the  necessary 
power  of  bending  others  to  his  purpose  and  leading  them  as  by  a  silken 
cord.  From  LaSalle 's  brain  sprang  the  grand  conception  of  a  New 
France  in  America,  greater,  richer,  more  powerful  than  the  old,  which 
was  to  stretch  from  the  northern  shores  of  the  great  lakes  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  from  the  Allegheny  Mountains  to  the  Vermillion  Sea, 
thus  surrounding  the  struggling  colonies  of  England  with  an  im- 
penetrable wall  on  all  sides  except  the  seaboard  of  the  Atlantic. 
That  he  did  not  attain  his  purpose  does  not  derogate  from  the  grandeur 
of  the  idea.  We  can  here  but  pass  in  rapid  review  the  various  scenes 
of  this  mighty  drama,  as  it  is  recorded  by  the  Recollet  Fathers  Hennepin 
and  Le  Clerque  and  by  the  ever  faithful  Chevalier  de  Tonti. 

Robert  Cavelier  Sieur  de  LaSalle  was  a  native  of  Normandy.  Born  at 
Rouen,  November  21,  1643,  he  received  his  education  in  some  Jesuit  Insti- 
tution of  learning.  He  entered  the  Novitiate  in  Paris  October  5th,  1658, 
and  two  years  later  took  the  three  vows  under  the  name  Robert  Ignatius. 
1666  he  asked  for  his  release  and  obtained  it  on  March  28th,  1668,  and 
departed  for  Canada.  He  soon  made  a  fortune  in  the  fur  trade.  This 
he  used  for  the  furtherance  of  his  high  ambition  to  extend  the  power 
of  France  in  the  new  world.  Through  the  influence  of  Count  Frontenac 
he  obtained  large  powers  in   this  regard  from  the  King,  Louis  XIV. 


The  Becollets  are  a  branch  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis. 

(19) 


l'ii  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Linus 

Frontenac  himself  ceded  to  him  the  Fort  he  had  built  on  the  eastern 
extremity  of  Lake  Ontario,  where  the  St.  Lawrence  issues  from  the 
lake.  The  only  condition  was  that  La  Salle  should  rebuild  the  fort 
with  stone  and  maintain  the  garrison  there  al  his  own  expense.  To 
enable  the  new  commander  to  do  this,  he  was  invested  with  the  seignory 
of  a  trad  of  land  around  it.  The  discoveries  of  Marquette  left  no 
doubt  in  LaSalle's  mind  that  the  Mississippi  emptied  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico;  yet  one  of  its  tributaries  might  come  from  China  and  Japan. 
An  ocean  of  discovery  lay  before  him.  The  greal  Colberl  and  the 
King  himself  were  won  over.  In  Paris  LaSalle  engaged  the  Chevalier 
de  Tonti,  an  Italian  by  birth,  and  in  May  1678  the  party  of  thirty 
persons  set  sail  for  Quebec  where  they  arrived  near  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember. He  also  engaged  three  Recollet  Fathers:  Gabriel  Ribourde, 
Louis  Hennepin  and  Zenobe  Mabre,  all  Flemings,  to  accompany  him 
on  his  proposed  voyage  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf.  Five  other 
Recollets  were  to  attend  the  missions  at  Fort  Frontenac  and  Fort 
Niagara,2  which  latter  stronghold  was  built  by  Father  Hennepin,  No- 
vember 1678  to  August  1679.  About  two  leagues  above  the  Falls  of 
Niagara  LaSalle  built  a  ship  of  sixty  tons,  the  first  ship  that  ever 
sailed  over  the  waters  of  the  great  lakes.  It  was  called  the  Griffin. 
Proudly  it  sailed  away  August  7th,  1679,  over  the  pathway  of  Lake 
Erie  and  Lake  Huron,  then  through  the  Straits  of  Mackinac,  the  Griffin 
entered  the  broad  expanse  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  coasting  along  its 
northern  borders,  cast  anchor  at  an  island  in  the  mouth  of  Green  Bay. 
Laden  with  furs  and  peltry  the  Griffin  was  sent  back  to  Fort  Frontenac, 
whilst  LaSalle  and  most  of  his  men  and  three  friars,  started  in  boats 
down  Lake  Michigan  for  the  Illinois  country,  and  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  sea.  Taking  the  portage  of  the  Kankakee  River  they  floated 
down  the  Illinois  until  they  came  to  Lake  Peoria,  then  called  Pimiteouy, 
They  landed  at  a  large  settlement  of  Indians  at  the  southern  end  of 
the  lake.  Here  LaSalle  built  Fort  Creve  Coeur.  Father  Mambre 
took  up  his  residence  there,  supplying  the  place  of  the  Jesuit  Allouez. 
Father  Hennepin  was  dispatched  on  an  exploring  trip  to  discover 
the  sources  of  the  Mississippi.  He  came  as  far  as  the  rapids  near  St. 
Paul,  and  called  them  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  Being  captured  by 
a  band  of  Sioux  Indians  he  was  held  a  prisoner  for  some  time  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  River.  LaSalle  on  his  part  started  back 
to  Mackinac  with  three  Frenchmen  and  one  Indian,  leaving  Tonti  in 
i  hief  command  at  the  Creve  Coeur  fort. 

On  his  way  he  was  so  charmed  with  a  high  rocky  eminence,  rising 
from  the  river,  level  at  the  top  and  accessible  on  one  side  only.  He 
sent  word  to  Tonti  to  build  a  fort  on  the  rock.     It  was  done,  and  in 


2     Father    Hennepin    in    his    "Louisiana,"    published    the    first    description    of 
Niagara  Falls. 


LaSalle,  Dc  Tonti  and  the  Becollets  21 

history  it  bears  the  honored  name  of  Fort  St.  Louis.  Daring  LaSalle 's 
absence  suspicions  were  rife  among  the  Indians  as  to  the  intentions 
of  the  Frenchmen,  suspicions  that  seemed  to  be  confirmed  by  the  appear- 
ance of  an  Iroquois  war  party  at  the  village.  The  Illinois  were  defeated 
and  dispersed.  The  French  fort  was  destroyed  by  renegade  Frenchmen, 
and  Tonti  himself  and  his  little  band  had  to  withdraw ;  on  the  way 
the  venerable  Father  Gabriel  Ribourde  was  murdered  by  an  Iroquois 
warrior.  Tonti  escaped  to  Green  Bay,  whilst  LaSalle  was  on  his  return 
voyage  to  the  Illinois.  He  alone  was  not  broken-hearted,  although 
his  proud  ship  the  Griffin  was  lost,  his  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Joseph  River  as  well  as  Fort  Creve  Coeur  were  destroyed  and  many 
of  the  men  had  deserted.  He  immediately  studied  out  a  plan  to  re- 
trieve his  fallen  fortunes.  He  learnt  that  nearly  all  the  inhabitants 
of  seventeen  Illinois  villages  had  crossed  the  Mississippi  River  to  find 
safety  among  the  Osages  and  Missouri  Indians.  After  a  long  and 
tedious  search  LaSalle  found  Tonti  and  Mambre  in  Mackinac,  waiting 
for  him  and  ready  to  continue  his  work.  In  January  1682  LaSalle  and 
his  company  were  ready  for  the  voyage  down  the  Illinois  River,  and 
on  the  6th  of  February  they  found  themselves  floating  safely  on  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi.  On  the  4th  of  March  LaSalle  took  possession 
of  the  country  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  France,  Louis  XIV.  The 
savages  Avere  delighted  with  the  splendor  of  the  ceremony.  A  large 
cross  was  erected  by  the  soldiers  and  adorned  with  the  arms  of  France. 
Father  Mambre  spoke  to  the  multitude  of  Christ  and  His  love  for  the 
Indians.  Two  weeks  were  spent  in  the  villages  of  the  Arkansas  round 
about.  On  the  20th  of  March  they  reached  the  Taensas  where  the 
commander  was  received  with  elaborate  ceremonial.  Another  cross 
was  planted  in  the  usual  manner.  At  last  on  the  6th  of  April  the  river 
was  observed  to  divide  itself  into  three  arms.  LaSalle  had  found  the 
Gulf.  Here  at  the  mouth  of  the  great  river  a  column  was  erected  with 
this  inscription:  "Louis  the  Great,  King  of  France  and  Navarre,  reigns; 
the  9th  of  April  1682."  The  Te  Deum  was  chanted,  the  muskets  were 
discharged  and  a  shout  went  up:  "Long  live  the  King."  Thus  did  the 
Sieur  de  LaSalle  take  possession  of  all  Louisiana  for  the  crown  of 
France.  LaSalle  began  to  ascend  the  river,  on  his  return  to  Quebec, 
but  owing  to  sickness,  he  did  not  arrive  in  that  city  before  the  Spring 
of  the  following  year,  1683.  The  important  discovery  he  had  made  was 
to  be  immediately  communicated  to  the  French  Court ;  He  accordingly 
once  more  returned  to  France,  where  he  was  favorably  received  by  the 
Court,  from  which,  notAvithstanding  some  opposition  that  was  made 
to  the  undertaking,  he  obtained  four  vessels  for  the  purpose  of  enabling 
him  to  enter  the  Mississippi  from  the  sea,  and  securing  by  actual 
possession,  the  advantages  of  the  recent  discovery.  Among  his  com- 
panions,   about    two    hundred    in    number,    were    three    priests    of    the 


22  History  of  tht   Archdioces(   of  St.  Louis 

congregation  of  St.  Sulpice,  one  of  whom  was  a  brother  of  LaSalle,  as 
also  four  Capuchin  Fathers.  LaSalle 's  brother  bore  the  name  of 
Joseph  Cavelier.  The  other  Kulpicians  were  M.  Chefdeville  and  M.  de 
Maim  ille,  called  by  Joutel  Dainniaville.  The  three  Recollets  were 
Fathers  Zenobius  Mambre,  Superior  of  the  Mission,  Father  Maximus 
LeClereq,  and  Father  Anastasius  Douay,  all  three  of  the  province 
of  St.  Anthony  in  Artois.8  Father  Zenobius  was  specially  endeared 
to  LaSalle  as  his  inseparable  companion  during  the  four  years  of  his 
conquest  of  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers. 

Starting  out  from  the  port  of  Rochelle,  the  little  fleet  was  forced 
to  return  on  account  of  an  accident  to  the  largesl  ship.  Owing  to 
various  misunderstandings  between  LaSalle  and  the  Captain  of  the 
expedition,  Beaujeu,  one  of  the  ships  was  captured  by  a  Spanish 
pirate,  another  vessel  was  lost,  with  all  its  cargo  in  the  attempt  to 
land.  Beaujeu  refused  to  deliver  the  cannon  and  ammunition  intended 
for  the  colony  and,  to  cap  the  climax,  large  bands  of  Indian  warriors 
made  constant  attacks  on  his  men.  Matagorda  Bay  had  been  mistaken 
for  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  The  only  vessel  which  remained  at 
LaSalle 's  disposal  ran  aground  and  sunk  during  his  absence.  The 
equanimity  of  temper  with  which  he  bore  these  accumulated  trials, 
is,  perhaps,  the  most  beautiful  part  of  his  character;  while  the  per- 
severance with  which  he  labored  for  the  attainment  of  his  important 
design,  entitles  him  to  the  highest  meed  of  praise.  There  was  now  no 
hope  of  safety  but  in  gaining  the  Illinois  River  by  land;  and,  not- 
withstanding the  appalling  difficulties  with  which  such  an  attempt  was 
attended,  he  resolved  to  make  the  effort.  On  the  7th  of  January, 
1687,  accompanied  by  twenty  men,  among  them  his  brother,  the  Sulpician 
Father  Anastasius.  and  the  Sieur  Joutel,  he  left  the  fort  in  the  posses- 
sion of  his  remaining  companions,  and  set  out  on  his  adventurous 
journey.  Proceeding  in  a  northeastern  direction,  he  wandered,  during 
three  months,  over  every  variety  of  country — wide  extended  plains, 
and  verdant  hills;  through  tangled  forests,  and  rank  poisonous  swamps; 
exposed  to  dangers  of  the  most  serious  character,  and  enduring  all 
kinds  of  privation  and  suffering. 

On  the  19th  of  March  1687  LaSalle  was  murdered  by  two  of  his 
own  men,  who  shot  him  from  ambush.  Joutel  says  that  LaSalle  died 
instantly;  but  Father  Anastasius,  who  was  an  eyewitness  says:  "I 
saw  him  fall  a  step   from  me,  with  his  face  all  covered  with   blood.     I 


3  Both  Reeolk't  Fathers  Hennepin  and  Mambre,  the  companions  of  LaSalle 's 
first  and  second  voyages,  as  well  as  Fathers  Douay  and  LeClereq,  Recollets,  Father 
Joseph  Cavelier,  Sulpician,  an  M.  Henry  Joutel,  of  the  second  voyage,  have  left  us 
authentic  accounts  of  the  events  they  witnessed.  They  all  can  be  found  in  John  G. 
Shea's  three  volume-series,  "The  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley. ' ' 


LaSulle,  De  Tonti  and  the  Recollets  23 

washed  it  with  tears,  exhorting  him  to  die  well.  He  had  confessed,  and 
fulfilled  his  devotions  just  before  we  started;  he  had  still  time  to 
recapitulate  a  part  of  his  life,  and  I  gave  him  absolution.  I  could  not 
leave  the  spot  where  he  had  expired  without  having  buried  him  as  well 
as  I  could,  after  which  I  raised  a  cross  over  his  grave."4  This  account 
is  not  as  improbable  as  some  writers  have  considered  it.  Any  Catholic 
priest  would,  in  a  similar  case,  immediately  give  absolution,  even  when 
in  doubt  whether  the  penitent  be  dying  or  dead.  No  doubt  Father 
Anastasius  took  LaSalle's  hand  in  his  and  spoke  words  of  comfort  and 
hope  into  his  ears,  feeling  in  the  pressure  of  the  hand  a  faint  response. 
This  too,  would  be  called  a  confession. 

LaSalle  's  character  is  thus  given  by  Bancroft :  ' '  For  force  of  will, 
and  vast  conceptions — for  various  knowledge,  and  quick  adaptation  of 
his  genius  to  untried  circumstances — for  a  sublime  magnanimity,  that 
resigned  itself  to  the  will  of  Heaven,  and  yet  triumphed  over  affliction 
by  energy  of  purpose  and  unfaltering  hope — he  had  no  superior  among 
his  countrymen.  He  had  won  the  affection  of  the  Governor  of  Canada, 
the  esteem  of  Colbert,  the  confidence  of  Seignelay,  the  favor  of  Louis 
XIV.  After  beginning  the  colonization  of  Upper  Canada,  he  perfected 
the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  to  its 
mouth ;  and  he  will  be  remembered  through  all  time,  as  the  father 
of  colonization  in  the  great  central  valley  of  the  west."5  Immediately 
after  the  melancholy  termination  of  the  labors  of  this  great  man, 
his  assassins  undertook  the  command  of  the  expedition ;  and,  as  might 
be  expected  their  first  exercise  of  authority  was  to  seize  on  the  treasury 
and  provisions,  which  were  estimated  to  be  worth  about  fifty  thousand 
francs.  Soon  however  disputes  arose  among  them ;  two  of  them  fell 
victims  to  the  violence  of  their  guilty  accomplices,  and  the  rest  are 
supposed  to  have  remained  among  some  of  the  Indian  tribes.  Those  who 
remained  faithful  pursued  their  journey  under  the  leadership  of 
LaSalle's  brother,  the  Sulpician  Cavelier,  and  the  Recollet  Father 
Anastasius,  until  the  20th  of  July,  when  they  arrived  among  the 
Arkansas,  where  they  met  with  two  of  their  countrymen,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  river  of  that  name.  After  a  short  delay,  they  ascended  the 
Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River,  which  they  entered  on  the 
3rd  of  September,  and  on  the  11th  of  the  same  month  arrived  at  Fort 
St.  Louis,  on  Lake  Peoria.  De  Tonti  was  absent  on  a  military  expedition 
against  the  Seneca  Indians,  under  the  command  of  Governor  de  Nonville. 
The  Jesuit  Father  Allouez,  who  had  attended  the  Kaskaskia  mission 
for  the  last  year  or  more,  now  departed  for  Mackinac.  Here,  on  Peoria 
Lake  the  remnants  of  LaSalle's  expedition  passed  the  Avinter,  and  on 


■*     Narrative  of  Father  Douay  in  J.  G.  Shea's  "Discovery  and  Exploration  in 
the  Mississippi  Valley,  p.  218. 

6     "History  of  the  United  States,"  1854,  vol.  Ill,  p.  173. 


'_' J  History  of  tJu    Archdiocest    of  St.   Louis 

the  opening  of  spring  continued  their  journey  to  Quebec,  where,  shortly 
after  their  arrival,  they  took  shipping  for  France.  No  further. attempts 
to  complete  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  appear  to  have  been  made 
by  the  French  Governmenl  until  the  year  Hi!>7.  when  two  ships,  under 
the  command  of  Lemoine  D'Iberville  and  Chateaumorand,  were  fitted 
out  for  thai  purpose.  They  set  sail  on  the  ITtli  of  October  1698  and  on 
the  12th  of  January  1699  came  in  sight  of  the  coast  of  Florida.  Shortly 
afterwards  Lemoine  D'Iberville  sailed  for  the  .Mississippi,  which  he 
entered  on  the  -lid  of  March  and  ascended  as  far  as  the  present  site 
of  Donaldsonville  and  founded  the  Colony  of  Rosalie  near  the  site  of 
the  City  of  Natchez.  In  1718  his  brother  Bienville  completed  the 
peaceful  conquest  of  Louisiana  by  the  foundation  of  the  great  emporium 
of  the  South,  New  Orleans.  This  rapid  review  represents  in  rough  out- 
lines the  national  background  for  the  rising  Church  of  God  in  the 
vast  territory  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries.  The  progress  of 
religion  is  slow  and  laborious.  The  immediate  results  are  not  great, 
as  far  as  the  records  show.  Yet  missionary  activities  had  accompanied 
i  he  entire  voyage  of  LaSalle  from  Fort  Frontenac  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi;  for  as  we  have  seen,  Father  Zenobe  Mambre  never  let 
an  occasion  pass  by  without  an  appeal  to  the  unima  naturaliter  chris- 
tiane,  that  he  recognized  in  every  savage  he  met.  leather  Gabriel 
Ribourde  sealed  his  glowing  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls  by  martyrdom. 
Father  Hennepin,  after  his  deliverance  from  captivity  by  Du  Lhulh, 
returned  to  Green  Bay  by  way  of  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox  Rivers.  In 
the  following  year  he  sailed  for  Europe  and,  at  the  convent  of  his  order 
at  St.  Germaine-en-Laye,  wrote  his  first  book,  the  Louisiana.  The 
name  of  Father  Louis  Hennepin  has  been  clouded  with  the  charge  that 
he  was  a  dreadful  liar.  Mr.  Perkman  has  expressed  the  current  opinion 
of  him  by  saying:  "His  books  have  their  value  with  all  their  enormous 
fabrications.  Could  he  have  contented  himself  with  telling  the  truth, 
his  name  would  have  stood  high  as  a  bold  and  vigorous  discoverer."1' 

Father  Hennepin's  character,  in  no  other  respect,  has  been  im- 
peached; and  while  in  America,  he  bore  the  reputation  of  a  fearless, 
circumspect,  and  self-denying  priest.  When  stationed  in  Canada  he 
would  start  out  in  the  depth  of  winter  with  a  little  chapel  service  on 
his  back,  and  travel  twenty  or  thirty  leagues  on  snow  shoes,  that  he 
might  baptize  dying  Indians  and  harden  himself  for  his  rough  pioneer 
work.  With  two  companions  he  explored,  in  1680,  the  Mississippi 
River  north  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River,  discovered 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  and  wrote  the  earliest  book  of  travels  on  the 
Northwest.  The  general  truthfulness  of  this  book  the  Louisiana  has 
never  been  questioned;  and  its  popularity  has  exceeded  that  of  all 
other  contemporary  publications  relating  to  North  America.    May  there 


Parkman,  "  LaSalle  and  the  Greal   West,"  p.  137. 


LaSalle,  Be  Tonti  and  the  Becollets  25 

not  be  some  mistake  in  the  severe  judgment  which  has  been  passed  upon 
the  character  of  Father  Hennepin?  That  there  were  falsehoods  and 
frauds  in  later  publications  which  bore  his  name  is  true;  but  what 
part  of  the  culpability  for  those  frauds,  if  any,  rests  upon  him,  is 
a  question  which  needs  a  new  and  careful  investigation.  Some  of  them 
are  too  glaring  to  have  any  appeal  to  a  man  of  sense,  such  as  Hennepin 
certainly  was. 

One  of  the  earliest,  in  some  respect,  the  very  earliest  settle- 
ment of  whites  on  the  Mississippi  River  is  the  Post  of  Arkansas. 
LaSalle  on  his  first  voyage  of  discovery  and  conquest  in  1682  made  a 
grant  of  land  on  the  Arkansas  River  to  his  ever-faithful  lieutenant. 
Henri  De  Tonti.  In  1686  Tonti  took  possession  of  his  seigniory  and 
built  a  log  house,  surrounded  by  palisades  and  left  ten  men  to  begin 
a  settlement.  This  was  the  origin  of  Arkansas  Post.  The  Post  was 
still  oceupied  when  tin-  survivors  of  LaSalle 's  party  reached  the  place 
from  Texas.  In  1698  lie  once  more  visited  this  furl  in  company  of  the 
Gentlemen  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  Montigny,  St.  Cosine  and  Davion. 
In  1689  Tonti  had  made  a  grant  of  a  tract  of  land  in  his  seigniory  to 
the  Jesuits  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  mission,  promising  to 
build  a  house  and  chapel  for  the  missionaries.  He  also  agreed  to 
support  a  missionary  for  three  years.  The  missionaries  were  to  erect 
a  cross  fifteen  feet  high,  instruct  the  Indians,  encourage  agriculture  and 
say  a  mass  for  Tonti  on  St.  Henry's  day. 

After  the  death  of  Tonti,  John  Law,  the  "great  financier",  received 
a  grant  of  twelve  square  miles  near  the  Post  of  Arkansas.  The  Post 
itself  was  still  maintained  when  Charlevoix  visited  the  place  in  1721.  It 
was  stipulated  that  the  proprietor  of  the  new  colony  should  settle 
fifteen  hundred  Germans  on  the  lands  that  had  been  granted  to  him, 
and  that  he  should  keep  up,  at  his  own  expense,  a  body  of  infantry  and 
cavalry  sufficient  to  protect  the  colonists  against  the  attacks  of  Indians. 
In  the  month  of  March  1721  two  hundred  immigrants  arrived  in  the 
colony.  But  when  they  heard  of  Law's  failure  and  disgrace  they 
returned  to  New  Orleans  and  demanded  to  be  sent  back  to  their  Alsatian 
homes.  But  they  were  prevailed  upon  to  stay.  Large  tracts  of  land 
were  granted  to  them  on  the  Mississippi,  thirty  miles  above  New  Orleans, 
at  the  place  that  still  bears  the  name  of  "German  Coast." 

The  first  priest  at  the  Post  of  Arkansas  was  the  Jesuit  du  Poisson  who 
came  as  missionary  to  the  Indians  and  chaplain  to  the  garrison  1727.  As 
there  was  neither  chapel  nor  house,  the  priest  accepted  the  hospitality  of 
the  Commandant.  "In  1729,  on  his  way  to  New  Orleans."  as  Father 
Watrin  relates,  "he  stopped  over  at  the  village  of  the  Natchez,  on  the 
very  day  which  they  had  chosen  for  slaughtering  the  French,  and  was 
included  in  the  general  massacre.  This  conspiracy  may  well  be  compared 
to  t lie  Sicilian  Vespers.  The  French  established  at  that  post  treated 
with  the. utmost  insolence  the  nation  of  the  Natchez,  the  most  useful  and 


26  History  of  tht    Archdiocest    of  St.   Louis 

the  most  (Icvotcd  to  the  colony;  and  they  in  turn  undertook  to  avenge 
themselves.  Father  du  Poisson  had  been  requested  to  remain  one  day 
for  some  ministerial  function  which  presented  itself,  in  the  absence  of 
the  cure;  he  consented  to  do  it,  and  was  the  victim  of  his  devotion  and 
his  charity."7  The  entire  country  in  the  neighborhood  was,  for  a  long 
time,  in  a  disturbed  condition,  so  that  the  place  of  Father  du  Poisson 
could  not  be  filled.  As  Father  Watrin  in  his  letter  on  the  Banishment 
of  the  Jesuits,  records,  "'one  month  afterward,  Hie  Vazous,  another 
savage  nation,  having  entered  into  the  same  conspiracy,  also  slew  the 
French  who  lived  near  them.  Father  Souel,  their  missionary,  was  not 
spared j  he  was  so  beloved  by  the  negro  who  served  him  that  his  faithful 
slave  was  killed  in  trying  to  defend  or  avenge  his  master.  About  the 
same  time,  Father  D'Outreleau  descended  with  several  voyageurs  from 
the  Illinois  country,  for  the  affairs  of  the  mission,  and  halted  upon  the 
hanks  of  the  Mississippi,  to  say  mass.  A  band  of  these  same  Yazous, 
who  had  killed  Father  Souel,  arrived  at  the  same  place,  with  other 
savages,  their  allies;  they  watched  the  time  when  the  French,  and 
especially  the  Father,  were  occupied  with  the  holy  sacrifice,  and  they 
fired  a  volley  from  their  guns,  which  killed  some  Frenchmen  and 
wounded  others.  Father  D'Outreleau  received  a  wound  in  the  arm 
and  several  grains  of  coarse  shot  in  his  mouth;  it  was  regarded  as  a 
very  remarkable  effect  of  God's  protection  that  he  was  only  slightly 
wounded.  This  disaster  did  not  dismay  him ;  his  firmness  reassured 
his  fellow-travelers,  and  they  escaped  the  savages  and  proceeded  to 
New  Orleans.  Soon  afterward,  it  was  a  question  of  avenging  upon 
the  barbarians  the  deaths  of  Hie  French,  especially  of  all  those  who 
had  perished  among  the  Natchez ;  an  army  was  sent  thither,  of  which 
Father  D'Outreleau  was  the  chaplain,  and  in  that  employ  he  always 
condrcted  himself  in  the  same  resolute  manner."8  There  must  have 
been  Jesuit  missionaries  at  the  Post  of  Arkansas  up  to  1763,  when  Father 
Carette  was  forced  to  leave  it  by  the  contempt  of  all  religion  displayed 
by  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  garrison.  As  there  was  no  chapel 
nor  house  for  the  priest,  mass  had  to  be  said  in  the  mess-room  of  the 
Fort,  a  place  made  still  more  unsuitable  by  the  rude  manners  and 
freedom  of  language  boldly  manifested  by  almost  all.  Soon  after  that, 
the  Post  of  Arkansas  received  a  Spanish  Commandant.  The  Indians 
around  the  Post  were  called  Quappas  or  Kappas.  Remnants  of  them 
continued  to  live  on  the  banks  of  the  Arkansas  River  as  late  as  Bishop 
Rosati  's  time. 


1     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  70,  p.  247. 

8     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  70,  pp.  247-248. 


Chapter  4 
ON  THE  ILLINOIS  RIVER 


During  the  time  of  the  construction  of  Fort  Cr'eve  Coeur  until  its 
destruction  and  the  flight  of  the  Frenchmen  under  De  Tonti  two 
Recollet  Fathers,  Gabriel  Ribourde  and  Zenobius  Mambre,  were  the 
representatives  of  the  spiritual  order  among  the  French  and  the  Indian 
Christians  on  the  Illinois.  Father  Louis  Hennepin  had  asked  and 
received  the  commission  to  explore  the  Mississippi  to  the  North,  and 
he  never  returned  to  the  Illinois.  "The  only  great  Illinois  village  being 
composed  of  seven  or  eight  thousand  souls,"  wrote  Father  Mambre, 
"Father  Gabriel  and  I  had  a  sufficient  field  for  the  exercise  of  our  zeal 
besides  the  few  French  who  soon  after  came  there.''1  In  addition  to  this 
great  village  there  were  a  large  number  of  small  villages  within  their 
jurisdiction;  those  of  the  Miamis,  the  Ottowas,  the  Kickapoos  and  Iowas, 
the  Mascoutens  and  Kaskaskias  and  Nadowissius.  It  was  a  strange 
mixture  of  tribes  and  a  wide  circuit  of  territory  the  Recollets  claimed ; 
Yet  there  was  no  one  there  at  the  time  to  dispute  it  with  them,  though 
to  the  north  there  were  a  number  of  Jesuits  engaged  in  the  same  work. 
"Father  Gabriel  and  I,"  says  Father  Mambre,  "devoted  ourselves 
constantly  to  the  mission."  An  Illinois  named  Asapieta  adopted  Father 
Gabriel  as  his  son,  so  that  the  good  Father  found  in  his  cabin  a  sub- 
sistence in  the  Indian  fashion.  "As  wine  failed  for  the  celebration  of 
the  divine  mysteries,  we  found  means,  towards  the  close  of  August,  to 
get  wild  grapes  which  began  to  ripen,  and  we  made  very  good  wine."2 
With  regard  to  conversions  Father  Mambre  is  rather  pessimistic : 
"During  the  whole  time  Father  Gabriel  unraveled  their  language  a  little, 
and  I  spoke  so  as  to  make  myself  understood  by  the  Indians ;  but  there 
is  in  these  savages  such  an  alienation  from  the  Faith,  so  brutal  and 
narrow  a  mind,  such  corrupt  and  anti-christian  morals,  that  great  time 
would  be  needed  to  hope  for  any  fruit.  It  is  true,  I  found  many  of 
quite  docile  character"3  "During  the  summer  we  followed  the  Indians 
in  their  camps,  and  to  the  chase.  I  also  made  a  voyage  to  the  Miamis, 
to  learn  something  about  their  disposition;  thence  I  went  to  visit  other 
villages  of  Illinois,  all  however,  with  no  great  success."4 

Whilst   all   seemed    quiet    and    peaceful,    Father   Mambre    living    in 
the  Indian  village,  Father  Gabriel  Ribourde  in  the  Fort,  and  M.  De 


i     "Discovery  and  Exploration   of   the   Mississippi   Valley,"   by   John   Gilmarv 
Shea,  (2nd  Ed.)  p.  154. 

2  ' '  Discovery  and  Exploration, ' '  p.  156. 

3  "Discovery  and  Exploration,"  p.  157. 

4  "Discovery  and  Exploration,"  p.  157. 

(27) 


History  of  the  Archdiocest    of  St.   Louis 

Tonti  busily  engaged  in  completing  the  Port  of  St.  Louis  on  the  rock 
higher  up  the  river,  there  came  the  warning:  the  [roquois  are  coming. 
All'was  confusion  in  the  village,  and  Fori  Creve  Coeur  was  in  ruins. 
The  brave  Tonti  soughl  to  bring  about  a  cessation  of  hostilities.  He 
approached  the  invaders  holding  up  a  bead  necklace  as  a  sign  of  peace. 
He  did  not  succeed  to  calm  the  bloodthirsty  spirits  on  both  sides.  The 
[roquois  chief  who  had  interposed  between  Tonti  and  a  murderous 
youth  who  had  stabbed  him,  now  took  the  peacemaker  by  the  arm  and 
told  him  to  go.  Tonti  gathered  around  him  the  two  priests  and  the 
few  remaining  Frenchmen  and  started  in  an  old  canoe  for  the  north. 
On  this  journey  Father  Gabriel  Ribourde"'  fell  a  vielini  of  his  zeal  and 
piety,  by  the  hand  of  a  KickapOO.  Father  Mambre  returned  to  the 
Illinois  village  in  due  time  intent  upon  making  the  voyage  of  discovery 
down  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  with  LaSalle  and  Tonti  and  to  return 
with  them  to  the  Illinois  in  1682.  But  LaSalle  and  Tonti  and  Mambre 
also  were  detained  for  (he  winter  on  the  Rock  of  the  Illinois,  which 
was  now  crowned  with  the  Fori  St.  Louis.  There  was  a  chapel  in  the 
fort,  where  Father  Mambre  said  mass  for  the  French  until  the  departure 
of  LaSalle  for  Quebec  and  l'aris.  Tonty  remained  behind  as  com- 
mandant. It  was  now  that,  the  -Jesuit  Fathers  came  into  their  own  once 
more.  Father  Allouez  had  kept  his  promise,  though  Ins  coming  was 
belated.  When  he  arrived  is  stated  nowhere.  Bui  the  fact,  of  his 
presence  is  certain.  Joutel,  in  his  book  on  "M  de  LaSalle's  Second 
Voyage"  states  on  two  occassions  that  the  Jesuit  Father  Allouez  was 
at  Fort  St.  Louis  among  the  Kaskaskia  as  late  as  March  1(!88.  He 
was  sick  at  the  time,  when  the  companion-,  of  LaSalle's  second  voyage 
Father  Cavelier,  Mambre  and  M.  -Joutel  visited  him.  Father  Allouez 
soon  after  this  visit,  left  the  place  for  Mackinac,  where  there  was  a 
residence  of  three  Jesuil    missionaries. 

Father  Allouez's  immediate  successor  in  the  Illinois  mission  was 
the  Apostle  of  the  Abnakis,  Lather  Sebastian  Kale,  who  spent  two  years, 
1692  to  lt;!)4,  along  the  Illinois  River.  In  Kaskaskia,  then  a  village 
of  three  hundred  wigwams,  he  received  a  hearty  welcome.  The  mission- 
ary was  delighted.  "The  mosl  skilful  European,  after  much  thoughtful 
siiidy,"  he  said,  "could  not  produce  a  more  pertinent  or  beautiful 
discourse"0    than    the    head-sachem    who    addressed    him.      Tn    his    two 


5  Father  Ribourde  was  ;i  scion  of  one  (if  the  noble  louses  of  Burgundy,  tic  was 
among  the  firsl  Reeollets  to  eome  to  Canada  in  the  summer  of  l<;7e.  He  had  been 
Fathei   Confessor  to  Count    Frontenac.     Tin'  date  of  his  death  is  September  0,   L680. 

He  was  then  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age,  fort}   of  which  has  1 a  spent   in  the 

religious  st  ite. 

o     "Sebastian  Rale"  bj  Couvers  Francis,  D.  D.,  in  "Spark's  American  Biogra 
phy,  in  v,    series,   vol.   VIII,  p.    17s,    Father   Rale's  letters  may   be  found  in   "Earlj 
resuil   Missions  in  North  America,"  by  the  Rev.  William  [ngraham   Kip,  as  well  as 
in  the  ' '  Jesuit  Relat  ions. 


On    tin    Illinois    h'iri  r  29 

letters  Father  Rale  gives  many  interesting  notices  of  Indian  life  at  that 
place.  The  dance  was  an  expression  of  both  sorrow  and  joy.  To  be  a 
good  hunter  was  much,  but  to  be  a  good  warrior  was  more.  It  was 
a  high  honor  to  return  home  laden  Avith  many  scalps.  Torturing  the 
prisoners  of  war  was  common  among  them.  Polygamy  made  the  men 
averse  to  the  teachings  of  the  Father,  although  they  did  not  object 
to  having  their  wives  and  children  attend  instructions,  and  being 
baptized.  About  1687  Father  Rasles,  as  the  name  is  sometimes  written, 
was  recalled  to  the  Abnaki  Mission  in  Maine  where  he  met  his  death 
at  the  hands  of  English  soldiers.  Father  James  Gravier,  who  had  visited 
the  Illinois  Mission  as  early  as  1687  received  it  from  Father  Rale.  He 
erected  a  chapel  within  Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  Rock  of  the  Illinois.  His 
Relation  of  the  occurrences  at  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception 
of  the  Illinois  from  March  20th,  1693,  to  February  15th,  1694,  presents 
an  interesting  view  of  his  toils  and  trials  among  these  Indians.  Yet, 
nothing  daunted  by  the  insurmountable  obstacles  placed  in  his  way, 
he  continued  with  indefatigable  zeal  to  instruct  the  ignorant,  heal  the 
sick,  warn  the  wayward  and  curb  the  proud.  As  to  the  educational 
methods  pursued  by  the  missioners.  Father  Gravier,  the  Superior,  gives 
us  an  interesting  explanation:  "To  the  adults  I  explained  the  whole 
of  the  Xew  Testament,  of  which  I  have  cop'  er  plate  engravings  repre- 
senting  perfectly  what  is  related  on  each  page.'-7  The  grace  of  God  was 
slowly  hut  surely  making  its  way  in  ever  widening  circles.  "AYhat 
surprised  me  most,"  writes  the  Father,  '"is  the  assiduous  perseverance 
of  the  young  men.  The  most  arrogant  became  like  children  at  Catechism. 
When  the  young  men  are  in  the  lodges  of  their  chiefs,  they  sing,  night 
and  day,  chants  that  instruct  them  and  keep  them  occupied.'"  Yet 
the  Peorias  were  holding  back,  their  chief  being  one  of  the  most 
impudent  jugglers.  The  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  among 
the  Illinois  founded  by  Marquette  in  1675.  had  its  center  in  the  shadow 
of  Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  Rock  of  the  Illinois,  also  called  Starved  Rock. 
This  is  near  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Ottowa.  Twenty  years  later  it 
was  at  the  village  of  the  Peorias.  where  the  Illinois  River  emerges  from 
the  Lake  of  Peoria  through  a  narrow  rocky  channel  called  the  Strait. 
All  the  Indians  living  between  these  two  points  and  in  all  the  surround- 
ing country  were  considered  members  of  the  Mission.  Many  of  them 
however  refused  the  missionary's  teachings  and  remained  addicted  to 
their  manitous  and  their  vaunted  free  life.  For  a  long  time,  Father 
Gravier 's  patient  zeal  produced  but  slight  results.  At  last  there  came  a 
chance  for  the  better.  The  great  chief  of  the  Kaskaskia  tribe,  Rouensa 
by  name,  whilst  still  a  pagan  wished  to  marry  his  daughter  who  was 


"     "Jesuit  Kelations, "  vol.  64,  p.  227. 

'••I"<uit  Relations.''  vol.  64,  p.  231.     "Juggler"  is  Father  Gravier  \s  designa- 
tion tor  ;i   medicine-man. 


30  History  of  //"    Archdiocesi    of  St.  Louis 

a  Christian,  to  a  profligate  French  trader  residing  at  the  village.     The 

girl  asked  the  missionary's  advice,  and  was  by  him  confirmed  in  her 
resolution  not  to  marry.  The  chief  grew  indignant,  ami  sought  to  force 
his  daughter  into  the  marriage.  At  last  the  poor  creature  told  the 
missionary,  that  in  view  of  the  good  that  might  result  for  religion 
from  her  sacrifice  through  the  conversion  of  her  father  and  her  hushand, 
she  would  give  her  consenl  to  marry  the  Frenchman.  Father  Gravier 
had  no  more  to  say.'1 

What  the  girl  had  hoped  and  prayed  for  really  came  to  pass.  In 
a  short  time  Chief  Rouensa  humbly  asked  to  be  baptized;  and  from  that 
time  on  he  showed  himself  as  devoted  a  Christian  as  he  had  formerly 
been  an  enemy  of  the  Cross.  lie  attended  the  instructions  and  the 
services  in  the  chapel  with  the  greatest  interest  and  exhorted  all  the 
people  under  his  immediate  charge  to  do  the  same.  And  even  beyond 
his  jurisdiction  among  the  Peorias,  and  the  scattered  members  of 
the  other  Illinois  nation  he  used  his  influence  for  good.  Not  content 
with  this,  he  made  public  profession  of  faith  at  a  solemn  festival  which 
was  attended  by  all  the  leading  men  of  the  Peorias  and  Kaskaskia. 
The  Peorias  took  umbrage  at  what  was  said  and  done,  saying:  "The 
Father's  fables  are  good  only  in  his  own  country;  we  have  ours  which 
do  not  make  us  die  as  his  do.  "The  daughter  also  of  the  Kaskaskia. 
chief,"  wrote  Father  Gravier,  "exerted  great  influence  in  favor  of 
religion  among  the  women  of  the  tribe.  The  first  conquest  she  made 
for  God  was  to  win  her  husband,  who  was  notorious  in  the  Illinois 
country  for  his  debaucheries.  I  am  ashamed,"  said  he,  "that  a  savage 
child  should  know  more  than  I,  who  have  been  born  and  brought  up 
in  the  Christian  religion,  and  that  she  should  speak  to  me  of  the  love 
of  God  with  a  gentleness  and  tenderness  capable  of  making  the  most 
insensible  weep."  This  good  girl  displayed  admirable  care  in  getting 
the  children  and  young  girls  of  the  village  baptized.  When  Father 
Gravier  asked  her  why  she  was  so  desirous  of  teaching  the  children, 
she  replied,  "that  it  was  because  God  specially  loved  them,  and  that 
their  souls  still  retained  the  beauty  they  had  received  in  Baptism."10 
These  are  some  of  Father  Gravier 's  encomiums  pronounced  on  this  little 
saint  of  the  Kaskaskias. 

Up  to  this  date,  1698,  there  may  have  been  some  talk  among  the 
Kaskaskia  of  severing  their  connection  with  the  recalcitrant  Peorias. 
But  the  plan  never  could  take  definite  shape  as  long  as  Father  Gravier 
was  on  guard.  Spiritually,  however,  the  chasm  between  them  grew 
wider  and  deeper,  as  the  years  passed  on.  Yet,  there  were  Christians 
among  the  Peorias  as  there  were  pagans  among  the  Kaskaskia,  and 
scoffers  among  all  the  tribes;  in  tone  and  practice,  the  Kaskaskia  alone 


9     "Jesuit  Eelations, "  vol.  64,  159  ss. 
io     "Jesuit   Relations,'-   vol.  <>4,   passim. 


On  the  Illinois   River  31 

were  a  Catholic  tribe.  Father  Gravier  was  anxious  to  keep  them  all 
together  in  the  same  mission  because  he  hoped  the  good  example  of  the 
one  -would  at  last  overcome  the  evil  propensities  of  the  others.  His 
successor,  probably,  was  of  a  different  opinion :  So,  it  seems,  the  religious 
indifference  and  persecuting  spirit  of  the  Peorias  was  one  of  the  con- 
tributing causes  of  the  exodus  of  the  Kaskaskia  from  their  ancient  homes 
on  the  Illinois. 

When  Father  Marest  arrived  in  the  Illinois  country  in  1698,  to 
continue  the  good  work  of  Father  Gravier,  he  wrote  to  a  Father  of 
his  Society:  "The  state  of  religion  here  is  as  follows:  but  few  among  the 
men  embrace  Christianity ;  the  young  men  especially  live  in  excessive 
licentiousness,  which  renders  them  incapable  of  listening  to  the  mission- 
aries. The  women  and  girls  are  very  well  disposed  to  receive  baptism ; 
They  are  constant  and  firm  when  once  they  have  received  it ;  they  are 
fervent  in  prayer,  and  ask  only  to  be  instructed ;  they  frequently 
approacb  the  sacraments  and,  finally,  are  capable  of  highest  sanctity. 
The  number  of  those  who  embrace  our  boly  religion  increases  daily 
to  a  marked  degree — so  much  so  that  Ave  have  been  obliged  to  build  a 
new  church,  and  judging  from  the  manner  in  which  this  one  is  filled 

every  day  I  think  we  shall  shortly  need  a  third The  children  give 

us  bright  hopes  for  the  future.  When  they  return  from  instructions  to 
their  cabins  they  tell  their  fathers  what  they  have  learned."11  Here  is 
a  description  of  the  life  we  lead,"  wrote  the  good  priest  in  bis  letter 
from  the  Illinois  country  in  New  France  under  date  of  the  29th  of 
April  1699,  "Every  day,  before  sunrise,  we  say  mass  for  the  con- 
venience of  our  Christians  who  go  from  it  to  their  work.  The  savages 
chant  their  prayers  or  recite  them  together  during  mass,  after  which 
we  disperse  in  different  directions  to  teach  the  children  the  Catechism. 
After  that  we  visit  the  sick.  On  our  return,  we  always  find  several 
savages  who  come  to  consult  us  on  various  matters.  Saturdays  and 
Sundays  are  completely  occupied  in  hearing  confessions."12  As  Father 
Gravier  was  called  away  from  the  mission  by  his  official  duties  as 
Superior  and  Vicar  General,  two  distinguished  men  came  to  aid  Father 
Marest.  Father  Julian  Binneteau  arrived  at  the  Peoria  village  in  1697, 
in  company  of  Father  Francis  Pinet,  the  founder  of  the  Mission  of  the 
Guardian  Angel  within  the  bounds  of  the  present  city  of  Chicago,  1696. 
As  Father  Pinet  had  been  dispossessed  by  LaSalle  of  this  mission,  he 
went  to  the  Tamarois,  who  had  joined  the  Cahokia  on  the  bottom  lands 
opposite  the  site  of  the  future  city  of  St.  Louis. 

Father  Gravier  wrote  to  the  venerable  Bishop  Laval  a  few  words 
of  protest   against   the   action   of  LaSalle,   and   the   threats   of    Count 


"Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  65,  p.  81. 
"Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  65,  p.  81  s. 


.'51'  History  of  I  In    Archdiocese  of  SI.  Louis 

Frontenac:  "Nothing  lias  more  comforted  me,  Monseigneur,  than  t he 
kind  manner  which  Your  Grace  was  pleased  to  manifesl  to  me.  II' 
Monseigneur  of  Quebec,  (Bishop  Vallier)  has  the  same  sentiment  for 
us,  we  all  hope  we  shall  perform  our  duties  in  our  Ottowa  missions 
more  peacefully  than  we  have  done  for  some  years.  We  shall  also  be 
safe  from  the  threats  of  M.  the  Count  de  Frontenac,  to  drive  us  from 
our  Mission  as  he  had  already  done  from  that  of  the  Angel  Guardian 
of  the  Miamis,  at  Chicagwa,  the  charge  of  which  Monseigneur  of 
Quebec  bad  confided  to  me,  confirming  the  powers  that  Your  Grace 
had  conferred  upon  Father  Marquette  and  Father  Allouez,  who  were 
the  first  missionaries  of  those  southern  nations,  namely  the  Illinois. 
Miamis  and  Sioux.  If  M.  the  Count  of  Frontenac  had  learned  that 
in  our  Missions  we  had  done  anything'  unworthy  of  our  ministry,  he 
could  easily  have  applied  to  Monseigneur  the  Bishop,  or  his  Grand 
Vicar.  But  he  could  not  otherwise  than  by  violence  drive  us  from  our 
mission.  We  hope  that  Monseigneur  of  Quebec  will  not  suffer  such 
violence."13 

Father  Binneteau  in  1699,  gives  an  account  of  the  virtuous  woman- 
hood among  the  Illinois.  "The  women  and  girls  have  strong  inclina- 
tions to  virtue,  although  according  to  custom  they  are  the  slaves  of 
their  brothers,  who  compel  them  to  marry  whomsoever  they  choose. 
There  are  many  households  where  husband  and  wife  live  in  great  fervor, 
without  heeding  what  the  jugglers  or  the  young  Libertines  say.  There 
are  some  women  married  to  some  of  our  Frenchmen,  who  would  be  a 
good  example  to  the  best  regulated  household  in  France."  The  good 
old  Father  also  gives  high  praise  to  his  companion  in  the  mission,  lately 
arrived.  "Father  Gabriel  Maresl  is  doing  wonders:  he  has  the  best 
talent  in  the  world  for  these  missions.  lie  has  learned  the  language  in 
four  or  five  months,  he  can  hear  an  incredible  amount  of  fatigue,  and 
his  zeal  leads  him  to  look  upon  the  most  difficult  things  as  1  rifles. 
'I  will  never  rest,"  he  says,  'as  lung  as  I  live.'  From  morning  until  night 
our  house  is  never  empty  of  people  who  come  to  b*e  instructed  and  to 
confess.      We    had    to   enlarge    our    chape's."11 

In  January  1699,  Father  Binneteau,  now  again  at  the  mission 
near  Peoria  Lake,  recalls  his  journey  of  the  previous  year:  "I  am  at 
present  spending  the  winter  with  a  portion  of  our  savages  who  are 
scattered  about,  I  have  recently  been  with  the  Tamarois,  to  visit  a  band 
of  them  on  the  bank  of  one  of  the  largest  rivers  in  the  world  -which, 
for  this  reason,  we  call  the  Mississippi,  or  'the  (ireat  River.'  Mure  than 
seven   hundred  leagues  of  it   have  been   found   to  he   navigable,   without 


is     ''.Jesuit   Relations,"  vol.  65,  p.  53. 
14     "Jesuit    Relations,"  vol.  65,  p.  69. 


On   the  Illinois  River  33 

discovering  its  source.     I  am  to  return  to  the  Illinois  of  Tamarois  in  the 
spring. '  'l5 

Both  Binneteau  and  Pinet  made  this  journey,  and  claimed  the 
Tamarois  mission  as  their  own.  The  Seminary  priests  were  greatly 
surprised :  but  a  temporary  arrangement  was  made :  Father  Pinet  the 
Jesuit  was  to  have  charge  of  the  Indians,  whilst  Father  Bergier,  one 
of  the  Seminary  priests,  held  charge  of  the  French  in  the  place.  Father 
Binneteau  now  returned  to  the  mission  on  Peoria  Lake,  to  resume  his 
usual  round  of  visits  to  the  scattered  neophytes  on  the  praires  adjoining 
the  Illinois  River.  To  follow  the  Indians  in  their  excursions  was  one  of  the 
severest  trials  of  the  missionary.  The  summer  hunt  was  especially  fatigu- 
ing, says  Father  Marest;  "it  cost  the  life  of  the  late  Father  Binneteau. 
He  accompanied  the  savages  in  the  greatest  heat  of  the  month  of  July ; 
sometimes  he  was  in  danger  of  smothering  amid  the  grass,  which  was 
extremely  high ;  sometimes  he  suffered  cruelly  from  thirst.  By  day  he 
was  drenched  with  perspiration  and  at  night  he  was  obliged  to  sleep 
on  the  ground.  These  hardships  brought  upon  him  a  violent  sickness, 
from  which  he  expired  in  my  arms."16  When  death  came  Father  Marest 
does  not  tell.  But  from  other  sources  it  appears  that  Father  Binneteau 
lingered  on  throughout  the  fall  of  the  year  1799.  "Father  Binneteau 
died  from  exhaustion,"  writes  Father  Gravier,  "but  if  he  had  a  few 
drops  of  Spanish  wine,  for  which  he  asked  us  during  his  last  illness, 
or  had  we  been  able  to  procure  some  fresh  food  for  him,  he  would 
perhaps  be  still  alive."17  According  to  Rochemonteix,  Father  Binneteau 
died  on  the  eve  of  Christmas  1699,  at  the  Kaskaskia  Village  on  Peoria 
Lake,  and  was  buried  there  by  his  companions  Marest  and  Pinet,  of 
whom  Father  Gravier  said  on  this  occasion.  "Father  Pinet  and  Father 
Marest  are  wearing  out  their  strength;  and  they  are  two  saints,  who 
take  pleasure  of  being  deprived  of  everything,  in  order,  as  they  say, 
that  they  may  soon  be  nearer  to  Paradise."18  But  there  was  much  work 
still  awaiting  the  two  heroic  souls:  Father  Marest  to  prepare  the 
great  exodus  of  the  Kaskaskias  to  the  Mississippi,  and  Father  Pinet 
to  await  them  at  Tamarois. 


i"'     "Jesuit   Relations,"   vol.   65,   p.    71.      The  name   is    sometimes   spelled,   and 
always  pronounced  Tamaroa. 

is  "Jesuit  Eelations,"  vol.  66,  p.  253. 
17  "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  66,  p.  25. 
is     "Jesuit  Eelations,"  vol.  66,  p.  37. 


Vol.  1—2 


Chapter  5 
THE  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  SEMINARY  OF  QUEBEC 


The  earliest  missionaries  among  the  Indians  of  Canada  and  on  the 
great  lakes  depended  for  their  authority  directly  on  the  Holy  See. 
They  were  the  Greyrohes  or  Recollets  and  the  Blackrobes  or  Jesuits. 
When  Canada  came  under  British  rule  for  the  first  time  (1629-1634) 
most  of  the  priests  withdrew  to  France,  and  when  England  restored  the 
province  to  France,  only  the  Jesuits  returned  to  their  former  posts; 
the  Recollets  being  debarred  until  August  18,  1670,  as  a  counter  balance 
to  the  Jesuits.  The  Sulpicians  arrived  somewhat  later  when  all 
Canada  was  subject  to  the  Bishop  of  Rouen,  in  Normandy.  These 
were  the  religious  Orders  that  took  part  in  the  earliest  movements 
to  conquer  the  Mississippi  Valley  for  Christ.  Now  in  1694  we 
see  another  company  of  missionaries  hurrying  over  the  same  route 
that  had  brought  the  Recollets  with  LaSalle  down  the  Mississippi  to 
the  further-most  point  that  had  been  reached  by  Marquette :  They  are 
usually  called  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Seminary,  or  the  Seminary  Priests, 
officially,  the  Society  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec. 
They  were  Fathers  Francis  Joliet  de  Montigny,  Antoine  Davion,  Jean 
Francois  Buisson  de  St.  Cosme,  a  native  of  Canada.  De  Montigny  was 
the  Vicar-General  of  the  party.  Dominic  Anthony  Thaumer  de  la 
Source1  was,  like  the  younger  St.  Cosme,  no  priest,  but  a  companion  of 
the  voyage,  who  wrote  an  account  of  the  events  he  had  witnessed  in  1719. 
He  returned  to  Quebec  and  resumed  his  studies  and  later  on  joined  the 
mission  at  Cahokia.  The  party  had  the  usual  complement  of  voyageurs 
and  coureurs  de  hois,  twenty  persons  in  all.  Father  John  Bergier  was 
not  of  Montigny 's  party,  although  a  priest  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec. 
He  probably  reached  the  Tamarois  before  the  advent  of  his  fellow  priests, 
who  were  delayed  by  the  Indians  of  the  Fox  River.  This  missionary 
expedition  was  sent  out  by  the  first  Bishop  of  Quebec,  Francois  Laval 
de  Montmorency,  commonly  called  Bishop  Laval,  who  had  been  appointed 
in  1657,  and  had  resigned  in  1674.  But  owing  to  the  troubles  of  his 
successor,  Bishop  Vallier,  with  the  English  as  well  as  with  the  French 
governments,  he  was  forced  to  resume  the  reins  once  more  in  Vallier 's 
place.  Having  founded  the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  Bishop  Laval  always 
manifested  a  deep  interest  in  its  "varying  fortunes.  Thus  it  came  about 
that  the  three  Gentlemen  of  the  Seminary  were  sent  to  the  Mississippi. 
At  Mackinac  they  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  with  the  Sieur  de  Tonti, 
the  ever-faithful  friend  of  LaSalle,  who  quickly  came  to  the  resolution 


i     Cf.  U.  E.  Dionne,  Gabriel  Richard,  Quebec,  1911.    Notes  a1  end. 

(34) 


The  Gentlemen  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec  35 

to  accompany  them  as  far  as  the  Arkansas.  St.  Cosme  in  his  letter2 
addressed  "to  the  Bishop,"  expresses  the  heartfelt  gratitude  for  De 
Tonti's  services  to  the  priests:  "He  has  not  only  done  the  duty  of 
a  brave  man,  but  also  discharged  the  functions  of  a  zealous  missionary. '  '3 
In  the  mission  of  St.  Ignace  at  Mackinac  the  new  missionaries 
were  kindly  received  by  the  Jesuits  Gravier  and  Careil,  being  charmed 
with  the  good  judgment,  the  zeal  and  modesty  of  M.  de  Montigny, 
St.  Cosme  and  M.  Davion.4  With  kindly  instructions  to  Father  Pinet 
and  Father  Binneteau  at  the  Illinois,  they  departed  down  the  western 
shore  of  Lake  Michigan.  Owing  to  bad  weather  the  three  gentlemen 
from  the  Seminary  landed  a  few  miles  north  of  the  Mission  of  the 
Angel  Guardian  and,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  company  by  the  lake-shore, 
made  their  way  on  foot  to  the  home  of  Father  Francis  Pinet.  From 
here  on  Father  St.  Cosme  is  the  spokesman  of  the  party :  ' '  Many  travel- 
lers have  already  been  wrecked  there, ' '  he  writes.  ' '  We,  M.  de  Montigny, 
Davion,  and  myself,  went  by  land  to  the  house  of  the  Reverend  Jesuit 
Fathers,  while  our  people  remained  behind.  We  found  there  Reverend 
Father  Pinet,  and  Reverend  Father  Binneteau,  who  had  recently 
arrived  from  the  Illinois  country  and  was  slightly  ill."5  The  joy  of 
priests  meeting  priests  in  the  deep  solitude  of  earliest  Chicago,  was 
great  and  sincere.  "I  cannot  describe  to  you,  my  lord,  with  what 
cordiality  and  manifestations  of  friendship  these  Reverend  Fathers 
received  and  embraced  us,  while  we  had  the  consolation  of  residing 
with  them,"6  wrote  Father  St.  Cosme,  and  then  proceeded  to  give  a 
clear  and  succinct  description  of  the  place:  "Their  house  is  built  on 
the  bank  of  a  small  river,  with  the  lake  on  one  side  and  a  fine  and  vast 
prairie  on  the  other.  The  village  of  the  savages  contains  over  a 
hundred  and  fifty  cabins,  and  a  league  up  the  river  is  still  another 
village  almost  as  large.  They  are  all  Miamis.  Reverend  Father  Pinet 
usually  resides  there  except  in  the  winter,  when  the  savages  are  all 
engaged  in  hunting,  and  then  he  goes  to  the  Illinois.  We  saw  no 
savages  there.  They  had  already  started  for  their  hunt.  If  one  may 
judge  of  the  future  from  the  short  time  Father  Pinet  has  passed  in 
this  mission,  we  may  believe  that,  if  God  will  bless  the  labors  and  the 


2  The  letter  of  St.  Cosme,  from  which  almost  all  the  facts  narrated  in  this 
chapter  are  taken,  lay  hidden  for  160  years  among  the  literary  treasures  of  Laval 
University,  Quebec,  and  was  discovered  in  the  middle  of  the  19th  century  by  the 
great  Catholic  Historian  John  Gilmary  Shea.  It  was  published  by  him  in  French  and 
English,  New  York,  1861.  It  was  republished  in  Shea's  "Early  Voyages  Up  and 
Down  the  Mississippi,"  and  with  some  corrections  in  Louise  Phelps  Kellogg 's 
"Early  Narratives  of  the  North-West,  1634-1699."     We  follow  the  later  edition. 

3  Kellogg,  p.  343. 

*     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  65,  p.  59. 
s     Kellogg,  p.  346. 
e     Kellogg,  p.  346. 


.'Ui  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

zeal  of  the  holy  missionary,  there  will  be  a  great  number  of  good  and 
fervenl  Christians.  It  is  true,  that  but  slight  results  are  obtained  with 
reference  to  the  older  persons,  who  are  hardened  in  profligacy,  but  all 
the  children  are  baptized,  and  the  jugglers  even,  who  are  the  most 
opposed  to  Christianity,  allow  their  children  to  be  baptized.  They  are 
also  very  glad  to  let  them  be  instructed.  Several  girls  of  a  certain  age, 
and  also  many  young  boys  have  already  been  and  are  being  instructed, 
so  thai  we  may  hope  that,  when  the  old  stock  dies  off,  they  will  be  a 
new  and  entirely  Christian  people."7  The  entire  party  left  Chicago 
for  the  Illinois  country,  but  a  part  of  their  belongings  had  to  remain 
behind  in  care  of  Brother  Alexander  and  Father  Pinet's  servant.  When 
they  came  to  the  portage  of  the  Kankakee  River,  the  party  was  divided 
by  an  untoward  circumstance,  as  recorded  by  Father  St.  Cosine. 
"Messieurs  de  Montigny,  De  Tonti,  and  Davion  continued  the  portage 
on  the  following  day,  while  I,  St.  Cosme  with  four  other  men.  went 
back  to  look  for  the  little  boy,  (who  had  wandered  away  into  the 
prairie).  While  retracing  my  steps,  I  met  Father  Pinet  and  Binneteau, 
who  were  on  the  way  to  the  Illinois  with  two  Frenchmen  and  a  savage. 
We  looked  for  the  boy  during  the  whole  of  that  day  also,  without 
finding  him."8  "We  arrived  on  the  15th  of  November  at  the  place 
called  the  Old  Fort.  This  is  a  rock  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  about 
a  hundred  feet  high,  whereon  Monsieur  de  LaSalle  had  caused  a  fort 
to  be  built,  which  had  been  abandoned,  because  the  savages  went  to 
reside  about  twenty-five  leagues  further  down.  We  slept  a  league  above 
it,  where  we  found  two  cabins  of  savages ;  Ave  were  consoled  on  finding 
a  woman  who  was  a  thoroughly  good  Christian.  The  distance  between 
Chicagou  and  the  fort  is  considered  to  be  about  thirty  leagues.  There 
we  commenced  the  navigation,  that  continues  to  be  always  good  as 
far  as  the  fort  of  Permetaoi,9  where  the  savages  now  are  and  which 
we  reached  on  the  19th  of  November.  We  found  there  Reverend  Father 
liinneteau  and  Reverend  Father  Marest  who,  owing  to  their  not  being 
laden  when  they  left  Chicagou,  had  arrived  six  or  seven  days  before 
us.  We  also  saw  Reverend  Father  Pinet  there.  All  the  Reverend 
Jesuit  Fathers  gave  us  the  best  possible  reception.  Their  sole  regrel 
was  to  see  us  compelled  to  leave  so  soon  on  account  of  the  frost.  We 
took  there  a  Frenchman  who  had  lived  three  years  with  the  Aeansas 
and  who  knows  a  little  of  their  language."  Father  St.  Cosme  had  but 
words  of  the  highest  praise  for  the  Jesuit  Fathers:  "This  Mission  of 
the  Illinois  seems  to  me  the  finest  that  the  Reverend  Jesuit  Fathers  have 
up  here,  for  without  counting  all  the  children  who  are  baptized,  a  number 
of  adults  have  abandoned  all  their  superstitions  and  live  as  thoroughly 


■  Kellogg,  p.  347. 
s  Kellogg,  p.  348. 
o     A  Fort  on  Lake  Peoria,  the  early  name  of  this  lake  was  Pimetoui. 


The  Gentlemen  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec  37 

£oocl  Christians;  they  frequently  attend  the  sacraments  and  are  married 
in  church.  We  had  not  the  consolation  of  seeing  all  these  good  Christians 
often,  for  they  were  all  scattered  down  the  bank  of  the  river  for  the 
purpose  of  hunting.  We  saw  only  some  women  savages  married  to 
Frenchmen  who  edified  us  by  their  modesty  and  their  assiduity  in 
going  to  prayer  several  times  a  day  in  the  chapel.  We  chanted  High 
Mass  in  it,  with  deacon  and  sub-deacon,  on  the  feast  of  the  Presentation 
of  the  most  Blessed  Virgin,  and  after  commending  our  voyage  to  her 
and  having  placed  ourselves  under  her  protection,  we  left  the  Illinois 
on  the  22nd  of  November — we  had  to  break  the  ice  for  two  or  three 
arpents  to  get  out  of  Lake  Permetaoi.  We  had  four  canoes ;  that  of 
Monsieur  De  Tonti,  our  two,  and  another  belonging  to  five  young 
voyageurs  who  were  glad  to  accompany  us,  partly  on  account  of 
Monsieur  De  Tonti,  who  is  universally  beloved  by  all  the  voyageurs, 
and  partly  also  to  see  the  country.  Keverend  Fathers  Binneteau  and 
Pinet  also  came  with  us  a  part  of  the  way,  as  they  wished  to  go  and  spend 
the  whole  winter  with  their  savages."10  Their  last  act  of  kindness  to 
the  Missionaries  was  a  very  practical  one:  Father  Marest  writes:  "As 
these  gentlemen  did  not  know  the  Illinois  language,  we  gave  them  a 
collection  of  prayers  and  a  translation  of  the  Catechism,  with  the  notes 
that  we  have  been  able  to  make  upon  that  language."11 

On  the  first  day  of  their  voyage  the  party  came  to  the  cabin  of  the 
Great  Chief  of  the  Kaskaskias,  Rouensa,  who  with  his  whole  family 
received  Holy  Communion  at  Father  Montigny's  mass.  From  Rouensa 
they  heard  of  the  recent  attack  made  by  the  Chouanons  and  Chicasaws 
on  a  hunting  party  of  the  Cahokia  Indians,  an  Illinois  tribe  with  its 
chief  village  on  the  Mississippi  below  the  Missouri.  When  later  on  the 
party  visited  that  village  some  old  men  came  to  meet  them,  weeping 
for  the  death  of  their  people  killed  by  the  Chouanons  who,  as  they 
charged,  had  been  furnished  with  fire-arms  by  Tonti.  Tonti  tried  to 
convince  them  of  his  innocence  in  this  matter,  but  not  succeeding,  led 
an  immediate  retreat  to  a  place  about  ten  miles  down  the  stream.  The 
following  day  they  were  detained  for  some  hours  owing  to  quantities 
of  drifting  ice  in  the  river,  and  on  the  28th  of  November  they  landed 
at  a  village  governed  by  a  woman  chief.  The  priests  said  mass  the 
following  morning  in  the  cabin  of  a  soldier  named  La  Violette,  who  was 
married  to  a  savage,  and  whose  child  Father  de  Montigny  baptized. 
Leaving  this  village  the  party  spent  four  days  in  accomplishing  about 
twenty  miles.  On  the  Feast  of  St.  Xavier,  December  3rd,  a  heavy 
gale  broke  up  the  ice  and  they  embarked  once  more,  and  on  December 
5th,  they  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River.  On  the  next  day 
they  began  their  voyage  on  the  mighty  Father  of  Waters.     Soon  they 


in     Kellogg,  pp.  350,  351. 

ii     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  65,  p.  281. 


38  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

passed  the  mouth  of  the  great  River  of  the  Missouri,  the  vastness  and 
muddiness  of  whose  waters  they  could  not  help  to  note.  "It  is  reported," 
Father  St.  Cosme  wrote,  "that  there  are  great  numbers  of  savages  on 
the  upper  reaches  of  that  river."12  They  also  marvelled  at  the  strange 
images  on  the  rock  above  Alton.  On  the  7th  day  of  December  they 
reached  Cahokia,  where  the  chief  with  some  of  his  people  met  the 
visitors  on  the  water  edge,  and  invited  them  to  his  villages  inhabited 
by  another  tribe  of  the  Illinois,  and  also  having  a  colony  of  French 
traders  and  hunters.  The  Cahokias  had  been  harrassed  lately  by  war- 
parties  of  Shawnees  and  Chicasaws  and  were  in  consequence  rather 
suspicious  of  the  newcomers'  intentions.  Tonti  went  there  with  the 
chief,  but  the  Fathers,  wishing  to  prepare  for  the  Feast  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception,  camped  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  on  the  site  of  the 
future  metropolis  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  The 
following  morning  Father  Montigny,  Davion  and  St.  Cosme  each  said 
mass  on  a  stone  altar  they  had  prepared  on  the  high  river-bank, 
probably  at  the  foot  of  Arsenal  Street.  It  was  the  great  Feastday  of  the 
Immaculate  Mother  of  God,  in  whose  honor  Father  Marquette  had 
bestowed  her  most  glorious  title  on  the  great  river  he  had  discovered. 
"Every  Missourian,  and  especially  every  St.  Louisian"  says  Father 
Garraghan,  "will  look  back  in  a  spirit  of  solemn  pride  on  that  memorable 
day  when  the  site  that  was  to  see  the  growth  of  the  first  city  of  the 
State  passed  from  out  the  night  of  prehistoric  darkness  into  the  clear 
sunshine  of  recorded  history;"  the  8th  day  of  December  1698,  "the  day 
of  the  three  masses."13  On  the  9th  the  whole  company  visited  the  village 
of  the  Tamarois.  They  were  received  with  every  mark  of  respect  and 
wonder.  How  large  the  tribe  really  was  could  not  be  learnt.  Father 
St.  Cosme  thought  there  were  very  many  of  them.  "There  would  be 
enough,"  says  he,  "for  a  rather  fine  mission,  by  bringing  to  it  the 
Kaskaskias,  who  live  quite  near,  and  the  Mechigamias,  who  live  a 
little  lower  down  the  Mississippi."14  These  three  tribes  were  found  to 
speak  the  Illinois  language.  On  the  25th  of  November  the  Seminary  priests 
had  parted  from  Father  Pinet  who  was  to  spend  the  winter  with  the 
Tamarois,  to  make  a  visit  to  that  tribe  assembled  on  the  island  lower  than 
the  village. 

Leaving  the  Tamarois  on  the  afternoon  of  the  Feast  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception  the  missionaries  departed  and  for  more 
than  three  days  saw  nothing  worthy  of  notice  save  a  solitary  hill  at 
a  distance  of  about  three  arpents  on  the  right  side  going  down.  Father 
St.   Cosme  further  says,  that  they  were   detained  on  Deeember   11th, 


12  Kellogg,  p.  355. 

13  Garraghan,    Gilbert   J.,    S.   J.,    "Some    High   Lights    in    Missouri   History," 
'  St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review, ' '  vol.  Ill,  p.  234. 

I*     Kellogg,  p.  356. 


The  Gentlemen  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec  39 

1698  by  rain.  This,  of  course,  signifies  that  the  party  was  forced  to  camp 
nearby,  a  circumstance  that  would  account  for  the  fact  that  the  name 
Saint  Cosme  remains  attached  to  the  spot.  The  hill  of  which  the 
missionary  speaks  is  still  known  as  Cape  Saint  Cosme;  and  the  name 
of  the  Creek  that  washes  that  part  of  the  hill,  Cinque  Hommes  Creek, 
is  but  a  late  corruption  of  the  name  of  its  discoverer,  Saint  Cosme.18 
Early  in  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  December  they  arrived  at  Cape 
Saint  Antoine,  a  rocky  bluff  on  the  left  bank  going  down,  now  known 
as  Fountain  Bluff.  Some  arpents  below  there  is  another  rock  on  the 
right  bank,  which  projects  into  the  river  and  towards  an  island  or 
rather  a  rock  about  one  hundred  feet  high,  which  makes  the  river 
turn  very  short,  and  narrows  the  channel,  causing  a  whirlpool  on  which, 
it  is  said,  canoes  are  lost  during  high  water.  This  has  caused  the  spot  to 
be  dreaded  by  the  savages,  who  are  in  the  habit  of  offering  sacrifices  to 
that  rock  when  they  pass.16  This  is  now,  called  Grand  Tower.  It 
was  here  that  one  of  the  usual  great  ceremonies  of  raising  the  Cross  of 
Christ  was  performed  by  the  missionaries,  as  Father  Saint  Cosme  tells 
us:  "We  ascended  this  island  or  rock  with  some  difficulty  by  a  hill  and 
we  planted  a  fine  cross  on  it  chanting  the  hymn  Vexilla  Regis,  while  our 
people  fired  three  discharges  of  their  guns.  God  grant  that  the  Cross 
that  has  never  yet  been  known  in  this  place,  may  triumph  here,  and 
that  our  Lord  may  abundantly  spread  the  merits  of  His  Holy  Passion, 
so  that  all  these  savages  may  know  and  serve  Him."17  Father  Saint 
Cosme 's  prayer  was  answered  in  a  manner  he  may  not  have  thought  of 
at  the  time,  but  more  fully  than  he  had  anticipated.  For  almost  within 
sight  of  one  standing  by  that  cross,  the  Seminary  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Barrens  was  to  rise  in  the  distant  future  and  send  out,  year  by  year, 
new  bands  of  youthful  messengers  of  the  Gospel  into  the  benighted 
world  around. 

The    missionaries    left     Cape     Saint     Antoine     on    the     14th     of 
December,   passed  the   mouth   of  the   Ohio   on   the   16th,    and   on   the 


is  The  correct  spelling  of  the  word  is  Cinq  Hommes,  but  the  correct  name  is 
St.  Cosme,  pronounced  Saint  Come.  Cf .  ' '  St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Eeview, ' ' 
vol.  Ill,  p.  301. 

io  The  "Grand  Tower"  was  described  by  Schoolcraft  in  his  Journal  of  a 
Voyage  up  the  Mississippi  Kiver  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  St.  Louis,  started 
July  1,  1818;  "Grand  Tower  is  a  stupendous  pile  of  rocks,  rising  out  of  the  river, 
nearly  midway  in  the  stream,  of  a  form  nearly  circular  and  rising  somewhat  in  the 
shape  of  a  cone,  to  the  height  of  about  150  feet,  and  capped  by  a  stunted  growth  of 
cedars.  It  seems  in  connection  with  the  rock-shores  on  either  side,  to  have  at  some 
former  period,  a  barrier  to  the  progress  of  the  Mississippi,  which  must  here  have  had 
a  perpendicular  base  of  more  than  100  feet.  By  some  convulsion  of  nature,  or  the 
continued  power  of  friction,  acting  for  centuries  upon  the  lime-stone  rock  the 
Mississippi  has  forced  its  way  through  that  barrier,  leaving  the  Grand  Tower  as  a 
perpetual  monument  of  that  sublime  physical  revolution."    Journal,  p.  229  and  230. 

17     Kellogg,  p.  357. 


40  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

24th,  arrived  at  their  destination  among  the  Arkansas  Indians.  At 
midnight  they  had  Solemn  High  Mass,  and  during  the  morning  they 
said  their  masses,  in  the  afternoon  they  chanted  Vespers.  .  They  were 
greatly  surprised  to  feel  and  see  the  earth  tremble,  the  earthquake 
being  rather  severe  and  sharp.18  The  Quappas  or  Kappas  were  the 
first  Arkansas  tribe  they  encountered.  "These  savages"  says  Saint 
Cosme,  "seem  to  be  of  a  very  kind  disposition.  Their  honesty  is  extra- 
ordinary. Polygamy  is  not  common  among  them."19  The  mission- 
aries then  visited  the  Tonicas  and  the  Taensas.  Father  Davion  was 
appointed  missionary  among  the  Tonicas,  who  numbered  about  two 
thousand  souls.  Father  Montigny  remained  for  a  short  while  among 
the  Taensas.  Father  Saint  Cosme  went  up  the  river  to  the  Tamarois 
to  gain  the  martyr's  crown  shortly  after  his  arrival  there.20  Dominic 
Thaumer  de  la  Source,  who  is  not  mentioned  in  the  letter  of  Father 
Saint  Cosme,  announced  his  arrival  at  the  Akankas  in  company  with 
the  Gentlemen  of  the  Seminary  and  of  Father  Montigny 's  intention  of 
sending  him  to  the  Tamarois  with  St.  Cosme,  that  is,  a  younger  brother 
of  Father  St.  Cosme,  not  in  priestly  orders.  Charlevoix  found  him,  a 
missionary  priest  at  Cahokia  in  1727. 

Father  Montigny  the  leader  of  the  voyage  is  described  by 
John  Gilmary  Shea  as  "impetuous,  ardent,  but  easily  dis- 
couraged."21 Of  Father  Davion  the  Historian  of  Louisiana, 
Gayarree,22  relates  that  he  had  constructed  and  hung  up  a  pulpit  to  the 
trunk  of  an  immense  oak,  growing  on  a  gentle  slope  which  commanded 
the  river.  Back  of  the  tree  he  had  raised  a  little  Gothic  chapel,  the 
front  part  of  which  was  divided  by  the  mighty  tree  to  which  it  was 
attached,  with  two  diminutive  doors  opening  into  the  edifice,  on  either 
side  of  that  turn.  It  was  done  in  imitation  of  the  stone  towers  which 
stand  like  sentinels  to  guard  the  entrance  to  the  temple  of  God.  "In  the 
chapel,"  Gayarre  says,  "Father  Davion  kept  all  the  sacred  -vessels,  the 
holy  water  and  the  sacerdotal  habiliments.  There  he  used  to  retire 
to  spend  hours  in  meditation  and  prayer.  In  that  tabernacle  was  a 
small  portable  altar  which,  whenever  he  said  mass  for  the  natives, 
was  transported  outside,  under  the  oak,  where  they  often  met  to  the 


is     Kellogg,  p.  358,  a  premonition  of  the  devastating  earthquake  of  1811. 

is     Kellogg,  p.  359. 

20  Father  St.  Cosme  after  writing  his  letter  from  the  Arkansas,  returned  to 
Cahokia.  A  few  years  later  on  his  way  down  the  river,  he  was  murdered  by  a  war 
party  of  Chitimacha  Indians.  The  guilty  chiefs  were  captured  and  executed  by 
Iberville.    Cf.  Bernard  de  la  Harpe,  "Journal  Historique, "  p.  28. 

2i     Cf .  Shea,  ' '  The  Church  in  Colonial  Days,  p.  544. 

22     Gayarre,  "History  of  Louisiana,  The   French    Domination,"   vol.   I,   p.  64. 


The  Gentium  a  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec  41 

number  of  three  or  four  hundred.     One  day  they  found  him  dead  at 
the   foot   of  the   altar,   still  retaining   his  kneeling   position."23 

The  Jesuits  of  the  Illinois  Mission,  in  their  letters,  speak  with  a  cer- 
tain reserve  of  the  purpose  and  the  results  of  the  mission  of  the 
Seminary  Priests.  Gravier  thinks  they  came  to  take  over  all 
the  Jesuit  missions  in  the  Illinois  country.  Pinet's  foundation 
of  Cahokia  was  occupied  by  Bergier.  Gravier 's  powers  as  Vicar- 
General  were  withdrawn,  as  Bergier  claimed  them.  The  Semi- 
nary priests  had  really  accomplished  very  little.  Even  Father  Davion 
abandoned  his  mission  for  fear  of  the  English  and  of  the  savages, 
their  enemies,  although  he  later  on  returned  to  the  Tonikas  and  labored 
among  them  for  eighteen  years.  We  can  sympathize  with  Father  Gravier, 
when  after  so  many  years  of  hard  service  he  sees  his  work  imperiled  by 
men  who  were  really  of  good  will.  "I  am  convinced"  he  writes  to 
Father  Lamherville  in  Paris,  "that  these  missions  will  receive  rude 
shocks.  They  are  beginning  to  be  on  a  good  footing.  This  caused 
jealousy  in  the  minds  of  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Foreign  Missions,  who 
have  come  to  take  them  from  us."24  But  time,  with  its  healing  balm, 
gradually  restored  a  better  feeling  between  these  men  of  God  engaged 
in  the  same  glorious  work. 


-3  "History  of  Louisiana,  vol.  I,  p.  G7.  According  to  Father  Gravier,  Davion 
seems  to  have  been  near  death's  door  shortly  after  his  arrival.  ''Monsieur  de  St. 
Cosme,  who  had  heard  that  Monsieur  Davion  was  dying,  arrived  from  the  Natchez 
Mission.  Before  my  departure,  they  both  confirmed  the  news  of  the  wreck  of  Father 
de  Limoges, — who,  out  of  all  that  he  possessed,  saved  only  his  Chalice  and  his 
Crucifix."     "Jesuit  Relations, "  vol.  65,  p.  10. 

2<     "Jesuit   Relations,''  vol.   fifl,  p.  85. 


Chapter   6 
THE  KASKASKIAS  ON  THE  RIVER  DES  PERES 

The  year  1700  saw,  "the  second  founder  of  the  Illinois  Missions," 
as  Father  Marest  calls  Father  James  Gravier,  embark  on  a  voyage  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  on  matters  of  great  importance  to  his  Order 
and  the  missions  entrusted  to  his  care.  The  same  year  also  witnessed 
the  secession  of  the  Kaskaskia  tribe  from  that  of  the  Peoria,  who  to- 
gether had  formed  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  Father 
Marquette.  A  fateful  year  it  proved  to  be  to  the  Tamarois,  another 
branch  of  the  Illinois  nation,  in  as  far  as  the  migration  of  the  Kaskaskia 
drew  them  along  to  new  homes.  Before  the  year  1700  we  find  the 
Kaskaskia  on  the  borders  of  the  Illinois  River,  either  at  the  Rock  of  the 
Illinois  or  farther  south,  on  lake  Peoria;  after  1700  they  are  no  longer  in 
their  ancient  village;  and  in  1712  we  hear  of  their  having  been  estab- 
lished for  some  time  near  the  junction  of  the  Okaw  River  with  the 
Mississippi,  on  a  mission  called  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin.  The  missionary  who  was  with  them  on  the  Illinois, 
Father  Marest,  is  with  them  still. 

How  did  all  this  come  about?  And  where  did  the  Kaskaskia  and 
Tamarois  sojourn  during  those  two  or  three  years  that  intervened  between 
the  first  and  second  Kaskaskia.  Father  Garraghan  S.J.  has  so  clearly  and 
beautifully  answered  the  latter  question  in  his  resume  of  Father 
Kenny's  elaborate  argument  on  "Missouri's  earliest  settlement  and  its 
name,"  that  I  cannot  forbear  giving  it  entire:  "On  the  north  bank  of 
the  river  De  Peres  at  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi,  just  within  the 
south  limits  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  there  existed  for  a  few  years 
subsequent  to  1700  a  French-Indian  settlement,  Missouri's  earliest 
growth  of  civilized  life.  Hither,  in  that  year,  came  the  Kaskaskia 
Indians,  having  moved  down  from  their  village  on  the  Illinois  River 
where  Marquette,  twenty-five  years  before,  had  set  up  among  them  the 
first  outpost  of  Christian  civilization  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Hither 
also  came  the  Tamarois,  and  with  them  the  French  from  their  village  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Mississippi.  With  the  Kaskaskia  was  their 
pastor,  Gabriel  Marest  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  with  the  Tamarois 
was  their  pastor  also,  Francois  Pinet,  of  the  same  Society,  the  latter 
having  but  recently  closed  his  Miami  mission,  the  earliest  religious 
establishment  ever  set  up  within  the  limits  of  Chicago.  Francois  Pinet, 
Chicago's  first  resident  priest,  was  likewise  one  of  the  group  of  Jesuit 
missionaries  at  the  Des  Peres  settlement  to  whom  belongs  the  distinction 
of  having  been  the  first  resident  priest  on  the  site  of  St.  Louis;  so  early 
a  link  of  historical  association  do  we  discover  between  the  metropolis  of 

(42) 


Tin   Kaskaskias  on  the  River  Des  Peres  43 

the  Great  Lakes  region  and  the  no  less  forward-looking  metropolis  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley. 

The  little  French-Indian  community  at  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Peres, 
hovers  ghostlike  for  a  brief  spell  over  the  threshold  of  Missouri  history 
and  then  fades  utterly  from  view  into  the  surrounding  gloom.  Until 
yesterday,  when  it  lifted  its  head  clear  of  the  mists  of  myth  and  legend 
and  took  rank  as  the  first  patch  of  civilized  life  ever  laid  out  on  Missouri 
soil,  nothing  of  it  more  substantial  had  endured  than  a  faint  memory 
enshrined  in  the  name  of  the  stream,  the  Des  Peres,  or  ' '  Fathers '  River, ' ' 
along  the  banks  of  which  it  one  time  nestled."1 

The  account  of  the  exodus  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  of  its  final  outcome 
rests  upon  a  number  of  contemporary  documents,  chief  among  them 
Father  James  Gravier's  letter  on  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception, 1694,  and  the  same  Father's  Relation  of  his  Voyage  to  the  Lower 
Mississippi  in  1700,  and  Father  Marest's  letters  from  the  Kaskaskia 
Mission  on  the  Mississippi.  All  this  was  well  known  since  the  publication 
of  the  Jesuit  Relations.  But  it  Avas  supposed  that  the  transfer  from 
Kaskaskia  the  ancient,  to  Kaskaskia  the  new,  was  effected  in  rapid 
progression.  Weighty  proof  is  now  at  hand  that  the  migration  found 
an  intermediate  place  of  refuge  and  rest  in  the  Mission  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River  at  the  mouth  of  the 
once  so  beautiful  stream  even  now  called  the  River  Des  Peres. 

That  there  was  such  a  village  on  the  Missouri  side  is  vouched  for  by 
Moses  Austin,  writing  in  1796,  who  states  on  the  authority  of  the  most 
ancient  of  the  inhabitants,  that  the  first  settlement  of  the  country  by 
the  French  was  a  place  called  La  Riviere  Des  Peres,  which  is  situated 
on  the  Spanish  side  of  the  Mississippi  about  six  miles  below  where 
the  town  of  St.  Louis  now  stands."2  This  place  was  the  intermediate 
temporary  settlement  of  the  Kaskaskia  Indians  on  their  migration  for 
the  mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  on  the  Illinois  River,  to  the 
later  mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  on  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Okaw  Rivers  in  South  Illinois. 

The  possible  causes  of  this  flitting  of  an  entire  tribe  to 
a  new  habitat  were  several,  chief  among  them,  however,  we  re- 
gard the  following :  The  foundation  of  Biloxi  by  Iberville,  on  the 
lower  Mississippi,  had  caused  a  serious  commotion  among  the  Indian  Neo- 
phytes at  Kaskaskia,  or  as  Father  Gravier  styles  them,  ' '  the  Illinois  of  the 
Straits, ' '  meaning  by  this  term  the  people  at  the  narrow  outlet  of  Peoria 
Lake,  as  distinguished  from  the  Illinois  of  the  Mississippi  river.     The 


1  Garraghan,  Gilbert  J.,  "Some  High  Lights  in  Missouri's  History"  in  "St. 
Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  3,  p.  235. 

2  Moses  Austin  left  a  Memorandum  of  his  Journey  from  Virginia  to  Louisiana, 
West  of  the  Mississippi  River,  1796-7,  from  which  this  statement  is  cited  by  Father 
Kenny. 


i  1  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Loins 

Kaskaskias  uimt  determined  to  leave  the  Peorias  and  to  sail  away  to 
the  south  and  live  under  the  walls  of  Iberville's  strong  and  rich  new 
sett  lenient  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  River.  Father  Gravier  tells  us  of 
the  momentous  event:  "I  arrived  too  late  among  the  Illinois  of  the 
Strait,  of  whom  Father  Marest  had  charge,  to  prevent  the  migration  of  the 
village  of  the  Kaskaskia,  which  has  been  too  precipitately  made,  in  conse- 
quence of  uncertain  news  respecting  the  Mississippi  settlement.  I  do 
not  think  that  the  Kaskaskias  would  have  thus  separated  from  the 
Peouaroua  and  from  the  other  Illinois  of  the  Strait,  if  I  could  have 
arrived  sooner.  I  reached  them  at  least  soon  enough  to  conciliate  their 
minds  to  some  extent,  and  to  prevent  the  insult  that  the  Peouaroos  and 
the  Mouingouana  were  resolved  to  offer  the  Kaskaskia  and  the  French 
when  they  embarked.  I  addressed  all  the  chiefs  in  full  Council,  and,  as 
they  continue  to  retain  some  respect  and  good  will  for  me,  they  parted 
very  peaceably.  But  I  augur  no  good  from  this  separation,  which  ' 
have  always  opposed,  for  I  foresaw  but  too  well  the  evil  consquences  that 
would  result  from  it.  And  may  God  grant  that  the  road  from  Chicagwa 
to  the  Strait  be  not  closed,  and  that  the  entire  Illinois  Mission  may  not 
suffer  greatly   thereby."3 

As  the  missions  on  the  Illinois  were  dependant  on  Quebec  for 
their  supplies,  the  road  over  Chicago  to  Michillimackinae  had  to  be 
kept  open.  If  the  Illinois  Indians  were  not  strong  enough  to  resist  the 
inroads  of  the  Iroquois  and  the  Sioux,  the  road  to  Canada  would  no 
longer  be  open  and  the  missions  would  be  doomed. 

But  the  Kaskaskias  were  on  their  way  to  the  South;  all  that  Father 
Gravier 's  persuasions  could  accomplish  was  to  halt  the  voyage  near  the 
Tamarois'  village,  where  Fathers  Marest  and  Pinet  were  awaiting  them. 
Rouensa,  the  great  chief  of  the  Kaskaskias,  who  was  a  faithful  Catholic, 
was  leading  them  on,  but  did  not  know  where  to  lead  them.  It  had 
dawned  upon  his  mind  that  the  voyage  to  the  Lower  Mississippi  was 
simply  impossible.  But  to  stay  with  the  Cahokias  and  Tamarois  on 
their  narrow  strip  of  territory  between  the  river  and  the  bluffs  seemed 
equally  destructive.  Beyond  the  river  lay  a  boundless  expanse  of  wood- 
land and  prairie.  Some  of  the  Missouri  tribes,  as  the  Osages  and  Mis- 
souri, were  friendly  to  them.  Why  not  cross  over  and  erect  their  cabins 
beyond  ?  And  that  was  exactly  what  the  Kaskaskia  did,  and  what  Father 
Pinet  induced  his  Tamarois  to  do ;  and  what  the  French  traders  from 
Kaskaskia  and  from  Cahokia  did  not  fail  to  imitate.  The  proofs  for  this 
very  interesting  fact  have  only  recently  been  dug  from  the  dust  of  two 
centuries  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  Kenny  and  Garraghan  of  St.  Louis 
University  and  others.  We  will  here  give  the  substance  of  the  argument. 
The  southern  boundary  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  is  formed  by  a  little  river 
flowing  from  the  northwest  into  the  Mississippi.     It  has  always  borne 


'Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  65,  p.   102  ss. 


The .  Kaskaskias  on  the  River  Des  Peres  45 

the  poetical  name  of  the  Riviere  des  Peres,  or  the  River  of  the  Fathers. 
No  one  seemed  to  know  when  and  why  it  was  so  named.  Yet,  the  very 
name  seemed  to  imply  a  certain  connection  with  the  Jesuit  Fathers, 
the  earliest  missionaries  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  By  a  happy 
chance  a  number  of  letters  were  discovered  in  far-away  Canada,  that 
gave  the  key  to  the  mystery,  as  we  have  already  intimated.  The  time 
was  1700  and  the  occasion  was  the  settlement  made  on  the  place,  by 
Kaskaskia  and  Tamarois  Indians  and  a  considerable  number  of  French 
traders  and  hunters  from  Old  Kaskaskia  on  the  Illinois  and  from 
Cahokia  at  the  head  of  the  American  Bottoms. 

Father  St.  Cosme,  priest  of  the  Foreign  Missions  had  returned  from 
Arkansas  to  Cahokia  in  March  1700.  Here  he  found  his  brother  in  the 
Society,  Father  Bergier,  and  his  cousin,  the  younger  St.  Cosme,4  who  was 
not  in  priest's  orders.  He  set  about  building  a  chapel  and  a  Mission- 
house.  St.  Cosme  was  greatly  surprised  at  the  Jesuit's  claim  to  the 
mission  among  the  Tamarois,  and  Father  Bergier,  who  remained  alone 
after  Father  St.  Cosme 's  second  departure  for  the  South,  was  still  more 
embarrassed  by  the  arrival  of  the  whole  tribe  of  the  Kaskaskias,  as  we 
gather  from  the  letters  to  Bishop  Laval  written  in  1700.  Father  St 
Cosme  wrote :  ' '  We  had  the  chapel  completed  and  erected  a  fine  cross. 
But  I  was  very  much  surprised  at  Father  Binneteau's  arrival.  He  had 
left  Peoria  to  come  and  settle  this  mission."5  Father  Bergier  on  his  part, 
informed  the  Bishop  of  the  conditions  obtaining  in  the  mission  in  a 
letter  dated  February  1700:  "I  related  to  your  Highness  our  trip  to  the 
Illinois,  from  which  place  I  wrote  you  all  I  had  found  out  about  the 
condition  of  the  missions  and  that  which  concerns  the  government  of 
your  church.  There  remains  but  to  inform  you  of  the  condition  of  the 
latter.  I  arrived  there  the  7th  of  this  month  with  young  Mr.  de  St. 
Cosme.  I  have  counted  there  a  hundred  cabins  in  all,  or  thereabouts, 
of  which  nearly  half  are  vacant,  because  the  greater  part  of  the  Cahokias 
are  still  in  winter  quarters  twenty  or  twenty-five  leagues  from  here  up 
the  Mississippi. 

"The  Village  is  composed  of  Tamarois,  Cahokias,  some  Michigans 
and  Peorias.  There  are  also  some  Missouri  cabins,  and  shortly,  there 
are  to  come  about  thirty-five  cabins  of  this  last-named  nation,  who  are 
winter-quartering  some  ten  or  fifteen  leagues  from  here  below  the  village 
on  the  river.  We  must  not,  however,  count  this  nation  as  forming  part 
of  the  village  and  of  the  Tamarois  mission,  because  it  remains  there  only 
a  few  months  to  make  the  Indian  wheat,  while  awaiting  a  day  to  return 
to  its  village,  which  is  more  than  a  hundred  leagues  away,  upon  the  shores 
of  the  Missouri  river.     This  it  has  not  dared  to  undertake  for  the  last 


Shea,  John  G.,  "The  Catholic  Church  in  Colonial  Days,"  p.  541. 
St.  Cosme  to  Mgr.  Laval,  dated  at  Tamarois,  March  1700. 


Hi  History  of  iln    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

few  years  for  fear  of  being  surprised  and  defeated  on  the  way  by  some 
other  hostile  nation. 

"The  Tamarois  and  the  Cahokias  are  the  only  ones  that  really 
form  part  of  this  mission.  The  Tamarois  have  about  thirty  cabins,  and 
the  Cahokias  have  nearly  twice  that  number.  Although  the  Tamarois 
are  at  present  less  numerous  than  the  Cahokias,  the  village  is  still 
called  Tamarois  gallicized  'Des  Tamarois,'  because  the  Tamarois  have 
been  the  first  and  are  still  the  oldest  inhabitants  and  have  first  lit  a 
fire  here,  to  use  the  Indian  expression.  All  the  other  nations  who  have 
joined  them  afterwards  have  not  caused  the  name  of  the  village  to 
change,  but  have  been  under  t lie  name  of  Tamarois  although  they  were 
not  Tamarois."6 

In  the  following  year,  however,  after  the  arrival  of  the  Kaskaskia 
tribe  with  their  missionary,  Marest,  Father  Bergier  wrote  from  Tamarois 
about  a  division  of  his  people  occasioned  by  the  new  exodus  of  the 
Kaskaskias  to  the  little  river  on  the  west  bank  now  called  the  Des  Peres: 
He  gives  his  information  in  brief,  clear-cut  numbered  clauses,  which 
we  subjoin  together  with  Father  Kenny's  running  comment. 

1.  "The  Kats  (this  is  a  common  short  form  for  Kaskaskia)  to  the 
extent  of  about  thirty  cabins,  have  established  their  new  village  two 
leagues  below  this  on  the  other  side  of  the  Mississippi.  They  have  built 
a  fort  there,  and  nearly  all  the  French  have  hastened  thither."7 

Two  leagues  below  "Tamarois,"  and  "on  the  other  side  of  the 
.Mississippi"  brings  us  into  Missouri  at  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Peres 
River.  "They  have  built  a  fort  there"  and  "nearly  all  the  French  have 
hastened  thither",  indicate  a  settlement  of  whites.  A  number  of  French- 
men left  the  confederated  camp  with  the  Kaskaskia ;  we  see  these  now 
augmented  by  the  accession  of  Frenchmen  who  had  been  at  Tamarois, 
so  that  it  is  safe  to  say,  that  the  whites  in  Missouri  in  1700  were  the 
largest  aggregation  of  Caucasians  at  any  one  spot  on  the  entire  Miss- 
issippi Valley.     Monsignor  Bergier  continues  : 

2.  "The  chief  of  the  Tamarois,  followed  by  some  cabins,  joined  the 
Kats,  attracted  by  Rouensa,  who  promises  them  much,  and  makes  them 
believe  him  saying  that  he  is  called  by  the  great  chief  of  the  French,  Mr. 
d 'Iberville,  as  Father  Marest  has  told  him."8 

3.  "The  remainder  of  the  Tamarois,  numbering  about  twenty  cabins 
are  shortly  going  to  join  their  chief,  already  settled  at  the  Kats.    So  there 


s  Bergier  to  Bishop  of  Quebec,  February,  1700.  Archives  of  Laval  University, 
Quebec,  quoted  by  Fortier,  E.  J.,  in  "Illinois  State  Historical  Library,"  No.  13, 
p.  233  ss.,  and  by  Father  Lawrence  Kenny,  S.  J.,  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical 
Keview, "  vol.  I,  p.  151,  cf.  also  "Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  V,  p.  149. 

i     "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  I,  p.  1")2. 

s     "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  I,  p.   153. 


The  Kaskaskias  on  the  River  Des  Peres  47 

will  remain  here  only  the  Cahokia  numbering  60  or  70  cabins.  They  are 
cutting-  stakes  to  build  a  fort."9 

' '  Here  Ave  learn  how  it  came  about  that  the  early  Illinois  settlement 
changed  its  name  at  this  time  from  Tamarois  to  Cahokia.  The  Tamarois 
abandoned  the  site  and  the  Cahokia  made  it  their  permanent  home."10 
It  was  early  in  1 700  that  the  Kaskaskia  migration  reached  the  Tamarois 
or  Cahokia  village.  But  it  is  not  probable  that  it  rested  there  very  long, 
the  inference,  therefore,  seems  justified  that  the  foundation  of  the  new 
Kaskaskia  village  at  the  junction  of  the  Riviere  des  Peres  with  the  Father 
of  Waters,  as  indicated  by  Father  Bergier,  took  place  before  the  end  of 
1700.  The  friendly  cooperation  between  the  Jesuit  Pinet  and  the  Semin- 
ary priest  Bergier  did  not  last  long.  In  fact,  Father  Pinet  was  recalled 
by  Father  Marest  to  the  place  he  termed  "Among  the  Kaskaskias,"  which 
is,  of  course,  the  village  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  on  the  soil  of  Missouri. 
Father  Marest,  writes  to  Father  Lamberville  in  Paris  under  date  of  July 
5,  1702:  "Father  Pinet  a  very  holy  and  zealous  missionary,  has  left  the 
station  at  the  Tamarois,  or  Arkinsa,11  in  accordance  with  your  directions 
to  me.  But  he  has  only  half  quitted  it,  for  he  has  left  a  man  in  our 
house  there  who  takes  care  of  it,  and  thus  we  occasionally  go  thither 
from  this  place  to  show  that  we  are  obedient  to  the  king,  pending  the 
receipt  of  his  orders.  That  Father  now  has  charge  of  the  Kaskaskias, 
where  I  leave  him  alone,  to  his  great  sorrow — owing  to  present  circum- 
stances, wherein  Monsieur  Bergier  shows  that  he  is  a  worthy  member 
of  the  Missions  Etrangeres.  Inform  him  of  the  ruling  by  which  the 
Vicars-General  have  no  right  to  visit  our  churches  or  to  hear  confessions 
in  them  without  our  consent.  I  am  convinced  that  these  missions  will 
receive  rude  shocks.  They  were  beginning  to  be  on  a  good  footing.  This 
caused  jealousy  in  the  minds  of  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Foreign  Missions, 
who  have  come  to  take  them  from  us.  God  grant  that  they  may  leave 
them  in  a  better  condition  than  we  have  done."12 

Father  Bergier  at  Cahokia  had  been  appointed  Vicar-General  of 
the  Bishop  of  Quebec  in  the  Mississippi  Valley ;  and  Father  Gravier,  the 
former  Vicar-General,  had  referred  the  entire  dispute  concerning  the 
Illinois  Missions  to  the  judgment  of  the  King.  As  the  Seminary  priests 
were  confirmed  in  their  possession  of  the  Mission  at  Cahokia,  Father 
Pinet  was  recalled,  and  Father  Bergier  assumed  control  of  the  Indians 
and  what  was  left  of  the  French  at  Cahokia.  This  happened  about  the 
middle  of  June  1702.  Personally,  the  two  missionary  bands  were  on 
friendly  terms;  yet  the  friction  caused  by  the  contested  authority  had 


a     "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Eeview, "  vol.  I,  p.   153. 
i"     Kenny,  ibidem. 

n     Arkinsa  are  the  adopted  tribe  of  the  Metchigamias  who  had  arrived  from  the 
Arkansas  Kiver. 

12     "Jesuit  Eelations,"  vol.  66,  p.  253. 


48  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

not  been  without  deleterious  influence  on  the  Indian  population  of  the 
( wo  villages  on  opposite  sides  of  the  river.  As  Father  Garraghan  tells  us 
in  his  recent  article  in  the  Sunday  Globe-Democrat  of  St.  Louis: 
"Rouensa,  the  Kaskaskia  chief,  offered  every  inducement  to  the  Tamarois 
and  Cahokia  to  move  across  the  river  to  his  new  settlement.  Presents 
were  not  wanting,  500  pounds  of  powder  and  "a  cask  when  the  French 
shall  have  come  up  from  the  sea."  Father  Bergier,  to  hold  his  Indians, 
had  to  lay  before  them  counter  attractions,  "a  kettle,  four  pounds  of 
powder,  a  pound  of  colored  glass  beads,  four  boxes  of  vermilion  and  a 
dozen  knives."  Long  Neck,  the  Tamarois  chief,  set  before  his  people 
the  charms  of  the  Kaskaskia  village,  which  had  won  for  itself  the  allur- 
ing soubriquet  of  "The  Land  of  Life."13 

"On  the  other  hand,  Chicagoua,  another  Tamarois  chief,  showed 
himself  indifferent  in  the  question  of  the  hour  and  declared  it  was  all 
one  to  him,  whether  his  tribesmen  went  or  stayed.  In  the  end,  only  a 
third  of  the  Tamarois,  some  twelve  cabins,  with  their  chief,  presumably 
Long  Neck,  moved  to  the  Des  Peres.  A  much  larger  number  had  no 
doubt  been  expected,  as  one  day  in  April  1701,  Rouensa  sent  as  many  as 
twenty-three  pirogues14  to  bring  the  Indians  over  from  Cahokia.  Whether 
the  rest  of  the  tribe  eventually  followed  the  third  that  migrated,  cannot 
be  ascertained.  At  all  events,  it  is  significant  that  a  hitherto  unpublished 
map  in  the  National  Library,  Paris,  indicates  the  Tamarois  village  as 
being,  at  this  period,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  below  Cahokia."15 

Thus  time  ran  on  in  the  little  village  by  the  River  des  Peres.  Father 
Bore  came  here  as  also  Brother  Guibert.  The  chapel  was  well  attended 
by  the  neophytes.  Trade  with  the  tribes  on  the  Missouri  River  was 
going  on  briskly.  Yet,  the  feeling  was  abroad  that  the  Des  Peres  settle- 
ment was  not  the  final  goal  of  the  Kaskaskia  migration. 

In  his  letter  of  July  5th,  1702  to  Father  Lamberville,  Father  Marest 
writes  about  Father  Mermet's  going  to  the  new  post  on  the  Wabash  prob- 
ably meaning  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,16  which  was  often  called  the  Wabash, 
and  his  own  intention  of  visiting  the  Sioux  country.  He  then  adds  the 
significant  remark :  "An  effort  should  be  made  to  give  us  accurate  infor- 
mation about  Monsieur  de  Ponchartrain's  intentions — respecting  what  is 


13  RochemonteiXj  Camille  de,  "Les  Jesuites  et  La  Nouvellr  Prance  aus  XVII 
Siecle,"  Paris,  1895. 

n     A  pirogue  is  ;i  Log  hollowed  out  by  fire. 

is  Father  Garraghan  of  the  St.  Louis  University,  whilst  in  Paris,  discovered  a 
large  number  of  200-year  old  maps,  for  the  most  part  sketches  which  the  celebrated 
cartographer  Guillaume  de  Lisle  left  at  his  death  forty  years  before  Laclede 
Liquest  planned  to  build  St.  Louis.  They  are  now  available  in  photostatic  copies 
in  the  Collection  of  the  Missouri  Historical  Society. 

i«     Probably  on  the  site  of  Fori    Massac. 


Thr  Kaskaskias  on  the  River  Des  Peres  40 

asked  and  expected  from  our  Savages,  as  well  as  the  grant  that  the  Court 
will  be  pleased  to  give  them.    I  think  you  understand  what  I  mean.'*17 

"Our  Savages"  are  the  Kaskaskias  and  Tamarois  on  the  Riviere 
des  Peres.  Shall  they  remain  there,  or  if  not,  where  shall  they  go  ?  These 
were  the  questions  that  agitated  the  writer's  mind.  His  correspondent 
certainly  understood  what  he  meant. 

At  what  time  this  removal  to  Kaskaskia  on  the  Illinois  side  of  the 
.Mississippi  was  effected,  is  not  quite  clear.  The  only  clew  we  have  is  an 
entry  in  the  Kaskaskia  Baptismal  Record:  "1702,  April  25.  Ad  ripani 
Metchegameam  dictam  venimus."18  "In  1703,  on  April  2.3,  we  arrived 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  called  the  Metchigamia. "  Xow  it  is  plain  that 
this  in  no  wise  refers  to  Lake  Michigan,  but  to  a  river.  The  Mechigamias, 
one  of  the  six  tribes  of  the  Illinois  confederation,  had  returned  to  the 
American  Bottom  from  Arkansas  and  had  occupied  the  country  along 
the  Okaw  River,  which  was  afterward  called  the  Kaskaskia  River,  but 
was  known  up  to  Boisbriant  's  time  as  the  Metchigamia  River.  It  would 
therefore,  appear  that  the  last  migration  of  the  Kaskaskias  took  place 
early  in  1703. 

Delisle's  Map  of  1703, 19  places  Kaskaskia  on- the  north  bank  of  the 
Riviere  des  Peres.  It  is  called  "the  Old  Village  of  the  Kaskaskias". 
and  its  location  is  fixed  on  the  Missouri  side  by  an  offical  report  on  the 
Seigniory  of  the  Tamarois  Mission  in  1735,  as  about  opposite  to  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Dupont,  which  issued  from  the  marshes  of  the  American 
Bottom  and  comes  with  gentle  flow  into  the  Mississippi.*'-" 

After  the  departure  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  allied  Indians,  the  village 
continued  a  precarious  existence  as  the  haunt  of  trappers  and  traders  and 
scattered  tribesmen  of  various  nations,  at  least  until  1735  when  the  plan 
was  entertained  to  rebuild  Fort  Chartres  at  "the  old  village  of  the 
Kaskaskias."21 


17     "Jesuit  Relations,-'  vol.  66,  p.  41. 

is     Cf.  Mason,  E.  G.,  "Kaskaskia  and  Its  Parish  Records,"  Chicago,  1881.  p.  8. 

is  This  date  would  seem  to  imply  that  the  new  Kaskaskia  in  Southern  Illinois 
was  already  founded  in  1703. 

2"  "Explication  du  plan  et  establissement  de  la  Scignorie  de  la  Mission  des 
Tamarois,"  April  12,  1735,  Laval  University  M.S. 

2i  The  "Explication"  gives  the  reasons  why  the  old  village  of  the  Kaskaskias 
is  regarded  as  a  very  advantageous  site  for  the  stone  fort  which  the  Court  orders 
built  in  the  Illinois:  "lime-stone,  building  stone,  wood  for  construction,  a  river  to 
harbor  the  boats,  the  view  over  the  Mississippi  about  two  leagues  up  and  two  leagues 
down,  the  rocky  bluff  which  slopes  very  gently  down  to  the  Mississippi,  a  fine  prairie 
adjoining  said  bluff,  the  Mississippi  which  would  be  under  the  protection  of  the  fort. 
The  Missouri  too,  which  empties  into  the  river  five  leagues  from  here  on  the  west  side 
of  said  river,  and  the  Illinois  River  which  mingles  its  waters  therewith  eleven  leagues 
from  here  on  the  west,  (east).  All  these  considerations  would  seem  to  prove  the 
necessity  of  building  the  fort  in  question    (in  this  place)    as  is  very  much  the  talk 


50  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Loin* 

But  what  name  did  this  historic  village  and  the  Mission  hear?  No 
doubt  some  of  the  voyageurs  up  and  down  the  Mississippi  called  it  the 
village  of  "the  Fathers,"  as  distinguished  from  Cahokia,  the  village  of 
"the  Gentlemen  of  the  Seminary."  Others  called  it  Kaskaskia  as  the 
former  home  of  the  principal  tribe;  Others  again  called  it  by  name  of 
the  great  chief  of  the  Kaskaskias,  "the  village  of  Rouensa, "  as  Father 
Bergier  in  his  letter  to  Bishop  Vallier  seems  to  imply,  and  as  Father 
Mermet  plainly  states,  March  2nd,  1700.  But  there  certainly  was  some 
sainted  name  attached  to  a  Catholic  village  and  Jesuit  Mission;  Father 
Mermet  tells  us  what  it  was :  speaking  of  the  Tamarois  braves  who 
brought  the  wounded  Father  Gravier  in  a  canoe  from  the  Peoria  village 
on  the  Illinois  River  to  the  village  on  the  des  Peres,  he  praises  them  say- 
ing :  "They  did  not  leave  him  until  he  reached  us  at  Ruenza's  village, 
which  is  called  St.  Francois  de  Xavier,  as  you  are  aware."22 


now.    In  case  this  be  done,  the  Seignorie  of  Tamarois  would  soon  be  established  from 
one  end  to  the  other. ' ' 

22     "Jesuit  Eelations, "  vol.  6G,  p.  57. 


Chapter  7 
CAHOKIA  AND  THE  SEMINARY  PRIESTS 


It  was  at  Chicago  iu  the  Mission  of  the  Guardian  Angel,  that  we 
first  met  Father  Francis  Pinet,  its  founder.  And  it  was  Father  St. 
Cosme  who  introduced  us  to  hiin,  October  21st,  1698.  Father  Binneteau 
had  just  arrived  from  the  South  to  accompany  Father  Pinet  to  the 
Illinois  country.  Both  were  preparing  for  the  journey.  Their  house 
stood  on  the  bank  of  a  small  river,  with  Lake  Michigan  on  one  side,  and 
a  fine  vast  prairie  on  the  other.  The  village  of  the  savages  contained 
over  a  hundred  and  fifty  cabins,  and  a  league  up  the  river  was  another 
village  almost  as  large.1  The  Indians  were  Miamis.  Father  St.  Cosme 
tells  us  that  Father  Pinet  usually  resided  there  except  in  winter,  when 
the  savages  were  all  away,  and  that  he  then  went  to  the  Illinois.  This 
was  as  early  as  1698.  Two  years  later  we  find  Father  Pinet  already 
established  at  Cahokia,  with  Father  Bergier  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec, 
having  formed  a  mission,  consisting  of  the  Tamarois,  Cahokias  and 
possibly  the  Metchigamia  from  Arkansas.  The  Mission  bore  the  name 
of  the  Holy  Family.  From  this  it  would  follow  that  Cahokia  was  the 
first  Catholic  foundation  on  the  Upper  Mississippi.  Its  location  near 
the  mouths  of  two  important  rivers,  the  Missouri  and  the  Illinois,  made 
it,  for  a  time,  the  center  of  trade  in  the  Illinois  country.  Thus  Cahokia 
may  claim  the  honor  of  priority  of  settlement  on  the  borders  of  the  Great 
River,  not  only  as  an  Indian  Mission  but  as  a  Parish  of  Catholic 
Frenchmen. 

The  French  villages  in  Illinois  resulted  from  the  grand  colonization 
plan  of  Lasalle.  The  earliest  one,  indeed,  Kaskaskia,  on  the  Illinois 
river,  was  nothing  more  than  a  primitive  Indian  village  until  the  crown- 
ing of  the  Rock  of  the  Illinois  with  Fort  St.  Louis.  Next  in  the  order  of 
time  was  the  village  of  the  Peorias  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Peoria.  Then 
came  Cahokia  founded  some  time  before  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

As  to  the  merits  of  the  case  between  the  Jesuit  Fathers  and  the 
Gentlemen  of  the  Seminary  the  advantage  seems  to  be  on  the  side  of 
the  former:  yet  the  later  grant,  though  based  on  a  misunderstanding, 
speaks  in  favor  of  the  latter. 

Cahokia,  also  called  Tamarois,  was  the  chief  seat  of  the  two 
Illinois  tribes'  whose  names   it  bore.     In  December   1690,   Bishop   St. 


i  ' '  Chicago  and  the  Old  Northwest ' '  by  Miles  Milton  Quaif  e,  contains  a 
thorough  discussion  of  Father  Pinet 's  Mission  of  the  Angel  Guardian  at  Chicago, 
pp.  39-42.    Cf.  also  Frank  R.  Grover's  lecture  on  Father  Pinet  and  his  Mission. 

(51) 


UNIVERSITY  Of 
ILLINOIS  LIBRARY- 


52  History  of  tin   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Vallier  of  Quebec  had  appointed  Father  Gravier,  S.  J.,  his  Vicar  General 

and  entrusted  the  care  of  the  Illinois  mission  and  other  surrounding 
nations  to  the  Jesuits.  "Some  of  the  surrounding  nations"  are 
specifically  mentioned:  "the  Miamis  and  the  Sioux  towards  the 
west."  The  Cahokias  and  Tamarois,  being  of  the  Illinois  nation, 
were  within  Father  Gravier's  jurisdiction.  Father  Gravier 
had  visited  Cahokia  at  least  once;  But  no  mission  had  so  far 
been  established  there  when  the  Seminary  of  Quebec  asked  and  obtain- 
ed from  Bishop  Vallier,  by  letters  patent,  dated  June  4,  1698,  a  grant  of 
the  Tamarois  mission  as  a  necessary  key  to  the  entire  valley  of  the  Mis- 
souri River.  Without  losing  any  time  Father  John  Bergier,  a  priest  of 
the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  started  for  Tamarois,  on  February  7,  1700,  in 
order  to  establish  the  Mission  of  the  Holy  Family.  About  the  same 
time  the  Jesuit  Father  Francis  Pinet  arrived  and  claimed  the  mission 
on  the  ground  that  the  evangelization  of  all  the  Illinois  tribes  was 
committed  to  the  Jesuits.  Both  priests  remained  at  Tamarois,  Father  Berg- 
ier ministering  to  the  French  traders  and  Father  Pinet  to  the  Indians. 
Peace  ruled  in  the  village:  but  it  was  threatened  from  the  North-west  by 
the  Sioux,  and  from  the  South-east  by  the  Shawnees.  On  June  14,  1700, 
Father  Bergier  wrote:  "We  have  frequent  alarms  here,  and  have  several 
times  been  obliged  to  receive  within  our  walls  nearly  all  the  women  and 
children  of  the  village.  Pentecost  Sunday  there  was  an  alarm,  which 
was  not  without  consequences.  "Some  Sioux  war-party  had  murdered 
a  number  of  men  and  women.  Some  Tamarois  Indians  and  Frenchmen 
fought  off  the  invaders  and  captured  three  Sioux.  The  prisoners  were 
"Killed,  burnt  and  eaten."2  Father  Pinet  instructed  one  of  the  victims 
before  death  and  baptized  him. 

After  the  return  of  the  Cahokias  from  their  winter-quarters,  the 
exodus  of  the  Kaskaskia  with  a  part  of  the  Tamarois  and  the  French 
t  raders,  to  the  newly-established  village  on  the  Missouri  side  took  place. 
On  June  4th  1701,  an  ecclesiastical  commission  appointed  by  the  King, 
Louis  XIV,  decided  that  the  Tamarois  Mission  belonged  to  the  Seminary. 
Father  Gravier  gracefully  accepted  the  decision  and  recalled  Father 
Pinet  to  the  new  Kaskaskia  village  on  the  River  des  Peres  where  Father 
Marest  had  already  gone.  But  when  Father  Bergier  set  up  his  claim 
that  he  had  been  appointed  Vicar  General  in  place  of  the  Jesuit 
Superior,  Father  Gravier  demurred.  The  two  rival  establishments 
on  opposite  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  however,  maintained  friendly 
relations,  the  members  visiting  one  another  as  good  neighbors.  The 
only  differences  between  them  originated  in  the  contested  Vicar-General- 
ship. Monsignor  Bergier  remained  in  Cahokia  as  missionary  and  Vicar- 
General  of  Quebec  until  his  death,  in  1712.    As  such  he  administered  the 


2     Father  Bergier's  3rd  letter,  dated  June  14,  1700,  in  Fortier's  "The  Establish- 
ment of  the  Tamaroan  Mission." 


Cahokia  and  the  Seminary  Priests  53 

last  sacraments  to  Father  Francis  Pinet,  who  died  the  death  of  a  saint, 
August  1,  1702,  and  buried  him  in  the  little  grave-yard  on  the  Missouri 
side,  although  he  had,  in  the  excess  of  zeal  for  authority,  interdicted  the 
church  on  the  Kiviere  des  Peres. 

Six  years  previous  in  1706,  Monsignor  Bergier  had  visited  Bien- 
ville in  Mobile,3  where  a  priest  of  the  Foreign  Mission,  Father  de  la  Vente, 
was  pastor.  In  consequence  of  the  Vicar-General's  representations  a 
larger  residence  was  erected  for  the  priests  at  the  church  adjoining 
Fort  St.  Louis  in  the  Bay  of  Mobile.  When  at  last  the  Kaskaskia  Indians 
and  their  French  followers  were  definitely  settled  in  their  new  village 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Okaw  River  in  what  is  now  Randolph  County, 
Illinois,  the  friendly  visits  for  spiritual  converse  and  mutual  help  and 
consolation  did  not  cease,  although  they  became  less  frequent.  On 
November  9,  1712,  Father  Marest  writes  of  his  last  visit  to  Father 
Bergier  at  the  Tamarois  village.  "Having  learnt  that  the  Monsignor 
was  dangerously  ill,  I  immediately  went  to  assist  him.  I  remained  eight 
entire  days  with  this  worthy  ecclesiastic.  The  care  I  took  of  him  and 
the  remedies  which  I  gave  him,  seemed  gradually  to  restore  him,  so  that 
he  urged  me  to  return  to  my  village.  Before  leaving  him,  I  administered 
to  him  the  Holy  Viaticum.  He  instructed  me  as  to  the  condition  of  his 
mission,  recommending  it  to  me  in  case  that  God  should  take  him  away. 
When  I  arrived  at  our  village  nearly  all  the  savages  had  gone,  (on  their 
usual  hunting  excursion).  They  were  scattered  along  the  Mississippi. 
I  immediately  set  out  to  join  them."4  Here  the  Missionary  was  kept 
very  busy  with  sick-calls  to  the  various  encampments;  yet  the  illness 
of  Father  Bergier  continually  disturbed  his  mind  and  urged  him  to 
return  to  Kaskaskia.  But  no  news  had  come  from  Tamarois  and,  as 
"no  news  is  good  news,"  Father  Marest 's  anxiety  was  greatly  relieved. 
A  few  days  afterward  however,  a  young  slave  came  to  apprize  him  of 
Father  Bergier 's  death  and  beg  him  to  go  to  perform  the  funeral  rites. 
Father  Marest  set  out  at  once  and,  walking  all  night,  arrived  there 
towards  evening  the  next  day.  In  the  morning  he  said  Mass  for  the 
deceased  and  buried  him  in  the  churchyard  of  Cahokia.  The  death  of 
Father  Bergier  was  a  most  edifying  one;  he  felt  it  coming  all  at  once, 
and  said  that  it  would  be  useless  to  send  for  a  priest  from  Kaskaskia, 
since  he  would  be  dead  before  his  arrival.  He  merely  took  in  his  hands 
the  crucifix  which  he  kissed  lovingly  and  expired."5     Father  Marest 


3  Father  de  la  Vente  in  his  earlier  days,  one  of  the  three  important  personages 
in  Mobile,  or  in  the  language  of  Gayarre,  "one  of  the  hinges  upon  which  everything 
turned  in  the  commonwealth  of  Louisiana,"  "History  of  Louisiana,  I,  p.  «7.  Mobile 
was  the  seat  of  the  Government  before  the  foundation  of  New  Orleans. 

4  "Jesuit  Kelations,"  vol.  66,  p.  263. 
s     "Jesuit  Kelations,"  vol.  66,  p.  263. 


.">4  History   of   the   Archdiocese   of  St.    Loins 

adds  to  his  account  of  Father  Bergier's  death  a  gentle  word  of  praise, 
calling  him  "a  missionary  of  true  merit  and  of  a  very  austere  life." 

After  Father  Bergier's  death  the  mission  and  Parish  of  Cahokia 
remained  in  care  of  the  Jesuits  of  Kaskaskia  because  the  Seminary  of 
Quebec  had  no  one  to  send  to  this  important  station.  On  October  16, 
1717,  Father  Dominic  Mary  Varlet  received  the  appointment  from  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec  as  Vicar-General,  especially  for  Fort  le  Mobile  or 
Fort  St.  Louis,  and  the  places  and  missions  along  the  River  Mississippi, 
with  the  jurisdiction  over  all  priests,  secular  or  regular,  except  priests 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  who  were  subject  to  their  own  Superior.  "The 
new  Vicar-General  represented  to  the  Bishop  that  a  considerable  time 
might  elapse  before  he  could  reach  the  Tamarois  Mission,  and  that  in 
the  mean  time  the  Seminary  might  be  unable  to  send  a  successor  to  Rev. 
M.  Bergier  at  that  place,  he  therefore  solicited  a  confirmation  of  the 
original  Letters-Patent  granted  to  the  Seminary  of  Quebec  for  the  Miss- 
issippi Mission  and  especially  for  that  of  the  Tamarois.  The  Bishop 
accordingly  renewed  the  letters  of  May  10  and  July  14,  1698.  Monsig- 
nor  Varlet  proceeded  to  occupy  his  new  field  of  labor.  He  had  served 
at  Mobile  as  a  missionary  from  1713  to  1715  and  from  1715  on,  he  signed 
himself  as  Vicar-General.  The  document  of  1717,  therefore,  is  but  an 
extension  of  his  powers  after  the  death  of  Vicar-General  Bergier.  There 
is  no  proof  to  show  that  Father  Varlet  attended  the  Parish  of  Cahokia 
at  any  time,  though  he  seems  to  have  visited  it.  In  1718  Father  Varlet 
was  appointed  Bishop  of  Ascalon  and  Coadjutor  to  the  Bishop  of  Baby- 
lon and,  after  receiving  episcopal  consecration,  set  out  for  the  East. 
Meanwhile  evidence  had  reached  Rome  that  Varlet  was  an  active  adherent 
to  the  doctrines  of  Jansenism.  Bishop  Varlet  then  retired  to  Utrecht  in 
Holland  where  he  helped  to  establish  the  Jansenist  Church,  consecrating 
four  of  its  archbishops.  He  died  in  1742.  The  socalled  Old-Catholics 
derive  their  episcopate  from  this  renegade  Bishop.6 

After  Monsignor's  departure  in  1719  the  Seminary  of  the  Foreign 
Missions  sent  Fathers  Antoine  Thaumer  de  la  Source  and  Francois  le 
Mercier  to  Cahokia.  It  was  due  to  the  influence  exerted  by  these  two 
missionaries,  that  Sieur  des  Crsins  of  the" Royal  Company  of  the  Indies," 
and  Pierre  Duguet  de  Boisbriant,  the  "First  Lieutenant  of  the  King  in  the 
Province  of  Louisiana",  granted  to  the  Missionaries  of  Cahokia  and 
Tamarois,  in  Fee  Simple  "a  tract  of  Four  Leagues  square  with  the 
neighboring  island,7  to  be  taken  a  quarter  of  a  league  above  the  small 
river  of  the  Cahokias,  situated  above  the  Indian  Village,  and  in  going  up 


6  "Catholic  Church  in  the  Colonies,"  John  G.  Shea,  p.  556.  Both  letters  as 
signing  the  Tamarois  Mission  to  the  Seminary  priests,  "Illinois  Catholic  Historical 
Review,"  vol.  V.  As  to  Varlet,  cf.  "American  Catholic  Quarterly  Review,"  vol. 
XIV,  pp.  533  ss. 

7  This  Island  is  now  called   Arsenal  Island. 


Cahokia  and  the  Seminary  Priests  55 

following  the  course  of  the  Mississippi,  and  in  returning  towards  the  Fort 
of  Chartres,  running  in  depth  to  the  north,  east  and  south  for  quantity.'" 
The  French  government  on  August  1743  confirmed  this  grant.  But 
as  early  as  June  22,  1722,  the  missionaries  were  authorized,  "to  work, 
clear,  plant  the  land."  Thus  the  Mission  of  Cahokia  became  a  grand 
Seigniory  stretching  from  the  village  to  the  confines  of  Fort  Chartres.9 

Father  Charlevoix  on  his  tour  of  inspection  from  Canada  to  the 
Gulf  arrived  at  Cahokia  on  the  10th  day  of  October  1721,  and  left  us  an 
interesting  account  of  the  place  and  its  priests :  ' '  The  same  Day,  October 
19,  we  went  to  stay  in  a  village  of  the  Cahokias  and  Tamarois.  These 
are  two  nations  of  the  Illinois  which  are  united,  and  who  do  not  together 
make  a  very  numerous  village.  It  is  situated  on  a  little  river10  which 
comes  from  the  east,  and  which  has  no  water  but  in  the  Spring  season, 
so  that  we  were  forced  to  walk  a  good  half  league  to  the  cabins.  I  was 
surprised  that  they  had  chosen  such  an  inconvenient  situation,  as  they 
might  have  found  a  much  better  one ;  but  they  told  me  that  the 
Mississippi  washed  the  foot  of  the  village  when  it  was  built,  and  that 
in  three  years  the  river  had  lost  half  a  league  of  ground,  and  that  they 
were  thinking  of  looking  out  for  another  settlement.  I  passed  the  night 
in  the  house  of  the  missionaries,  who  are  two  ecclesiastics  of  the  Semi- 
nary of  Quebec,  formerly  my  disciples,  but  who  might  now  be  my  masters. 
The  elder  of  the  two,  Dominic  A.  Thaumer  was  absent.  I  found  the 
younger,  Francois  le  Mercier  such  as  he  has  been  reported  to  me,  severe 
to  himself,  full  of  charity  for  others  and  making  virtue  amiable  in  his 
own  person.  But  he  has  so  little  health,  that  I  think  he  cannot  long 
support  the  way  of  life  which  they  are  obliged  to  lead  in  these 
missions."11 

The  Gentlemen  of  the  Seminary  as  well  as  the  Jesuit  Fathers  had 
long  cast  wistful  eyes  upon  the  West,  where  the  Missouri  rolled  its 
muddy  waters  through  lands  of  many  nations  still  sitting  "in  darkness 
and  the  shadow  of  death."  But  adventurous  laymen  showed  the  way 
to  their  goal.  In  March  1702,  seventeen  Frenchmen  left  Cahokia  to 
ascend  the  Missouri  river ;  Derbanne  followed  about  1706 ;  Darac  was 
dispatched   by   Bienville   to   the   Missouri   in   1710 ;   Nine   years   later 


8  The  "Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review"  has  two  articles  on  the  Catholic 
Mission  Property  by  Joseph  J.  Thompson,  vol.  V,  p.  195-217  and  vol.  VI,  p.  99-135. 
The  grant  was  made  by  Boisbriant,  and  des  Ursins  on  June  22,  1722.  At  Father 
Mercier 's  request,  April  20,  1743,  Vaudreuil  promised  to  obtain  the  confirmation  from 
Maurepas  which  was  given  on  August  4,  1743.  The  further  transaction  in  regard  to 
the  Cahokia  Mission  property  was  involved  in  darkness.  What  Vaudreuil  himself  con- 
firmed was  the  title  to  lands  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Seminary  had  illegally  bought 
from  the  Indians  in  order  to  divide  them  gratis  among  bona  fide  settlers, 
s     Fort  Chartres  stood  about  ten  miles  north  of  Kaskaskia. 

io     The  Cahokia  Creek. 

ii     Wallace,  Jos.,  "The  History  of  Illinois  and  Louisiana,"  p.  209. 


56  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Dutisne,  coming  from  the  South,  disembarked  his  force  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Saline  River,  ten  miles  below  what  was  destined  to  be  Ste.  Genevieve, 
and  taking  a  uorth-wesl  course  reached  the  Indian  villages  <ui  the  Osage 
and  Missouri.12  These  soldiers,  hunters  and  traders  brought  back  the 
report  thai  among  the  nations  of  the  Missouri  some  seemed  very  well 
disposed  to  receive  the  Gospel.  The  Jesuit  Father  Limoges  on  March 
9,  1700  made  known  to  Father  St.  Cosme  his  desire  to  go  among  the 
tribes  of  the  Missouri  as  a  missionary.  Father  St.  Cosine's  successor 
at  Cahokia,  Father  Bergier,  in  May  1702  wrote:  "The  two  principal 
missions  which  I  should  like  to  take  in  hand,  if  there  were  men  and 
money,  are  the  Cances  (Kansas)  and  the  Panimahas  (Loups)  along  the 
river  of  the  Missouri's."13 

It  was  Father  Mercier  who  was  chosen  in  1723  to  attempt,  in  a  very 
restricted  manner,  the  grand  dream  of  Father  Limoges  and  Father 
Bergier,  to  establish  "missions  among  the  Kansas  and  Panimahas 
(Loups)  and  the  other  tribes  along  the  river  of  the  Missouri's."  The  Sieur 
Vensard  de  Bourgmond,  who  as  early  as  1714,  had  navigated  the 
Missouri  River  as  far  as  its  junction  with  the  Platte,  and  at  a  later 
date  had  reached  a  point  as  far  north  as  Dakota,  was  commissioned  in 
172.'!.  to  undertake  the  military  occupation  of  the  Missouri.  Diron 
D'Artaguiette,  the  commander  of  Fort  Chartres,  records  in  his  Journal 
of  1723  the  following  incidents  of  his  meeting  with  Bourgmont's  party: 
"About  noon,  June  4,  wind  being  contrary,  we  perceived  four  boats 
and  two  pirogues  full  of  Canadians.  We  fired  some  shots  and  went  on 
shore  to  wait  for  them.  It  was  M.  Bourgmont,  who  with  a  company  of 
fifty  men,  of  whom  M.  Pradel  was  captain,  was  going  up  the  river  to 
the  Missouris.  The  Sunday  at  4  P.M.  I  reviewed  the  company.  Many 
of  them  were  sick."14  As  the  party  was  on  the  way  to  Cahokia, 
D'Artaguiette  joined  them.  The  Journal  continues:  "At  daybreak- 
June  6,  we  embarked  and  came  to  get  breakfast  at  the  Old  village  of  the 
Cahokias,  which  is  on  the  left  as  you  ascend,15  a  league  and  a  half 
distant  from  the  village  of  the  Cahokias.  In  this  place  we  perceived 
a  large  pirogue,   of  French  make,  which  was   crossine    over    from   the 

village  of  the  Cahokias We  then  continued  our  journey  and  arrived 

about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  at  the  poste,  where  the  Sieur  de  St. 
Ange  is  in  command  with  six  soldiers.  This  is  a  wretched  fort  of 
piles,  where  the  Sieur  Mercier,   priest   of   the   Foreign    .Mission,   lias   a 


12  "Travels  Through  thai  Part  of  North  America  Formerly  called  Louisiana," 
bj   Capt.  Bossu,  London,  1771. 

is  "Emergence  of  the  Missouri  Valley  into  History,"  Garraghan,  s;.  .1. 
' '  Thought, ' '  vol.  I,  No.  2,  p.  203. 

14  "Journal  of  Diron  D'Artaguiette,"  1723,  in  Mereness  Collection,  p.  84. 

15  This  is  tin-  Old  Village  of  the  Kaskaskias  on  the  Dos  Peres. 


Cahokia  and  the  Seminary  Priests  57 

house  and  church.  An  eighth  of  a  league  higher  up  is  the  village  of 
the  Cahokias."16 

The  old  village  of  the  Cahokias,  on  the  left  as  you  ascend,  a  league 
and  a  half  distant  from  the  village  of  the  Cahokias  on  the  Illinois  side, 
is  Father  Pinet's  one-time  mission  of  St.  Francis  Xavier.  St.  Ange  de 
Bellerive,  the  commandant  of  the  fort,  and  Father  Francis  Mercier, 
one  of  the  two  priests  of  the  Cahokia  mission,  joined  the  expedition  up 
the  Missouri  River. 

Having  arrived  at  the  village  of  the  Missouris,  with  a  party  of 
about  fifty  Frenchmen,  November  9,  1723,  Bourgmond  erected  his  fort, 
known  in  history  as  Fort  Orleans,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Missouri 
in  Carroll  County.17  The  Chaplain  of  the  expedition  was  Father  John 
Baptist  Mercier,  the  pastor  of  Cahokia.  There  was  a  room  in  the  fort, 
dedicated  to  divine  service,  the  earliest  house  of  worship  erected  in 
the  Valley  of  the  Missouri.  "The  Te  Deum  chanted  by  Mercier  at  the 
Fort,  November  5,  1724,  on  Bourgmond 's  return  from  his  adventurous 
march  across  the  Kansas  plains,"  says  Father  Garraghan,  "was  a  unique 

religious  ceremony  in  the  history  of  the  West "18  Together  with 

the  commandant,  Father  Mercier  paid  visits  to  the  Missouri  and  Osage 
Villages,  where  he  apparently  made  an  impression  upon  the  Indians ; 
for  their  chiefs,  whom  Bourgmond  brought  to  Paris  in  1725,  declared 
in  their  address  to  Louis  XV,  "that  they  never  had  any  one  to  teach 
them  to  pray,  save  only  a  "white  collar,"  who  came  to  them  a  little 
time  ago,  whom  they  are  happy  to  have,  and,  (they)  beseech  you  to 
send  others."19  In  1725  Desliettes,  Commandant  of  the  Illinois  Country, 
was  instructed  "to  thank  le  Sieur  Mercier,  chaplain  of  the  post  of  the 
Missouris,  for  his  services;  and  that  was  all  of  earthly  recompense 
the  priest  received  for  his  long  and  faithful  labors."  By  order  of  the 
Company  of  the  Indies,  dated  October  27,  1724,  Fort  Orleans  was 
abandoned  in  1728.  "A  Missionary,  however,  was  to  be  left  there,  if  he 
thought  lie  could  make  any  progress  in  the  preaching  of  the  Govspel 
among  the  Indians.  Father  Mercier  returned  with  the  garrison  and 
resumed  his  previous  functions  as  missionary  at  Cahokia.20  Yet  he  did 
not  lose   interest   in   the   prospect   "for  missions  which  it   is  desirable 


i«     Mereness  Collection,  pp.  79  and  80. 

i"  Fort  Orleans  was  not  built  on  an  island  in  the  Missouri,  but  on  the  Tetsan 
Bend  two  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Wakenda  River.  Cf.  the  Baron  Marc  de 
Villier's,  "La  Decouverte  du  Missouri  et  1'Histoire  du  Fort  Orleans,  1G73-1728, 
Paris,  1925. 

is  "Emergence  of  the  Missouri  Valley  Tutu  History,"  Garraghan,  iu 
"Thought,"  vol.  I,  No.  2,  p.  207. 

19  Garraghan,  p.  207. 

20  Garraghan,  p.  208. 


58  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

should  be  established  on  the  Missouri  River."21  According  to  Bossu, 
Father  Mercier  was  a  Canadian  by  birth.  He  came  to  Cahokia  in  1718, 
and  remained  there  until  1753.  Bossu  praises  him  as  a  worthy  Apostle  of 
Louisiana :  "1  have  been  particularly  acquainted  with  the  Abbe  Mercier, 
a  Canadian  by  birth,  and  vicar  of  the  whole  country  of  Illinois.  He 
was  a  man  of  probity,  whose  friendship  could  not  fail  of  being  of  use 
to  me  by  the  knowledge  he  had  acquired  of  the  manner  of  the  Indians, 
who  were  edified  by  his  virtue  and  disinterestedness.  He  spoke  the 
language  of  the  country  and,  on  account  of  the  fluency  with  which  he 
expressed  himself  in  it,  he  was  highly  esteemed  among  the  Indians,  who 
consulted  him  in  all  matters."22 

Father  Dominique  Antoine  Rene  Thaumer  de  la  Source  was  a 
student  at  the  Jesuit  College  in  Quebec  at  the  time  Charlevoix  taught 
in  that  institution  of  learning,  170")  to  1709.  Entering  the  Seminary  of 
I  lie  Priests  of  the  Foreign  Missions  he  completed  his  studies  and  was 
ordained  to  the  priesthood.  On  August  3,  1718,  his  name  occurs  in 
the  Church  Records  of  Detroit.  He  came  to  Tamarois  in  1719  as  com- 
panion to  Father  Mercier.  At  Father  Charlevoix's  visit  to  Tamarois 
on  October  10,  1721,  he  is  still  with  Father  Mercier,  though  absent 
at  the  moment  on  some  missionary  call.  As  Father  Mercier  remained 
among  the  Missouri  Indians  until  the  departure  of  Bourgmond  for 
France  in  1725,  Father  Thaumer  de  la  Source  alone  retained  charge 
of  the  Mission  and  parish  of  the  Holy  Family  of  the  Cahokias.  It 
seems  probable  that,  two  years  after  Father  Mercier 's  return,  Father 
Thaumer  left  Tamarois  for  Canada  by  way  of  Detroit,  as  on  March  25, 
1728,  his  name  occurs  on  the  Records  of  the  Church  of  St.  Anne.  Father 
Thaumer  died  at  Quebec  in  the  odor  of  Sanctity  in  1728.23 

His  place  was  supplied  by  Father  Joseph  Courrier,  who  was  re- 
garded as  a  man  of  extraordinary  sanctity — He  died  in  New  Orleans 
in  the  autumn  of  1735.  Father  Gaston,  who  was  sent  to  Cahokia  with 
Father  Courrier,  is  reported  to  have  been  killed  by  Indians  soon  after 
his  arrival.  The  circumstances  of  his  martyrdom  are  not  known.  Father 
Mercier,  being  left  alone  with  the  charge  of  the  parish  of  Cahokia 
and  the  chaplaincy  of  St.  Anne  at  Fort  Chartres,  was  gladdened  by  the 
arrival  of  Father  Joseph  Gagnon,  a  priest  true  and  faithful,  but  sinking 
under  the  weight  of  age  and  infirmity. 


2i     Garraghan,  p.  209. 

22  "Travels  Through  that  part  of  North  America  formerly  called  Louisiana," 
by  Mr.  Bossu,  translated  by  Reinhold  Forster,  London,  1771,  quoted  by  Garraghan, 
p.  209. 

23  Father  Dominique  Antoine  Tiene  Thaumer  de  la  Source  made  the  voyage  down 
the  Mississippi  with  Father  Montiqni,  Davion  and  St.  Cosine,  not  as  a  priest,  but 
began  his  studies  in  1704,  six  years  after  the  voyage. 


Cahokia  and  the  Seminary  Priests  59 

Father  Gagnon  however  managed  to  live  on  and  to  labor  as  Parish 
Priest  of  Cahokia  and  Chaplain  of  Fort  Chartres  until  July  1759.  He 
was  buried  in  the  church  of  St.  Anne  at  Fort  Chartres,  but  when  that 
edifice  threatened  to  fall  into  the  current  with  the  crumbling  earth  of 
the  river-bank,  his  body,  together  with  that  of  another  chaplain,  the 
Recollet,  Luke  Collet,  was  removed  by  the  Jesuit  Father  Sebastian 
Meurin,  in   1768. 

Towards  the  end  of  Father  Mercier's  administration  almost  all 
the  buildings  of  the  Mission  of  the  Holy  Family  were  destroyed  by 
fire.  The  Abbe  Laurent,  a  priest  of  Chartres,  France,  was  sent  to 
Cahokia  in  1739,  the  Seminary  sending  a  very  large  sum  for  the  purpose 
of  rebuilding  what  was  lost.  After  thirty-five  years  of  strenuous  labor 
among  the  Illinois  and  Missouri  Indians,  Father  Mercier  died  at  Cahokia, 
March  30,  1753.  "The  last  glimpse  we  get  of  him  in  life"  as  Father 
Garraghan  remarks,  "is  in  the  composite  picture  of  the  three  Seminary 
Priests,  Mercier,  Gagnon  and  Laurent,  drawn  in  1750  by  the  Jesuit 
Vivier  of  Kaskaskia  :  "Nothing  can  be  more  amiable  than  their  character, 
or  more  edifying  than  their  conduct.  We  live  with  them  as  if  we  were 
members  of  the  same  body." 

When  Captain  Philip  Pittman  visited  Cahokia  in  1767  he  found  it 
a  long  and  straggling  village  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  end  to 
end,  and  containing  forty-five  dwelling-houses  and  a  church  near  the 
center.  "The  land"  he  takes  occasion  to  say,  "was  purchased  from 
the  savages  by  a  few  Canadians,  some  of  whom  married  women  of  the 
Kaoquias  Nation,  and  others  brought  wives  from  Canada,  and  then 
resided  there,  leaving  their  children  to  succeed  them.  The  inhabitants 
of  this  place  depend  more  on  hunting  and  their  Indian  trade,  than  on 

agriculture What  is  called  the  Fort  is  a  small  house  standing  in 

the   center    of   the   village It    was    formerly   inclosed    with    high 

Palisades,  but  these  were  torn  down  and  burnt."24 

The  mission  of  the  Cahokia  Indians  had  passed  out  of  existence  be- 
fore the  departure  of  the  last  Seminary  priest,  Father  Forget  Duverger 
in  1764,  and  the  Illinois  Indians  that  once  formed  it,  were  almost  totally 
destroyed  in  retaliation  for  the  murder  of  the  great  chieftain  Pontiac 
bv  an  Illinois  Indian  at  Cahokia  in  1769. 


24     "The  Present   State   of   the  European   Settlements   on   the   Mississippi,"   by 
Captain  Philip  Pittmann,  London,  1770,  p.  92. 


Chapter  8 
LAST  DAYS  OF   GRAVIER  AND   MAREST 


Father  James  Gravier  after  his  return  from  the  South  in  1672, 
where  he  met  all  the  important  men  of  the  day,  and  secured  most  valuable 
information,  he  took  up  once  more  the  humble  and  laborious  life  of  an 
Indian  missionary.  At  the  time  of  the  exodus  of  the  Kaskaskia  from 
their  ancestral  haunts  on  the  Illinois  River,  he  had  promised  the  Peorias 
that  he  would  come  to  them  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  .  The  faith- 
ful Father  now  fulfilled  his  purpose.  On  the  5th  of  March  1702,  he 
informed  Father  John  Lamberville  of  the  needs  of  the  three  missions 
of  the  Illinois,  and  stated  that  he  himself  was  among  the  Peorias.  Of 
his  activities  and  fortunes  among  these  stiffnecked  Indians,  Father  John 
Mermet  gives  an  interesting  account  in  his  letter  ' '  among  the  Kaskaskias, 
this  2nd  of  March  1706,"  from  which  we  shall  extract  the  salient  facts. 
"One  of  the  notables  of  the  Peoria  tribe,  a  certain  Tete  D'Ours,  (Bear's 
Head)  had  been  at  Mackinac  and  had  there  been  impressed  by  the 
weakness  and  timidity  of  the  French  officials  before  the  threatening 
conduct  of  the  Ottawas.  He  determined  to  make  himself  dreaded  at 
home  and  enrich  himself  with  the  spoils  of  "the  black-gown  and  the 
French."  On  his  return  to  the  Illinois  he  frequently  harangued  the 
people  to  rebellion  against  the  foreigners.  All  these  discourses  excited 
the  minds  to  revolt  and,  although  not  all  were  of  that  opinion,  a  great 
many  followed  it.  One  of  these  latter  threatened  to  take  revenge  on 
Father  Gravier,  for  a  supposed  slight,  "and  when  he  met  him  in  the 
village,  he  ran  to  his  cabin  for  his  bow  and  arrows  and,  without  saying 
a  word,  shot  the  Father,  wounding  him  dangerously.  Two  arrows 
struck  his  breast,  but  glanced  off ;  a  third  tore  his  ear ;  the  next  would 
have  killed  him,  had  it  not  been  for  the  collar  of  his  cassock,  which 
stopped  the  arrow-head;  the  fifth  was  a  deadly  shot;  for  the  arrow 
pierced  the  arm  above  the  wrist,  and  penetrated  to  below  the  elbow; 
three  streams  of  blood  poured  from  the  opened  veins  and  from  the 
severed  artery.  The  Father  plucked  out  the  arrow,  but  the  stone  head 
stuck  in  the  sinews  near  the  joint  of  the  elbow, — within,  as  we  suppose."1 
At  the  very  first  news  of  this  accident,  Father  Mermet,  then  still  at  the 
Kaskaskia  Village  on  the  River  des  Peres,  applied  to  Rouensa,  who 
gave  him  four  men  to  get  the  Father.  "These  men  told  Father  Gravier 
that  Rouensa  had  ordered  them  to  die  with  him.  Thus  they  did  not 
leave  him  until  he  reached  us  at  Rouensa 's  village,  which  is  called  St. 


"Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  66,  p.  55. 

(60) 


Last  Days  of  Gravier  and  Marest  61 

Francis  Xavier.2  The  poor  Father  Gravier,  could  barely  say  mass 
once  or  twice ;  he  had  to  be  dressed  like  a  child ;  but  afterward  his  arm 
swelled  more  than  ever,  and  he  could  not  use  it.  He  uttered  cries 
day  and  night,  like  a  man  who  is  being  burned;  in  fact,  he  felt  pains 
similar  to  those  caused  by  a  scorching  fire.  His  condition  excited  com- 
passion in  me,  for  I  had  no  means  of  relieving  him.  At  last  I  proposed 
somewhat  rashly,  to  lance  the  swelled  arm,  and  he  consented.  'But'  he 
said,  'you  will  have  to  cut  very  deep  with  the  lancet,  to  reach  the  stone 
arrow-head.'  I  am  not  sufficiently  skillful  to  flatter  myself  that  I  can 
find  it,  even  if  you  were  to  point  out  the  place  where  the  pain  is  most 
severe ;  but  I  hope  to  give  you  relief  by  allowing  the  pus  to  flow.  He 
consents;  he  exhorts  me  to  perform  the  operation,  and  I  set  to  work. 
I  thrust  the  lancet  three  times  into  his  arm,  fortunately  without  in- 
juring him,  or  opening  the  principal  vein,  although  the  lancet  was 
buried  to  one-half  its  depth.  After  this  a  great  quantity  of  putrid  blood, 
having  a  very  disagreeable  odor,  escaped,  and  this  gave  him  relief ;  but 
the  stone  did  not  appear  and  we  despaired  of  curing  him.  How  could 
an  inexperienced  man,  as  I  was,  seek  it  among  the  sinews?"3 

Father  Gravier  was  prevailed  on  to  go  to  Mobile  to  have  his  wyound 
attended  to.  A  traveling  merchant,  M.  Bouat,  who  did  not  venture  to 
proceed  northward  to  Canada  on  account  of  the  insolence  of  the  Illinois 
Indians,  volunteered  to  conduct  the  Father  to  Mobile.  But  the  surgeons 
of  that  city  gave  no  relief.  Hence  the  Father  in  his  continuous  pain 
took  a  ship  for  Paris,  but,  as  he  wrote  on  March  6th,  1707,  "not  with  the 
intention  of  finding  some  one  who  might  extract  from  the  middle  of 
my  arm  the  stone  arrow-head  which  is  riveted  there  for  the  rest  of  my 
life,  but  urged  by  anxiety  to  procure  for  the  Rev.  Father  General 
workers  whom  our  missions  greatly  need."4  Father  Gravier  died  in 
the  Louisiana  Mission  after  his  return  voyage  from  France,  April  26th, 

1708 His  last  letter,   as  far  as  we  know,   contains  the  following 

touching  tributes  to  his  associates  on  the  Illinois  Mission,  Marest  and 
Me r met : 

"In  my  village  which  is  five  hundred  leagues  distant  from  Quebec, 
and  which  consists  of  about  three  thousand  souls, — unless,  during  the 
pastor's  absence,  the  flock  is  dispersed  for  a  time, — I  have  for  the  last 
nineteen  years  lived  nearly  always  alone  without  a  colleague,  without 
a  companion,  often  even  without  a  servant.  I  am  already  fifty-six  years 
old.  Father  Gabriel  Marest  likewise  lives  alone  in  his  mission  with 
the  same  nation.  During  an  entire  day  he  has  hardly  time  to  recite 
his  breviary,  or  to  eat,  or  to  take  a  short  rest  in  the  middle  of  the 
night.     His  fellow-missionary,  Father  Jean  Mermet,  can  hardly  Avork, 


' '  Jesuit  Relations, ' '  vol.  66,  p.  57. 
"Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  66,  p.  61. 
"Jesuit   Relations,"  vol.  66,  p.  122. 


62  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

owing  to  liis  ruined  state  of  health  after  having  spent  all  his  strength 

by  excess  of  zeal They  have  hardly  time  to  breathe,  on  account 

of  the  increasing  number  of  neophytes  and  their  very  great  fervor;  for 
out  of  two  thousand  two  hundred  souls,  who  compose  their  village, 
hardly  forty  may  be  found  who  do  not  profess  the  Catholic  Faith  with 
the  greatest  piety  and  constancy.  We  are  separated  from  each  other 
by  a  distance  of  120  leagues  and  hardly  once  every  other  year  have  I 
time  to  visit  him."5  This  mission  of  Fathers'  Marest  and  Mermet,  is 
the  Immaculate  Conception  of  Kaskaskia  on  the  Mississippi  River.  It 
is  from  this  new  place  Father  Marest  writes  his  letter  to  Father 
Germon,  dated  at  Kaskaskia,  an  Illinois  Village,  otherwise  called  the 
Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  November  9th,  1712 : 
' '  Our  Illinois  inhabit  a  very  pleasant  country ;  the  great  rivers  which 
water  it,  the  vast  and  dense  forests,  the  delightful  prairies,  the  hills 
Covered  with  very  thick  woods,  all  these  features  make  a  charming 
variety.  This  region  does  not  end  with  the  Illinois  river ;  it  stretches 
along  the  Mississippi  on  both  sides  and  is  about  two  hundred  leagues 
in  length  and  more  than  a  hundred  in  breadth. '""'  Besides  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Illinois  Rivers,  Father  Marest  mentions  the  Pekitanoui  or 
Missouri  and  the  Ouabache  or  Ohio.  Besides  these  large  rivers  there 
are  also  a  great  many  small  streams.  It  is  on  the  East  bank  of  one  of 
these  rivers  that  our  village  is  situated,  between  the  river  Ouabache 
and  the  Pekitanoui."7  From  these  passages  it  follows  that  the  Kaskaskias 
were  then  settled  at  a  village  that  was  to  bear  their  name  to  modern 
times.  That  the  village  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  was  then  a  thing  of  the 
past,  is  evident  from  the  enumeration  made  by  Marest  of  the  villages 
in  the  entire  Illinois  country:  "Counting  our  own,"  he  says,  "there 
are  only  three,  one  of  which  is  more  than  a  hundred  leagues  from  here, 
where  there  are  eight  or  nine  hundred  savages,  and  the  other  is  on  the 
Mississippi,  twenty-five  leagues  from  our  village."1  They  are  in  the 
order  of  their  foundation,  Peoria,  Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia. 

The  Kaskaskia  Christians  had  attained  their  end,  peace  and  safety 
in  a  village  of  their  own  and  still  in  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception.  Sweet  sounds  the  praise  their  Father  gives  them : 
"Christianity  and  intercourse  with  the  French  have  by  degrees  civilized 
them.  This  is  to  be  noticed  in  our  Village,  of  which  nearly  all 
the  inhabitants  are  Christians.  It  is  this  also  which  has  brought  many 
Frenchmen  to  settle  here.  And  very  recently  we  married  three  of  them 
to  Illinois  women."9 


s  "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  66,  p.  122  s. 

6  ".Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  66,  p.  123. 

1  "Jesuit  Relations,"   vol.   66,   p.   227. 

s  "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  66,  p.  229. 

9  "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  66,  p.  231. 


Last  Days  of  Gravier  and  Marest  63 

After  the  death  of  Father  Bergier,  pastor  of  Cahokia  and  Vicar- 
General  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  the  care  of  the  French  and  Indians 
at  that  place  also  fell  to  the  lot  of  Fathers  Marest  and  Mermet,  over- 
burdened as  they  already  found  themselves.  But  there  was  another 
burden  awaiting  them,  the  Peoria  mission  on  the  Illinois  river,  vacated 
by  Father  Gravier.  The  great  distance  of  the  mission  and  the  bad  treat- 
ment their  former  pastor  had  received  prevented  frequent  visits.  But  as 
the  French  were  forbidden  to  trade  with  the  rebellious  Indians,  the 
Peoria  Christians  were  all  the  more  anxious  for  a  return  of  the  Jesuit 
Fathers.  They  seemed  deeply  humiliated  in  considering  the  cruel  treat- 
ment they  had  given  Father  Gravier.  It  was  decided  by  Fathers  Mermet 
and  de  Ville  that  Father  Marest  should  visit  the  Peoria  village.  He 
set  out  on  Friday  in  Easter  week,  1711  accompained  by  two  Peoria 
Indians.  The  journey  was  made  on  foot.  On  the  day  after  his  departure 
he  arrived  at  the  Tamaroa  Village.  There  the  long  journey  over  the 
prairie  to  the  Illinois  river  began,  no  house,  no  bridge,  no  human  being  in 
sight,  through  briars  and  thorns,  and  at  time  through  dense  forests,  ever 
onwward,  ever  onward,  with  but  brief  intervals  of  sleep  on  the  grass  or 
on  some  leaves,  living  on  a  few  ears  of  Indian  corn,  crossing  rivers  and 
creeks  on  improvised  rafts,  of  a  few  dry  sticks  tied  together,  and  in  con- 
stant danger  from  stray  war-parties,  the  good  old  Father  with  his 
companions  arrived  at  the  Illinois  after  twelve  days  of  steady  walking, 
foot-sore  and  exhausted.  The  last  thirty  or  thirty-five  miles  to  the  Peoria 
Village  the  journey  was  made  by  a  canoe  some  Frenchman  brought 
down  the  river  with  fresh  provisions  for  the  Father.  At  the  village  all 
the  chief  men  of  the  Peoria  tribe  came  to  greet  Father  Marest  and 
expressed  their  sorrow  for  their  past  faults,  with  the  request  that  he 
might  stay  with  them.  After  a  sojourn  of  a  fortnight  at  the  Peoria 
Village,  Father  Marest  started  on  a  journey  to  the  Pottawatomie  Village 
by  the  river  St.  Joseph,  where  Father  Chardon  S.J.  was  in  charge.  Here 
he  found  his  elder  brother,  Father  Joseph  Marest,  who  was  destined  for 
the  mission  among  the  Sioux.  Both  Fathers  Marest  then  journeyed  to 
Mackinac,  where  the}'  separated,  Father  Gabriel  returning  to  the  Kas- 
kaskia  by  way  of  the  St.  Joseph  and  Illinois  rivers. 

The  Peorias  and  their  allies  had  spread  over  the  entire  territory 
which  was  formerly  occupied  by  the  Kaskaskias.  They  met  Father  Marest 
at  the  Fort  on  the  Rock  of  the  Illinois.  They  fired  a  volley  from  their  mus- 
kets in  sign  of  rejoicing.  "Joy  was  actually  painted  on  their  faces,"  as  the 
good  Father  wittily  says.  He  was  entertained  at  a  great  feast.  Father 
Marest  too  rejoiced  greatly  and  promised  them  he  would  return  and 
stay  with  them.  During  the  two  days  he  spent  in  this  village,  Father 
Marest  said  mass  in  public  and  performed  all  the  duties  of  a  Missionary. 
It  was  about  the  end  of  August  when  he  embarked  to  return  to  his 
mission  at  Kaskaskia.    Swiftly  did  his  canoe  carry  him  down  the  Illinois 


(>4  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Loins 

and  the  Mississippi  rivers,  and  al  last,  on  September  10th,  he  arrived  at 
his  dear  mission  in  perfect  health,  after  an  absence  of  five  months.  When 
Father  Marest  made  known  to  his  French  and  Indians,  that  he  had 
promised  to  stay  with  the  Peorias,  they  would  not  hear  of  it:  Accordingly 
Father  de  Ville10  was  sent  there  in  his  place. 

Father  Marest11  remained  with  his  dear  Kaskaskias  until  his  death, 
September  15th,  1716,  one  of  the  noblest  and  best  of  the  old  Jesuit 
Missionaries.  As  the  editor  of  the  Jesuit  Relations  says,  "Gabriel  Marest 
devoted  himself  to  the  civilization  as  well  as  the  religious  instruction  of 
the  Kaskaskia ;  he  taught  them  to  cultivate  the  soil  and  raise  domestic 
animals,  and  rendered  them  the  most  industrious  and  peaceable  of 
the  western  savages."12 


10  Father  de  Ville's  baptismal  names  are  given  as  Jean  Marie  and  by  others  as 
Louis.  He  belonged  to  the  Province  of  Champagne,  was  born  at  Auxerre,  September 
8,  1672.     He  arrived  in  Canada  in  1706,  and  died  at  Natchez,  June  15,  1720. 

ii  Father  Marest  was  baptized  Pierre  Gabriel.  He  was  born  at  Laval,  Maync. 
October  14,  1662,  entered  the  Order  in  Paris,  October  1,  1681,  arrived  in  Canada  in 
1694,  and  died  at  Kaskaskia,  February  15,  1714.  His  remains  were  interred  in  the 
stone  church  at  Kaskaskia  by  Father  Boullenger.  The  "Jesuit  Relations"  contain  a 
very  interesting  letter  in  beautiful  Latin  about  his  experiences  on  the  voyage  of 
Bienville  to  Hudson 's  Bay. 

12     "Jesuit  Relations, "  vol.  65,  p.  265. 


I 


OLD   CHURCH    BELL   OF    KASKASKIA 


Chapter  9 
KASKASKIA  AND  ITS  DEPENDENCIES 

I. 


In  Southern  Illinois,  near  the  Mississippi,  one  hundred  miles  or 
more  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  is  situated  the  ancient  village  of 
Kaskaskia,  supposed  to  be  the  oldest  permanent  European  settlement 
in  the  valley  of  the  Father  of  Waters."1  Thus  Edward  G.  Mason,  in 
December  1879,  alluded  to  the  principal  seat  of  the  Church  in  the  terri- 
tory of  our  future  diocese  of  St.  Louis  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  That  the  honor  of  being  the  first-born  must  be 
ceded  to  Cahokia.  we  have  seen :  but  the  village  or  town  of  old  Kaskaskia 
itself  is  now  no  more,  the  yellow  waters  of'  the  Mississippi,  uniting  with 
those  of  the  Okaw  or  Kaskaskia  Kiver,  swept  away  the  site  and  the  houses 
and  all  that  was  once  the  pride  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

The  first  of  the  old  village  to  go  was  the  northern  part.  Then  the 
houses  that  had  been  the  eastern  outskirts  of  the  village  began  to  slip 
into  the  water  at  flood  time  and  disappear  toward  the  Gulf. 

In  the  nineties  of  the  last  century  the  river  was  running  over  the 
very  ground  that  had  once  been  a  part  of  the  city.  The  current  was 
marching  farther  and  farther  south,  and  all  that  was  left  was  a  part  of 
the  old  graveyard  and  half  a  dozen  deserted  cabins,  with  chimneys 
falling  down,  roofs  gone  and  the  very  timbers  slowly  wearing  away 
through  the  action  of  the  sun,  the  rain  and  the  wind. 

Three  thousand  bodies  were  carried  out  of  the  old  cemetery  in  1892 
and  1893.  They  are  now  buried  near  the  ruins  of  old  Fort  Gage.  A 
monument  was  erected  there  with  this  inscription : 

"Those  who  sleep  here  were  the  first  buried  at  Kaskaskia  and  after- 
wards removed  to  this  cemetery.  They  were  the  early  pioneers  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley." 

But  we  are  here  concerned,  not  with  the  ruined  present,  but  with 
the  honorable  past.  Kaskaskia  as  a  mission  dates  back  to  the  period 
between  1703  and  1705.     Let  us  follow  the  current  of  events. 

It  was  about  1703  that  the  removal  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  their 
friends  and  followers  from  the  River  des  Peres  on  the  Missouri  side,  to 
the  Okaw  river  on  the  Illinois  side  was  carried  out  under  the  direction 
of  Father  Marest. 


"Illinois  in  the  18th  Century,"  p.  1. 

(65) 


Vol.  1—3 


<>G  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

After  the  cabins  of  the  Indians,  and  the  more  comfortable  homes 
of  the  French  were  established,  and  the  church  and  mission  house  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception  had  risen  in  the  center  of  the  straggling 
village,  the  work  of  organizing  the  new  community  proceeded.  As  a 
matter  of  course  the  missionary  Fathers  ruled  the  entire  establishment  of 
the  French  as  well  as  Indians.  For  the  Jesuits  not  only  attended  to  the 
spiritual  needs  of  their  people,  but  also  dispensed  justice  to  them,  and 
as  Blanchard  says,  "their  authority  was  never  abused  but  always  used 
with  paternal  care."  Concerning  Father  Marest  and  his  successor, 
Mermet,  we  have  ample  proof  of  this  in  their  letters  and  those  of  their 
contemporaries :  but  it  is  the  same  with  all  of  them.  As  Judge  Sidney 
Breese  clearly  states  the  case;  "No  evidence  is  to  be  found,  among  our 
early  records,  of  the  exercise  of  any  controlling  power,  save  the  Jesuits, 
up  to  the  time  of  the  grant  to  Crozat  in  1712,  and  I  have  no  idea  that 
any  such  existed  in  the  shape  of  government,  or  that  there  was  any 
other  social  organization  than  that  effected  by  them  and  of  which  they 
were  the  head. '  '2 

Indeed,  a  blessed  country,  having  no  courts,  no  lawyers,  no  prisons, 
no  taxes,  but  only  the  gentle  sway  of  a  loving  Father.  For  nearly  twenty 
years  this  new  Kaskaskia,  afterwards  called  the  Ancient,  lived  a  secluded, 
serene  and  contented  life;  only  at  long  intervals  some  canoe  party  would 
arrive  from  Canada,  bringing  voyageurs  and  coureurs  de  bois  and  a 
new  stock  of  goods  to  the  expectant  inhabitants,  or  a  boat  of  two  from 
the  upper  reaches  of  the  Mississippi  or  Missouri  with  the  wealth  of  a 
season  of  trapping  and,  hunting  and  trading. 

"In  1704  we  find  it  represented  that  more  than  a  hundred  Canadians 
were  scattered  in  small  parties  along  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri."3 

They  were  hardy  and  brave  men,  these  Canadians  and  French  from 
France,  well-fitted  for  the  work  of  blazing  the  pathway  of  civilization 
through  the  primeval  wilderness  of  forest  and  prairie  and  mountain 
pass.  Many  of  the  Frenchmen  intermarried  with  the  Indians  of  the 
village  and  founded  the  families  that  even  iioav  bear  the  traits  of  their 
Indian  ancestry.  But  white  girls  of  marriageable  age  were  sent  over 
by  order  of  the  king  under  the  guardianship  of  IJrsulines  and  other 
nuns,  to  be  given  in  marriage  to  worthy  Frenchmen  of  Louisiana  and 
the  Illinois  country.  Kaskaskia,  no  doubt,  received  its  fair  proportion  of 
these  godsends.  Others  were  brought  down  from  Canada  by  their  hus- 
bands to  become  the  mothers  of  ever  multiplying  families.  Good  wives 
and  mothers  they  mostly  were.  In  religion  all  professed  the  Catholic 
Faith.     They  knew'no  difference  of  sects,  and  although,  perchance,  not 


2     Breese,  Sidney,  "Early  History  of  Illinois,"  p.  146. 

s     Parkman,   "Conflict   of   Half   a   Century,"   vol.    I,   p.   3f>4.,   citing   letter   of 
Bienville  to  the  Minister,  September  6,  1704. 


Kaskaskia  and  its  Dependencies  67 

as  well  instructed  as  their  sisters  in  France,  the  teachings  of  the  Church 
and,  still  more,  the  immemorial  practice  of  piety,  had  a  strong  hold  on 
their  lives.  As  Monette  says:  "Ardently  attached,  as  they  were,  to 
their  spiritual  guides,  religion  became  one  of  the  great  rules  of  social 
life.  They  observed  strictly  all  the  outward  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the 
Romish  church,  and  their  lives  corresponded  with  their  professions.  Ig- 
norant of  creeds,  except  the  "Apostles'  Creed,"  they  were  not  skillful 
disputants;  but  holydays  and  festivals  Avere  never  forgotten  or  neg- 
lected."4 

The  Indian  neophytes  of  Kaskaskia  were  now  making  speedy  prog- 
ress in  religion  and  the  arts  of  peace.  Under  the  prudent  direction  of 
the  Fathers  Marest  and  Mermet  they  turned  with  real  interest  to  agri- 
culture and  cattle-raising.  They  also  became  more  and  more  devoted  to 
prayer  and  the  practice  of  religion.  America's  greatest  historian,  Ban- 
croft, in  his  beautiful  tribute  of  praise  to  Father  James  Mermet  em- 
bodies some  of  the  characteristic  features  of  Indian  life  in  Kaskaskia 
mission  at  this  period : 

"The  gentle  virtues  and  fervid  eloquence  of  Mermet  made  him  the 
soul  of  the  mission  at  Kaskaskia.  At  early  dawn  his  pupils  came  to 
church,  dressed  neatly  and  modestly,  each  in  a  deer-skin  or  robe  sewed 
together  from  several  skins.  After  receiving  lessons,  they  chanted  can- 
ticles; mass  was  then  said  in  presence  of  all  the  Christians,  the  French 
and  the  converts — the  Avomen  on  one  side  and  the  men  on  the  other. 
From  prayers  and  instructions  the  missionaries  proceeded  to  visit  the 
sick  and  minister  medicine,  and  their  skill  as  physicians  did  more  than 
all  the  rest  to  win  confidence.  In  the  afternoon  the  catechism  was  tauglit 
in  the  presence  of  the  young  and  old,  when  everyone,  without  distinc- 
tion of  rank  or  age,  ansAvered  the  questions  of  the  missionary.  At  eve- 
ning all  would  assemble  at  the  chapel  for  instruction,  for  prayer,  and 
to  chant  the  hymns  of  the  church.  On  Sundays  and  festivals,  even  after 
vespers  a  homily  AA'as  pronounced ;  at  the  close  of  the  day  parties  would 
meet  in  houses  to  recite  the  chaplets  in  alternate  choirs  and  sing  psalms 
till  late  at  night.  Saturday  and  Sunday  Avere  the  days  appointed  for 
confession  and  communion,  and  eArery  convert  confessed  once  in  a  fort- 
night .     .  the  success  of  this  mission  was  such  that  marriages  of  the 


4  Monette,  John  W.,  "History  of  the  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  1846,"  vol.  I,  p.  187.  One  of  the  best  standard  works  on  the 
history  of  the  Mississippi  "Valley,  extending  in  time  from  the  first  Spanish  discoveries 
in  Florida  to  the  admission  of  Texas  into  the  union.  It  includes  a  relation  of  the 
French  and  Spanish  discovery  of  the  territory,  and  the  association  of  the  colonial 
government  of  these  nations  with  the  Indians,  and  their  wars  with  the  various  tribes 
inhabiting  it,  also  a  narration  of  the  Indian  Wars  of  the  states  bordering  the  Ohio, 
etc. 


68  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

French  immigrants  were  sometimes  solemnized  with  the  daughters  of 
the  Illinois  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Catholic  Church."5 

When  the  eminent  scholar  and  historian,  Charlevoix,6  arrived  at  the 
prosperous  village  of  Kaskaskia,  Oct.  12, 1721,  he  found  there  and  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  four  Jesuit  Fathers:  Joseph  Francis  Kereben7 
John  Anthony  Boullenger,  Nicholas  [gnatius  de  Beaubois8  and  John 
Charles  Guymeneau.9  The  gentle  Father  Maresl  was  dead,  and  his 
former  assistant  Father  Mermet10  had  followed  his  guide  and  friend  on 
September  15,  1716.  The  Superior  of  the  Community  was  Father  Guy- 
meneau with  his  residence  in  the  smaller    Indian   Mission   two  leagues 

distant  IV Kaskaskia  in  the  interior  of  the  country.    The  larger  Indian 

mission  presided  over  by  Fathers  le  Boullenger  and  de  Kereben  lay  on 
the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  half  a  league  above  Fort  Chartres  where 
the  Lieutenant  of  the  King,  M.  de  Boisbriant  held  forth  in  almost  royal 
state.  There  was  a  chapel  just  outside  the  walls  of  the  Fort  dedicated 
to  St.  Anne,  but  it  had  no  regular  chaplain  at  the  time.  The  Inter- 
mediate space  between  the  Fort  and  what  Charlevoix  called  "the  most 
numerous  mission"  was  beginning  to  be  filled  with  French  colonists. 
Two  leagues  farther  down  from  Fort  Chartres  and  about  one  league 


5  Bancroft,  George,  "History  of  the  United  States,"  1854,  vol,  III,  p.  198. 

6  Charlevoix,  Father  Pierre  Francois  Xavier,  de;  a  member  of  the  Jesuit 
Province  of  France,  was  born  at  Saint  Quentin,  October  29,  1682,  and  arrived  in 
Canada  in  1705,  before  his  ordination,  returned  to  France  for  ordination,  and  died 
at  La  Fleehe,  February  1,  171G.  He  traveled  through  Canada  and  Louisiana,  1720-22, 
and  laid  down  his  impressions  in  his  "Letters  to  Duchess  of  Lesdiguieres;  Voyage 
to  Canada  and  Travels  through  that  Vast  Country  and  Louisiana,  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico."  Much  valuable  information  regarding  Indian  tribes  and  settlements  of 
Lower  Mississippi  Valley,  including  character  of  every  nation  or  tribe,  customs, 
posts,  forts  and  settlements  established  by  the  French,  rivers,  mines,  fisheries. 

7  Father  Joseph  Francis  Kereben  of  the  Province  of  France,  was  born  Decem- 
ber 29,  1683,  arrived  in  Canada  in  1716,  and  was  sent  to  the  Illinois  Mission,  where 
lie  labored  until  his  death,  February  2,  1728. 

8  Father  Nicholas  Ignatius  Beaubois  was  born  at  Orleans,  October  15,  1689, 
and  entered  the  Society  with  seventeen  years.  He  was  Pastor  of  the  Parish  Church 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception  at  Kaskaskia  from  1719  to  1724,  and  was  the  ap- 
pointed Vicar-General  for  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  for  Louisiana. 

9  Father  John  Charles  Guymoneau,  at  this  time  Vicar-General  of  the  Bishop  of 
Quebec,  for  the  Illinois  Country,  was  born  March  14,  1684,  and  entered  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  October  3,  1704.  He  arrived  in  Canada  in  1715.  The  "St.  Joseph  Baptis- 
mal Register"  shews  his  presence  at  the  Miami  Mission  on  St.  Joseph  River  in  1722 
and  1723.  As  Father  Charlevoix's  visit  fell  in  October  1721,  Father  Guymoneau 
must  have  left  his  place  at  the  Illinois  Mission  for  the  Miami  Mission  on  the  River 
St.  Joseph. 

10     The  remains  of  both  Fathers  Marest  and  Mermet   were  removed  to  the  stone 
church  of  Kaskaskia  by  Father  Boullenger  in  1727. 


Kashas/,- ia  and  its  Dependencies  69 

from  the  river  was  the  French  village  of  Kaskaskia,  almost  all  its,  in- 
habitants being  Canadians.    Father  Beanbois  was  the  Parish  Priest. 

Kaskaskia  was  then  and  remained  for  a  long  time  afterwards,  the 
most  important  settlement  in  the  country  of  the  Illinois.  The  principal 
buildings,  as  the  church,  the  Jesuits  home  with  a  small  chapel  attached, 
and  a  number  of  dwellings  were  built  of  stone  and  made  a  fine  appear- 
ance,. The  "Jesuits  Plantation,"  as  Pittmann  tells  us,  "consisted  of 
two  hundred  and  forty  arpents  of  cultivated  land,  a  very  good  stock 
of  cattle  and  a  brewery."11 

"The  French  of  Kaskaskia,"  Charlevoix  found  on  his  visit,  "are 
pretty  much  at  their  ease.  A  Fleming,  who  was  a  servant  of  the  Jesuits, 
has  taught  them  how  to  sow  wheat,  and  it  thrives  very  well.  They  have 
some  horned  cattle.  The  Illinois  Indians  cultivate  the  lands  after  their 
fashion  and  are  very  industrious.  Their  women  are  sufficiently  dexter- 
ous; they  spin  the  buffalo's  wool  and  make  it  as  fine  as  that  of  the 
English  sheep.  Sometimes  one  would  even  take  it  for  silk.  They  make 
stuffs  of  it,  which  they  dye  black,  yellow  and  dark  red ;  they  make  gowns 
of  it,  which  they  sew  with  thread  made  of  the  sinews  of  the  roebuck.  They 
expose  these  to  the  sun  for  three  days,  and  when  dry,  beat  them,  and 
draw  out  threads  of  great  fineness. 

' '  All  the  country  is  open.  It  consists  of  vast  prairies,  which  extend 
for  twenty-five  leagues,  and  are  separated  by  little  groves  that  are  all 
of  good  wood."12 

"Father  Charlevoix  was  so  well  pleased  with  what  he  saw  and 
heard  at  Kaskaskia,  that  he  prolonged  his  stay  for  a  month.  He  reach- 
ed the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  about  the  15th  of  November  1721." 

Kaskaskia,  the  Illinois  Mission,  became  within  twenty  years  after  its 
foundation  the  center  of  a  cluster  of  villages  each  one  a  new  center 
of  Catholic  life.  Fort  Chartres,  with  its  chapel  dedicated  to  St.  Anne, 
gathered  around  its  walls  a  large  population,  and  became  the  historic 
Parish  of  St.  Anne  of  Fort  Chartres.  Prairie  du  Rocher  had  its  begin- 
ning in  1734  when  St.  Joseph's  Mortuary  Chapel  was  erected  near  the 
bluffs,  to  be  used  as  a  chapel  of  ease  by  the  people  of  Fort  Chartres. 
The  village  and  Church  of  St.  Philippe  a  short  distance  northeast  of 
Fort  Chartres  was  founded  about  1723  by  Philip  Francis  Renault, 
the  Director  General  of  the  mining  operations  of  the  "Royal  Company 


ii  Pittman,  Captain  Philip,  "  The  Present  State  of  the  European  Settlements  on 
the  Mississippi,"  p.  85.  The  book  was  originally  published  in  London,  1770.  Pitt- 
man  ' '  saw  the  Illinois  villages  just  before  they  were  deserted  by  the  French  and 
before  the  coming  of  the  Americans. ' ' 

12  Charlevoix,  English  Translation,  p.  303.  Cf.  Wallace,  "History  of  Illinois 
and  Louisiana  Under  the  French  Eule, "  p.  210. 


70  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.    Louis 

of  the  Indies."  A  very  good  highway  connected  these  settlements  with 
Cahokia,  forming  an  almost  continuous  stretch  of  human  habitations 
along  the  Mississippi,  where,  at  the  opening  of  the  century,  nothing  but 
primeval  forest  stood  in  its  wild  loneliness  and  grandeur. 

Fort  Chartres  was  built  in  1720  by  Pierre  Dugue  Sieur  de  Boisbri- 
ant.  Royal  Commandant  in  Illinois.  It  was  erected  at  the  expense  of 
the  company  of  the  Indies,  at  a  spot  about  sixteen  miles  N.  W.  of  Kas- 
kaskia,  and  a  mile  from  the  .Mississippi.  The  fort  was  at  first  built  of 
wood;  but  it  was  rebuilt  in  heavy  stone  masonry  (1753-1756),  by  the 
Chevalier  MaCarthy  according  to  the  plans  of  M.  Saucier13  at  a  cost 
of  over  5,000,000  livres;  it  was  thenceforth,  with.the  village  which  had 
grown  up  around,  called  New  Chartres.  The  Fort  was  occupied  by 
the  Illinois  Commandant,  and  later,  by  a  British  garrison. 

The  Church  of  St.  Anne  was  attended  by  the  .Jesuit  Fathers  of 
Kaskaskia.  In  the  Register  of  Baptisms  the  first  entry  is  that  of  Nich- 
olas Ignatius  Beaubois,  who  was  the  superior  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  Illi- 
nois. In  1725  and  1726  we  find  the  name  of  Father  Le  Boullenger.  From 
1726  to  1843  there  occurs  a  gap  in  the  records.  After  that  the  Seminary 
Priests  of  Cahokia,  Joseph  Gagnon  and  Nicholas  Laurent,  who  styles  him- 
self "Missionarius  Apostolicus, "  performed  priestly  functions  at  St. 
Anne's  until  1749,  when  St.  Anne's  seems  to  have  fallen  under  an  inter- 
dict, probably  on  account  of  intrusions  by  priests  of  the  Foreign  .Mis- 
sion into  the  Territory  of  the  Jesuits.  Further  particulars  are  not 
obtainable.  From  1757  to  1759  Forget  Duverger,  Vicar  General  for 
the  Bishop  of  Quebec  and  Missionary  Apostolic,  signs  his  name  as  "Cure 
of  St.  Anne's."  During  this  period  the  names  of  Recollet  Hyppolyte 
Collet,  the  Jesuits  Hubert  and  Aubert,  occur  in  regular  succession,  then 
Collet  once  more,  until  in  1764  and  1765  the  name  of  the  Recollet 
Luke  Collet  occurs  regularly  until  his  death,  September  10,  1765. 

The  Fort  and  Village  of  New  Chartres  was  surrendered  by  its 
Commandant,  St.  Ange  the  Bellerive  to  the  English  under  Captain 
Sterling,  October  10,  1765.  The  last  parish  priests  of  St.  Anne's  of 
Fort  Chartres,  the  Recollet  Father  Luke  Collet,  had  a  very  checkered 
career.  His  baptismal  name  was  Leonard  Philibert.  He  was  born  No- 
vember 3,  1715,  and  was  ordained  in  Quebec,  Feb.  24,  1752.  In  1755 
he  was  chaplain  of  the  Fort  at  Presqu'  Isle  (Erie)  and  at  the  River  aux 
Boeufs.  In  1759  he  acted  at  chaplain  in  the  French  army,  was, made 
prisoner  by  the  English,  and  was  brought  over  to  England.  In  1760 
he  regained  his  freedom  and  passed  over  to  France.     On  his  return  to 


13  Cf.  "Captain  John  B.  Saucier  at  Fort  Chartres,  111.,  1751-1763"  by  John  F. 
Snyder.  Also,  "Destruction  of  Kaskaskia  by  the  Mississippi  River,"  by  J.  B. 
Burkham,  both  published  in  the  "Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  So- 
ciety. ' ' 


Kaskaskia  and  its  Dependencies  71 

America  he  went  to  labor  among  the  Illinois  Indians.  We  learn  from 
a  letter  of  Father  Meurin,  a  Jesuit,  addressed  to  the  Bishop  of  Quebec, 
and  dated  June  11,  1753  from  Kaskaskia,  Illinois,  that  Father  Luke,  the 
Recollet,  had  been  buried  in  the  Cemetery  of  St.  Anne,  at  Fort  Chartres. 
This  Mission  having  been  destroyed  during  the  invasion  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  Father  Meurin  had  his  body  taken  up  and  carried  to 
Prairie  du  Rocher.  There  it  is  that  this  dauntless  missionary  slumbers 
in  peace,  and  most  probably,  in  the  church  of  that  place."14  When  the 
Mission  of  St.  Anne  Avas  destroyed,  a  part  of  the  inhabitants  with- 
drew to  Prairie  du  Rocher,  and  the  rest  to  the  new  parish  of  St.  Louis, 
in  Missouri.  The  vestments  and  sacred  vessels  were  likewise  carried 
to  the  chapel  of  Prairie  du  Rocher.  Father  Luke  Collet  was  a  brother 
of  Rev.  Charles  Angelus  Collet,  Canon  of  the  Quebec  Cathedral.  It 
was  this  Father  Collet  that  officiated  at  the  funeral  ceremonies  of  the 
Marquis  de  Montcalm,  in  the  Ursuline  Church  in  Quebec.  The  two 
Collet  brothers  could  not  conceal  their  regret  at  seeing  Canada  pass 
under  the  sway  of  the  English;  they  were,  on  that  account,  suspected 
by  the  British  authorities,  and  obliged  to  quit  the  country.  It  seems 
however,  that  after  the  peace  of  1763,  the  Collet  brothers  were  at  liberty 
to  return  to  Canada.  It  is  thought  that  they  were  natives  of  that 
country."15 

The  mortuary  chapel  at  Prairie  du  Rocher  built  near  the  cemetery 
in  1734  with  St.  Joseph  as  its  patron,  soon  attracted  a  number  of  French 
families  from  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  higher  and  more  salu- 
brious location  at  the  foot  of  the  bluffs.  The  massive  walls  of  Fort 
Chartres  were  gradually  falling  a  prey  to  the  continuous  attacks  on 
their  foundations  by  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  the  church 
of  St.  Anne  had  to  be  abandoned  about  1788.  It  was  then  that  St. 
Joseph's  of  Prairie  du  Rocher  became  the  parish  church  of  the  district. 
As  to  the  priests  who  held  services  in  the  Church  of  St.  Joseph,  it  is 
plain  that  they  cannot  be  designated  as  pastors,  Prairie  du  Rocher  it- 
self being  but  a  chapel  of  ease  and  no  parish  church.  But  the  records 
show  a  regular  succession  of  well-known  names.  Beginning,  with  1721 
and  reaching  unto  1743  the  names  of  the  Jesuits  J.  L.  Boullenger  and 
N.  I.  De  Beaubois  appear  on  the  fragmentary  records.  From  1743  to 
1758  the  Seminary  priests  Joseph  Gagnon  and  Nicholas  Laurens  are 
very  much  in  evidence.  Father  Gagnon  kept  all  his  registers  in  one 
book,  but  on  June  30,  1757  the  Rev.  Forget  Duverger,  Cure  de  St.  Anne, 
opens  separate  books  for  Baptisms,  Marriages  and  Interments.  Father 
Forget  Duverger 's  name  appears  here  for  the  last  time  on  June  15,  1759. 


i*     Chronicle  of  the  Canadian  Clergy,  and  Archives  of  the  Archbishop  of  Quebec. 
15     Ibidem. 


72  History  of  1 1"    Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

The  Recollets  Hyppolyte  and  Luke  Collel  now  enter  upon  the  scene  to 
be  succeeded  by  the  last  of  the  old  Jesuits  in  the  Valley,  Sebastian  Louis 
Meurin. 

It  is  evident  from  this  that  St.  Anne's  of  New  Chartres  and  St. 
Joseph's  of  Prairie  du  Rocher  were  but  one  parish  attended  by  the  same 
priests,  suffering  the  same  changes  of  fortune  and  only  changing  its 
center  of  gravity  from  the  river  to  the  bluffs. 


Chapter  10 
KASKASKIA  AND  ITS  DEPENDENCIES. 

II. 


The  colony  of  Louisiana  was  indeed  a  proud  possession  of  the  crown 
!'  Prance ;  yet,  strange  to  say,  its  government  required  a  large  subsidy 
very  year.  Iberville  and  his  brother  Bienville  certainly  did  not  meet 
expectations  as  financiers.  Their  constant  appeals  for  help  at  last  dis- 
gusted the  Grande  Monarque,  who  had  so  many  other  causes  and  per- 
sons to  support.  He  determined  to  give  away,  free  of  charge ;  for  better 
for  worse ;  for  richer,  for  poorer,  the  entire  realm  of  Louisiana  with 
all  its  lands  and  rivers  and  posts,  with  all  its  mines  and  forests  and 
prairies,  with  all  its  inhabitants,  white  and  copper-colored.  Only  the 
sovereignty  was  to  remain  with  the  king.  A  gentleman  of  Paris,  Sieur 
Anthony  Crozat,  a  merchant  prince  of  the  Venetian  type,  was  singled 
out  for  the  magnificient  gift.  The  Letters-Patent  granted  by  Louis  XIV 
to  Crozat  in  September  of  1/12  were  of  the  widest  character.  This  grant 
was,  it  may  be  said,  the  first  attempt  to  develop  the  great  central  region 
of  the  United  States.  Crozat 's  ships  only  could  trade  with  all  "Louisi- 
ana." which  is  described  as  "Bounded  by  New  Mexico  and  by  the  Lands 
of  the  English  of  Carolina  ....  The  River  St.  Louis,  heretofore 
called  the  Mississippi,  from  the  edge  of  the  Sea  as  far  as  the  Illinois; 
together  with  the  River  of  St.  Philip,  heretofore  called  the  Missourys. 
and  of  St.  Jerome,  heretofore  called  Ouabache  (Wabash),  with  all  the 
Countries,  Territories,  Lakes,  within  land,  and  the  Rivers  which  fall 
directly  or  indirectly  into  that  part  of  the  River  of  St.  Louis."1 

The  gift  was  made  for  fifteen  successive  years,  and  included  the 
absolute  and  exclusive  right  to  open  mines  and  search  for  precious 
stones,  and  to  trade  in  all  commodities  with  the  French  and  the  savages 
and  also  to  lay  out  and  cultivate  plantations.  ' '  If  he  should  find  it  proper 
to  have  blacks  in  the  said  country  of  Louisiana,"  says  one  article  of 
the  contract  between  King  Louis  XIV  and  Sieur  Crozat,  "he  may  send 
a  ship  every  year  to  trade  for  them  directly  upon  the  coast  of  Guinea, 
and  he  may  sell  those  blacks  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  colony  of  Louisi- 


i     Crozat 's  Charter  is  given  in  Wallace  "Illinois  and  Louisiana, ' '  pp.  233  to  238. 
Extracts  are  given  in  Martin's  "History  of  Louisiana,"  C.  VIII. 
2     Article  XIV  of  Crozat's  Charter,  Wallace,  \>.  237. 

(73) 


74  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

The  Sieur  Anthony  Cro/;il  was  very  proud  of  his  new  honors,  hut 
also  very  hopeful  of  emoluments  from  his  vast  possessions.  Yet  finding 
after  a  brief  space  of  time,  that  the  increase  of  his  honors  was  in  inverse 
proportion  to  the  results  of  his  venture,  he  returned  the  Danaan  gift 
to  the  King. 

Crozat  resigned  his  charter  in  1717  :  it  was  then  granted  by  the 
Regent,  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  to  the  manipulator  of  finances,  John  Law, 
for  the  "Company  of  the  West."  The  celebrated  ventures  of  this  com- 
pany and  its  head  led  to  the  bursting  of  the  Mississippi  Bubble.  That 
is  the  gorgeous  rise  and  fall  of  the  new  coloni  ation  efforts  in  Louisiana. 
The  following  year  brought  eight  hundred  immigrants  to  Dauphine  Is- 
land, the  nucleus  of  the  future  city  of  New  Orleans. 

Shiploads  after  shiploads  of  human  freight  for  the  colonization 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley  arrived.  Many  of  the  poor  engages  perished 
of  sickness,  exposure  and  want.  Law  himself  established  a  seigniory  on 
a  vast  prairie  on  the  Arkansas  River  and  sent  there  thousands  of  Cath- 
olic Palatines.  But  in  1720  the  downfall  of  Law  led  to  the  discovery 
that  the  Mississippi  Company  was  bankrupt,  and  a  new  organization, 
the  ' '  Royal  Company  of  the  Indies, ' '  was  effected  and  took  over  the  assets 
and  liabilities  of  the  "Company  of  the  West." 

The  large  accessions  of  French  and  German  colonists  brought  on  a 
few  changes  in  Kaskaskia's  peaceful  life.  In  1720  the  congregation  of 
the  French  Catholics  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  canonical  parish, 
with  all  the  rights  and  duties  implied  in  the  title.  In  1721  a  college 
was  founded  in  the  parish  which  continued  to  flourish  until  1765.  There 
were  400  French  and  2.")0  negroes  under  Father  Watrin's  pastoral  charge. 
The  city  itself  was  fairry  prosperous,  and  the  people,  as  a  consequence, 
more  pleasure-loving  than  before.  In  1749  there  were  five  Jesuit  Fathers 
at  the  residence  of  Kaskaskia.  Father  Alexander  Xavier  de  Guiyenne 
was  Superior,  his  assistants  were  the  Fathers  Joseph  Julius  Fourre, 
Louis  Vivier,  Philibert  Watrin,  Sebastin  Meurin  and  Brother  Charles 
Magendi. 

The  purpose  of  converting  the  Indians  to  the  Faith  was  never  absent 
from  the  minds  of  the  French.  In  the  Letters-Patent,  issued  to  the 
"Company  of  the  West"  the  fifty-third  clause  reads  as  follows:  "As  we 
regard  especially  the  glory  of  God  by  procuring  the  salavation  of  the 
inhabitants,  Indians  and  Negroes,  whom  we  desire  to  be  instructed  in 
the  true  religion,  the  said  Company  shall  be  obliged  to  build  at  its  own 
expense  churches  at  the  places  Avhere  it  forms  settlements,  and  also 
maintain  a  necessary  number  of  ecclesiastics,  either  with  the  rank  of 
parish  priests,  or  such  others,  as  shall  be  suitable,  in  order  to  preach 
the  Gospel  there,  perform  the  Divine  Service  and  administer  the  sacra- 
ments, all  under  the  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  and  said  colony 


Kaskaskia  and  ils  Dependencies  75 

remaining  in  his  Diocese  as  heretofore,  and  the  parish-priests  and  other 
ecclesiastics  which  the  Company  shall  maintain  there,  shall  be  at  his 
nomination  and  patronage."3 

"By  ordinance  issued  May  16th,  1722,  by  the  commissioners  of  the 
Council,  with  the  consent  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  the  Province  of  Louisi- 
ana was  divided  into  three  spiritual  jurisdictions,  the  first  comprised  the 
banks  of  the  Mississppi  from  the  Gulf  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and 
included  the  region  to  the  West  between  these  latitudes.  The  Capu- 
chins were  to  officiate  in  the  churches  and  missions  of  this  district. 
and  their  Superior  was  to  reside  in  New  Orleans.  The  second  district 
comprised  all  the  territory  north  of  the  Ohio,  and  was  assigned  to  the 
charge  of  the  Jesuits,  whose  headquarters  were  to  be  in  the  Illinois. 
The  districts  w<>st  of  the  Ohio  and  east  of  the  Mississippi  was  assigned 
to  the  Carmelites.  The  residence  of  their  Superior  was  ordinarily  to  be 
at  Mobile.  Each  of  the  three  Superiors  was  to  be  a  Grand  Vicar  of  the 
liishop  of  Quebec. 

By  ordinance  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  issued  Dec  19th,  1722,  the 
district  of  the  Carmelites  was  added  to  that  of  the  Capuchins.  The 
Carmelites  then  returned  to  France.  In  December  1723,  the  northern 
boundary  of  this  district  was  changed  to  Natchez,  and  all  the  country 
north  of  that  point,  to  the  east,  and  to  the  west,  was  put  under  the 
Jesuits. '  '4 

The  spiritual  administration  of  the  Illinois  country  as  well  as  of 
Lower  Louisiana  and  Canada  was  still  with  the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  He 
was,  however,  represented  by  Grand  Vicars  in  the  various  parts  of  his 
Diocese.  The  only  change  was  that  the  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  came  to 
reside  in  New  Orleans.  Consequently  we  find  Father  Kerreben  in  that 
city  from  1723  to  1725  and  Father  Beaubois  from  1725  to  1728. 

"The  Sieur  de  Boisbriant  made  numerous  grants  of  land  in  the 
Illinois  country  by  virtue  of  Letters-Patent  issued  by  the  Company 
of  the  "West  and  its  successor  the  Royal  Company  of  the  Indies.  Then 
each  of  the  villages  within  his  jurisdiction  obtained  large  parcels  of  land 
in  their  immediate  vicinity,  which  were  to  serve  as  Common-field  for  the 
inhabitants.  Kaskaskia,  Nouvelle  Chartres,  Prairie  du  Bocher,  Prairie  du 
Pont,  each  had  its  Commons,  granted  to  them  by  the  Company  of  the 
Indies.  Land  was  plentiful,  and  the  settlers  were  clamorous.  But  the 
defense  of  the  settlements  against  hostile  Indians  was  costly,  whilst  the 
trade  became  more  and  more  unprofitable.  The  Company,  therefore 
solicited  leave  to  surrender  the  Mississippi  Wilderness.  On  the  10th 
of  April  1732,  the  jurisdiction  and  control  over  its  commerce  reverted 


Shea,  "The  Catholic  Church  in  Colonial  Days,"  pp.  562  and  563. 
"Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,"  (Justin  Winsor),  vol.  V,  p.  43. 


76  History  of  tht   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

to   the   Crown   of   France."      Bienville,  once  more   took   charge  of  the 
reins  of  government  in  New  Orleans  in  1735. 

In  1732  there  arrived  in  the  Illinois,  accompanied  by  a  numerous 
company  of  miners  and  San  Domingo  slaves,  Philip  Francois  de  Renault, 
newly-appointed  Director  General  of  the  Mines  of  the  Royal  India 
Company  in  Illinois.  There  were  five  hundred  negro  slaves  that  came  with 
Renault,  the  first  contingent  of  the  black  invasion  of  Missouri  and  Illi- 
nois. He  proceeded  to  Kaskaskia  and  in  1720  he  built  the  village  called 
St.  Philip.  He  led  his  prospectors  and  miners,  white,  and  black  across 
t  lie  river  to  the  district  of  Ste.  Genevieve  where  they  discovered  a  number 
of  lead-mines  that  had  been  worked  superficially  by  the  Indians  and 
visited  by  La  Mothe  Cadillac. 

The  large  influx  of  people  of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  life  that 
set  in  with  the  immigration  propaganda  conducted  by  Law  and  his  as- 
sociates, though  in  the  main  beneficial  to  the  colony  itself,  proved  to 
be  a  serious  detriment  to  religion  and  public  morals.  One  of  the  last 
acts  of  the  Bishop  Saint  Vallier  of  Quebec  was  a  serious  warning  to  the 
people  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  in  regard  to  the  disregard  of  religion 
and  purity  in  which  the  French  recently  arrived  from  France  live  in 
the  vast  country  which  they  have  come  to  inhabit  along  that  great  River. 
He  then  orders  all  those  who  under  his  authority  have  the  conduct  of 
souls  to  inveigh  against  those  Avho  were  giving  public  scandal  by  im- 
piety in  words  or  by  their  actions  and  by  public  concubinage.  These 
public  sinners  should  not  be  admitted  to  the  church  or  to  the  sacraments, 
but  should  be  subjected  to  public  penance.  The  Circular  Letter  is  dated 
July  19,  1721.5 

The  introduction  of  Negro  and  Indian  slavery  into  Louisiana  by 
the  French  government  also  had  an  evil  influence  on  the  moral  tone  of 
the  community  and  tended  to  involve  the  Illinois  country  where  peace 
had  ever  reigned,  in  the  Indian  wars.  Sometime  in  the  summer  of  1720 
Boisbriant  removed  to  Fort  Chartres,  and  Kaskaskia  ceased  to  be  the 
seat  of  government.  In  1725  he  became  Acting  Governor  and  went  to 
New  Orleans.  In  1730  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  was  Commandant  and 
Major  Pierre  D  Artaguiette,  his  lieutenant  in  the  Illinois  country.  One 
cold  clay  in  January  1736  the  news  came  from  New  Orleans  that  a  great 
campaign  was  to  be  commenced  against  the  Chicasaws,  who  had  com- 
mitted many  a  brutal  deed  against  the  colonists  on  the  river.  At  the 
call  to  arms  the  Sieur  de  Vinsennes  with  his  French  militia  and  a  troop 
of  Miami  Indians  came  to  join  D 'Artaguiette.  The  Cahokias  and  Miteh- 
igameas  too  were  summoned.  The  Kaskaskias  were  dancing  the  war- 
dance  in  their  villages  making  ready  for  the  fray.  The  trappers  and 
hunters  from  the  Missouri  took  gun  and  powder-bag  and  knife  and 


5     Cf.  Shea;  "The  Catholic  Church  in  Colonial  Days,"  p.  560  s. 


Kaskaskia  and  its  Dependencies  77 

hastened  to  the  rendezvous  at  Fort  Chartres.  At  last  the  preparations 
are  completed  and  the  expedition  is  to  start.  It  is  late  in  February 
1736.  Mass  was  said,  and  the  people,  old  and  young,  hurried  to  the 
river  to  see  the  little  army  take  to  the  boats.  D 'Artaguiette  and  the 
Jesuit  Father  Senat  led  the  way,  as  the  flotilla  departed  amid  the  cheers 
of  the  bystanders.  A  few  weeks  later  the  Cahokias  under  the  command 
of  Moncheval  passed  the  village  on  the  same  errand.  There  followed 
long  days  of  anxious  waiting  for  news  from  the  distant  field  of  action. 
It  was  a  Sunday  in  June,  the  morning  services  at  the  church  were  just 
finished,  when  a  messenger  ran  up  to  announce  the  disaster  that  had 
overtaken  the  combined  forces  of  DArtaguette  and  Vincennes.  They 
had  waited  for  Bienville  and  Moncheval,  but  they  did  not  come.  And 
so,  the  brave  men  from  Kaskaskia  and  the  Wabash  marched  to  the  at- 
tack. The  Chicasaws  were  awaiting  them  at  their  town.  The  French 
fought  bravely  but  the  Miamis  betrayed  them  and  the  Illinois  and  Mis- 
souris  ran  away.  D  'Artaguiette  received  a  deadly  wound  just  as  victory 
seemed  to  be  assured.  The  Sieur  de  Vincennes  and  Father  Senat  would 
not  forsake  their  wounded  friends.  They  were  taken  prisoners  by  the 
Chicasaws,  together  with  fifteen  others.  Of  their  heroic  end  Monette 
writes  this  beautiful  account : 

"D 'Artaguiette  and  his  valiant  companions  who  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Chicasaws  were  treated  with  great  kindness  and  attention ;  their 
wounds  dressed  by  the  Indians,  who  watched  over  them  with  fraternal 
tenderness,  and  they  were  received  into  the  cabins  of  the  victors  in 
hopes  of  a  great  ransom  from  Bienville,  who  was  known  to  be  advancing 
by  way  of  the  Tombigby  with  a  powerful  army.  But  the  same  day 
brought  the  intelligence  of  the  advance  and  the  discomfiture  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief St.  Ange  de  Bellerive.  His  retreat  and  final  departure 
soon  followed  and  the  Chicasaws,  elated  with  their  success,  and  despair- 
ing of  the  expected  ransom,  resolved  to  sacrifice  the  victims  to  savage 
triumph  and  revenge.  The  prisoners  were  taken  to  a  neighboring  field, 
and  while  one  was  left  to  relate  their  fate  to  their  countrymen,  the  young 
and  intrepid  D 'Artaguiette,  and  the  heroic  Vincennes,  whose  name  is 
borne  by  the  oldest  town  in  Indiana,  and  will  be  perpetuated  as  long  as 
the  Wabash  shall  flow  by  the  dwellings  of  civilized  men,  and  the  faith- 
ful Senat,  true  to  his  mission,  were,  with  their  companions,  each  tied  to 
a  stake.  Here  they  were  tortured  before  slow7  and  intermitting  fires, 
until  death  mercifully  released  them  from  their  protracted  torments."0 

All  honor  to  the  Jesuit  Senat  who  might  have  fled,  but  remained  to 
receive  the  last  sigh  of  the  wounded,  regardless  of  danger,  and  mindful 
only  of  duty. 


6     Monette,    "Valley    of    the    Mississippi,"    vol.    I,    p.    288.        Also,    Martin's 
Louisiana,  p.  304. 


78  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

But  like  honor  also  to  the  heroic  priests  who  remained  at  home  to 
guide  and  comfort  the  souls  entrusted  to  their  care,  the  Jesuit  Fathers 
D'Outreleau  and  his  companions,  Boullenger  and  Guymeneau,  the  Super- 
ior who  was  sick  unto  death  in  the  days  of  anxious  waiting.  They  too, 
no  doubt,  would  have  been  equal  to  the  heroic  duty  fulfilled  by  Father 
Antoine  Senat,  if  they  had  received  the  call.  For  was  not  their  whole 
life  a  continual  martyrdom  for  the  cause  of  Christ?  If  it  be  true,  that 
"they  also  serve,  who  only  stand  and  wait,"  it  must  be  true  in  the  highesl 
sense  that  these  Jesuits,  who  whilst  waiting  for  a  call  to  martyrdom,  did 
not  only  stand  ready,  but  went  about,  like  their  Lord  and  Leader,  doing 
good.  From  1735  to  1741  Father  Etienne  D'Outreleau  signs  himself  as 
Pastor  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  His  successor  is  Father  Rene 
Tartarin  from  1741  to  1747,  to  be  followed  by  Philibert  F.  Watrin  1759. 
In  this  year  Father  Watrin  becomes  Superior  of  the  Mission  and  remains 
in  office  until  1762.  Father  Jean  B.  Aubert  is  given  as  pastor  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception  from  1759  to  1764.  Father  Meurin  is  in  charge 
of  the  Indians  until  1764.  Father  Louis  Vivier  wrote  two  very  interest- 
ing letters  from  among  the  Illinois,  the  one  dated  June  8,  1750  and 
the  other  November  17,  1750.  A  few  extracts  will  no  doubt,  be  accept- 
able. 

"When  the  first  missionaries  came  among  the  Illinois"  he  writes, 
"they  counted  five  thousand  persons  of  all  ages  in  that  Nation.  Today 
we  count  but  two  thousand."7 

In  regard  to  the  Illinois  country,  he  tells  us,  "There  are  5  French 
villages  and  3  villages  of  Savages  within  a  distance  of  21  leagues,  be- 
tween the  Mississippi  and  the  river  called  the  Kaskaskias.  In  the  five 
French  villages  there  may  be  eleven  hundred  white  people,  three  hundred 
black,  and  about  sixty  red  slaves,  otherwise  savages.  The  three  Illinois 
villages  do  not  contain  more  than  eight-hundred  Savages,  of  all  ages."8 

But  Father  Vivier 's  thoughts  are  not  confined  to  his  own  nation  of 
the  Illinois.  There  are  many  Indians  towards  the  West  who  are  also 
called  to  be  God's  children. 

"Among  the  Nations  of  the  Missouri  are  some  who  seem  to  be 
specially  disposed  to  receive  the  Gospel ;  as,  for  instance,  the  Panismahas. 
One  of  the  gentlemen  of  whom  I  have  just  spoken  wrote  one  day  to  a 
Frenchman  who  traded  among  the  Savages  and  asked  him  in  his  letter 
to  baptize  dying  children.  When  the  chief  of  the  village  perceived  the 
letter,  he  said  to  the  Frenchman :  '  What  is  the  news?'  'There  is  none,' 
replied  the  latter.  'How,'  retorted  the  Savage,  'because  our  color  is 
red  can  we  not  know  the  news?'    'It   is  the  black  Chief.'  replied  the 


t     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  69,  p.  149. 
»     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  69,  p.  150. 


Kaskaskia  and  its  Dependencies  79 

Frenchman,  'who  writes,  recommending  me  to  baptize  dying  children, 
in  order  to  send  them  to  the  great  Spirit. '  The  Savage  chief,  thoroughly 
satisfied,  said  to  him :  'Be  not  anxious  I  myself  undertake  to  notify  thee 
whenever  a  child  is  in  danger  of  death. '  He  gathered  his  people  together 
and  said  to  them:  'What  think  ye  of  this  Black  Chief?'  (For  that  is 
the  name  which  they  give  to  the  missionaries.)  'We  have  never  seen 
him ;  we  have  never  done  him  any  good ;  he  dwells  far  from  us,  beyond 
the  sun.  And  yet  he  thinks  of  our  village ;  he  wishes  to  do  good  to  us ; 
and,  when  our  children  die,  he  wishes  to  send  them  to  the  great  Spirit. 
This  Black  Chief  must  be  very  good.'  "° 

Love  and  sympathy  for  the  poor,  the  widow  and  the  orphan  also 
found  lodgment  in  the  heart  of  this  Savage,  as  Vivier  writes :  ' '  Some 
traders  who  came  from  his  village  have  mentioned  to  me  instances  which 
prove,  that  savage  though  he  is,  he  none  the  less  possesses  intelligence 
and  good  sense.  At  the  death  of  his  predecessor  all  the  suffrages  of  his 
Nation  were  in  his  favor.  At  first,  he  excused  himself  from  accepting  the 
position  of  Chief;  but  at  last  on  being  compelled  to  acquiesce,  he  said 
to  them :  ' '  You  desire  then  that  I  should  be  your  Chief ;  I  consent,  but 
you  must  bear  in  mind  that  I  wish  to  be  your  Chief  in  reality,  and  that 
I  must  be  faithfully  obeyed  in  that  capacity.  Hitherto  the  widows  and 
orphans  have  been  left  destitute.  I  intend  that  in  future  their  wants 
shall  be  provided  for;  and,  in  order  that  they  may  not  be  forgotten, 
I  desire  and  intend  that  they  shall  be  the  first  to  get  their  share. '  '10 


o     "Jesuit  Eelations,"  vol.  69,  p.  225. 
io     "Jesuit  Eelations,"  vol.  69,  p.  225. 


Chapter  11 
ST.  GENEVIEVE  AND  ITS  DEPENDENCIES 


More  than  fifty  years  before  the  foundation  of  St.  Louis  under  the 
direction  of  Pierre  Laclede-Liquest  and  Auguste  Chouteau,  the  mines  of 
La  Motte  and  Meramec  engrossed  the  attention,  not  only  of  the  French 
circles  of  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  but  also  of  the  nobles  and  even  the 
royal  court  of  France.  The  reign  of  Louis  XIV  and  the  regency  of 
the  Duke  of  Orleans  had  proved  disastrous  to  the  finances  of  the  country. 
The  Scotchman  John  Law  was  heralded  as  the  great  financial  genius, 
who  would,  in  some  mysterious  way,  save  the  state,  and  lead  it  to  the 
highest  pinnacle  of  wealth  and  prosperity.  For  was  not  America 
infinitely  rich  in  precious  metals  and  pearls?  Xew  France  was  to  be 
the  pledge  for  the  ever  increasing  debts  of  Old  France.  But  promises 
would  not  satisfy  forever.  The  gold  and  silver  and  other  treasure  must 
be  found  and  sent  to  the  coffers  of  the  King.  The  peltries  of  the  western 
world  were,  indeed,  a  source  of  wealth;  yet  gold  and  silver  were  immeas- 
urably better.  As  Spain  had  grown  rich  and  powerful  by  the  gold  and 
silver  of  Peru  and  Mexico,  so  France  must  find  the  overflowing  fountain 
of  infinite  treasure  in  the  mines  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  wish  was 
father  of  the  thought:  absolute  need  was  the  mother  of  conviction. 

It  was  the  first  Governor  of  Louisiana  under  the  Royal  Company, 
the  Sieur  de  la  Mothe  Cadillac,  who  actually  visited  the  mineral  region 
of  the  Aline  La  Mothe  in  Madison  County  in  171."),  sinking  a  shaft  there 
and  taking  out  lead  and  silver  ore.  After  him,  in  duly,  1710,  came  a 
company  of  noble  prospectors  from  Kaskaskia  under  the  leadership  of 
the  Sieur  Mare  Antoine  de  la  Loire  des  Ursins  to  the  mining  country 
of  South-east  Missouri.  They  were  brought  there  by  some  Tamaroa 
guides  over  the  Indian  trail  through  the  valley  of  the  Saline,  near  whose 
headwaters  La  Mothe  Cadillac  had  opened  his  mine  in  1715. 

In  1723  M.  la  Renaudier  sent  a  report  on  the  Mines  of  La  Mothe 
and  to  the  French  government  at  Paris,  from  which  it  appears  that 
both  were  being  worked,  but  required  for  profitable  production  the  help 
of  slave  labor.  These  slaves  five  hundred  in  number  were  brought  to  the 
mines  by  Philip  Renault  in  1723.  They  form  the  advance-guard  of  the 
large  negro  population  of  Missouri.  From  that  time  on  until  the  present 
day  the  Mine  a  la  Motto  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Saline,  and  the  mines 
on  the  Southeastern  tributary  of  the  Meramec  river,  called  the  Riviere 
Negro,  which  preceded  the  present  towns  of  Potosi,  Old  Mines  and  Mine 
a  la  Renaut  were,  from  the  start,  dependent  on  Kaskaskia 's  firs!  born 
daughter,  Ste.  Genevieve,  for  commerce  as  well  as  spiritual  succor. 

(80) 


St.  Genevieve  and  Us  Dependencies  83 

The  gateways  to  these  earliest  European  settlements  in  the  interior 
of  Missouri,  the  mouth  of  the  Saline  Creek,  on  the  south,  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Meramec  to  the  north,  were  easily  aceessible  from  St.  Genevieve, 
which  gradually  arose  on  the  fruitful  bottom  lands  that  skirted  the  river 
between  the  Saline  and  the  Gabori  creeks.1 

' '  The  old  Village  of  St.  Gtnevieve ' '  is  called  by  the  most  eminent  his- 
torian of  Missouri  "the  first  permanent  settlement  in  Upper  Louisiana."2 
This  claim  cannot  be  upheld  ;  for  even  if  the  Post  of  Arkansas  be  counted 
for  Lower  Louisiana,  Marest  and  Pinet's  Kaskaskia,  the  village  of  French 
traders  on  the  River  des  Peres,  must  be  accorded  precedence.3  Yet  the 
quaint  old  town  of  St.  Genevieve  has  a  long  and  interesting  history. 
The  old  village,  however,  did  not  occupy  the  present  site.  It  was 
three  miles  lower  down,  the  river,  and  hard  on  its  alluvial  banks.  In 
fact,  the  orginal  site  has  long  since  fallen  into  the  water.  Yet  there  is 
enough  land  remaining  of  the  so  called  Big  Field,  on  the  edge  of  which 
the  Village  stood,  that  we  can  form  an  idea  of  its  former  location.  The 
date  of  the  foundation  of  the  Old  Village  is  not  positively  known.  There 
are  a  number  of  guesses  with  a  foundation  in  fact.  But,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  there  was  no  formal  act  or  ceremony  of  foundation, 
but  only  a  slow  accretion  of  human  habitations,  on  and  near  Francis 
Rivard's  grant  in  the  Big  Field,  which  he  held  on  condition,  that  he 
Avould  eventually  set  aside  a  portion  of  it  for  a  church.  This  grant  was 
made  in  1752  by  Chevalier  Makarty,  Commandant  of  Fort  Chart  res 
and  builder  of  the  magnificent  stone  fort  of  that  name.  Other  equally 
early  settlers  on  the  Big  Field  are  Toussaint  Geneaux,  Chaponga  and 
Dorlac.4  Zenon  Trudeau  says  in  his  report  of  1798  that  the  Old  Village 
"Was  settled  more  than  sixty  years  ago."5  This  would  place  the  first 
settlement  on  the  Big  Field  in  1738.  Pittman,  an  English  Officer  who 
wrote  in  1767  says:  "The  first  settlers  of  the  village  removed  about 
twenty-eight  years  ago  from  Kaskaskia,"6  that  is,  in  1739.  As  early  as 
1759  a  Fort  known  as  St.  Joachim  was  located  in  the  village  of  Ste.  Gen- 
evieve as  the  Church  Records  show.  Father  Watrin's  account7  places  the 


1  For  documents  in  proof  of  these  statements,  of.  "Earliest  History  of  Mine 
La  Motte"  by  JohnRothonsteiner  in  "Missouri's  Historical  Review,"  vol.  XXI,  pp. 
199-213. 

2  Louis  Houek,  ' '  The  History  of  Missouri, ' '  vol.  I,  p.  337. 

3  Cf.  the  5th  Chapter  o.f  this  History.  "The  Kaskaskias  on  the  River  des  Peres." 
*     Louis  Houck,  "A  History  of  Missouri,"  vol.  I,  p.  338. 

5  Trudeau 's  Report  "Concerning  the  Settlements  of  the  Spanish  Illinois 
Country,  1798"  may  be  found  in  Houck 's  "Spanish  Regime  in  Missouri,"  vol.  II, 
p.  247. 

11     "Mississippi  Settlements,"  p.  95. 

7  "Banishment  of  the  Jesuits,"  by  Father  Watrin,  in  "Jesuit  Relations," 
vol.  70,  p.  233. 


82  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

establishment  of  what  was  then  the  new  village,  halfway  between  that 
of  Trudeau — Pittman  1738-39,  and  that  of  the  St.  Genevieve  Church 
Record  1758-59,  or  in  other  words  at  1748  or  1749.  It  would  seem  then,  (1) 
that  the  first  grants  of  land  in  the  Big-  Field  were  made  two  or  three 
years  previous  to  that  of  Francis  Rivard,  (2)  that  the  number  of  houses 
clustering  around  the  church  lot  had  gr%wn  sufficiently  numerous  in 
1749  to  be  called  a  village,  and,  (3)  that  the  Spanish  government  thought 
it  advisable  to  place  a  fort  in  the  village  sometime  before  1759.  Father 
Watrin  called  the  village  Ste.  Genevieve :  the  Church  Records  call  the 
Fort  St.  Joachim.  Both  designations  of  course,  are  historical.  But 
whatever  we  may  think  of  this  calculation,  this  fact  is  beyond  dispute : 
the  Catholic  Church  was  organized  in  Ste.  Genevieve  by  the  Jesuit  Father 
Philibert  Watrin  in  1749,  who  had,  no  doubt,  even  prior  to  that  year, 
come  over  from  Kaskaskia  on  errands  of  charity  to  the  sick  and  dying. 
When  the  first  church  was  built  we  cannot  tell.  Father  Watrin  simply  says, 
that  the  petition  of  the  villagers  to  have  a  church  built  was  granted  them  ; 
and  that  after  this  his  visits  became  still  more  frequent.  In  a  Marriage 
Record  dated  February  26,  1759,  he  called  the  church  St.  Joachim.  He 
calls  the  people  his  new  parishioners;  but  he  did  not  take  up  his  residence 
with  them,  as  he  was  pastor  of  Kaskaskia,  and  they  had  no  house  for  the 
priest.  He  must,  however,  cross  the  Mississippi  in  a  canoe.  Sometimes 
a  storm  would  overtake  him  in  his  frail  craft  on  the  surging  waters.  But 
Father  Watrin  never  failed  in  his  duty,  for  more  than  fifteen  years.  At 
last,  only  a  few  years  before  the  banishment  of  all  the  Jesuit  Fathers, 
the  people  built  a  parish  residence,  and  a  special  Pastor  -was  assigned  to 
them  as  their  first  resident  priest.  The  Record  of  Marriages  in  St. 
Genevieve  opens  with  the  name  of  Father  Watrin,  Father  Morinie's 
following  on  January  1763 : 

1759,  Feb.  26th,  Andre  Deguire,  dit  Larose,  Captain  of  Militia  of 
the  Fort  of  St.  Joachim,  to  Marie  La  Boissiere,  widow  of  Joseph  Baron, 
of  the  Parish  of  St.  Ann  of  Fort  Chartres. 

(signed)   Watrin 

1760,  Feb.  5th,  Jean  Baptiste  Deguire,  son  of  Andre  Deguire  and 
the  deceased  Elizabeth  Brunet,  to  Cecil  Baron,  daughter  of  the  deceased 
Joseph  Baron  and  Marie  La  Boissiere. 

(signed)     Watrin 

1761,  Jan.  7th,  Andre  Manterol,  native  of  the  town  of  St.  Sebastian, 
to  Angelique  Pethius,  widow  of  Etienne  Govreau. 

(signed)    Watrin 

1763,  Jan.  10th,  Pierre  Aubuchon,  son  of  Pierre  Aubuchon  and 
Marie  Brunet,  to  Charlotte  Lalande,  widow  of  LeCompt,  daughter  of 
Charlotte  Marchaud  and  Jean  Baptiste  Lalande. 

(signed)   La   Morinie 


St.  Genevieve  and  its  Dependencies  83 

The  two  first  names  that  occur  after  that  of  Father  Watrin  in  the 
Registers  of  Ste.  Genevieve  are  Father  Jean  B.  de  la  Morinie  and  Father 
Jean  B.  Salleneuve,  both  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Neither  one  nor  the 
other  were  members  of  the  Illinois  Mission.  Father  Morinie  was  born 
at  Perigeux  in  France,  October  24,  1704,  and  after  becoming  a  member 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  came  to  Canada  in  1738.  His  name  occurs  in  the 
Records  of  St.  Anne,  Detroit,  in  those  of  Mackinac  from  1738-1752. 
After  that  he  had  charge  of  the  Miami  Mission  at  St.  Joseph  in  what  is 
now  Niles,  Michigan,  from  which  the  Indian  war  compelled  him  to  flee 
in  1761.  Hence  he  came  to  the  Illinois  country,  and  had  only  taken 
charge  of  the  Church  of  Ste.  Genevieve  through  the  motive  of  a  zeal 
that  refuses  itself  nothing.  From  this  it  would  appear  that  Father 
Jean  de  la  Morinie  was  the  first  resident  priest  and  quasi-pastor  of  Ste. 
Genevieve.8  His  companion  in  the  care  of  this  church,  Father  Jean  B. 
Salleneuve  came  to  Canada  in  1743,  at  the  age  of  thirty -five  years,  and 
was  assigned  to  the  Huron  Mission  near  Detroit.  He  remained  there 
until  March  1761,  when  he,  too,  was  compelled  by  the  disturbances  of 
the  time  to  seek  refuge  in  the  Illinois  country.  Both  Fathers,  though 
only  guests  of  the  Illinois  Mission,  and  in  no  wise  under  the  control  of 
the  Superior  Council  of  Xew  Orleans,  were  expelled  from  the  Country 
and  sent  back  to  France  in  1764. 9 

On  February  28th,  1764,  Father  John  B.  Aubert,  then  Pastor  of 
Kaskaskia,  makes  an  entry  on  the  Record :  on  May  14th,  S.  L.  Meurin, 
Missionary  Priest ;  and  from  October  4th,  1768  to  April  1772  alternately 
Fathers  Meurin  and  Gibault.  On  May  18th.  1772,  there  occurs  the  name 
of  the  first  resident  priest  of  St.  Louis,  the  Spanish  Capuchin  Valentin. 
On  August  25th,  1772,  we  find  his  name  once  more  with  the  designation : 
"Priest  of  St.  Louis  and  its  dependencies."  Father  Meurin,  the  Pastor 
of  the  place,  since  his  return  from  Xew  Orleans  in  1765,  was  not  allowed 
to  officiate  there  on  account  of  his  having  accepted  from  Quebec  the 
office  of  Vicar  General  of  the  Illinois  Country.  The  Spanish  Com- 
mandant, Rocheblave,  would  not  tolerate  a  priest  who  had  his  faculties 
from  a  foreign  Bishop.  But  Rocheblave  himself  was  discharged  by 
the  Spaniards  in  1769,  and  entering  the  service  of  the  English,  received 
the  appointment  as  Commandant  of  Kaskaskia,  where  George  Rogers 
Clarke  caught  him  napping  on  the  night  of  July  4th,  1778.  Don 
Francisco  Valle,  received  the  appointment  as  Civil  and  Military  Com- 
mandant of  St.  Genevieve  in  1769.  In  1772  the  village  numbered  404 
whites  and   387   slaves.     On   the   15th   of  November   1773,   the  newly 


8  "The  St.  Joseph  Baptismal  Record,"  edited  by  Eev.  George  Pare,  and  M.  M. 
Quaif  e,  in  ' '  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Review, ' '  vol.  13,  No.  2. 

9  Father  Salleneuve  is  mentioned  in  the  "Jesuit  Catalogue  of  1756,"  with  date 
of  birth,  (June  14,  1708),  and  of  entrance  into  the  Order,  (September  21,  1727), 
as  being  stationed  "in  remote  regions." 


84  History  of  th(   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

appointed  Pastor  of  the  parish  of  St.  Genevieve,  the  Capuchin  Hilaire  de 
Genevaux.  performed  bis  firsl  priestly  function  in  the  village  church.10 
Sometime  before  this  date  he  bad  figured  in  a  violent  quarrel  with 
Father  Baudouin,  S.  J.  the  Vicar-General  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec, 
about  the  Vicar-Generalship  in  Louisiana,  which  he  claimed,  belonged 
to  him,  asserting  that  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  had  only  the  right  to  oversee 
and  to  give  encouragement,  and  no  more.  lie  had  appealed  to  Rome 
for  a  decision  :  but  received  none.  Yet,  he  returned  as  apostolic  Prothon- 
otary,  and  caused  more  trouble  to  the  Jesuit  Vicar-General.  When  the 
Jesuits  were  banished  in  1763,  the  Superior  of  the  Capuchins,  Father 
Dagobert  de  Longwi  became  Vicar-General  of  Quebec  for  Louisiana.  The 
restless  Father  Hilaire  soon  got  into  a  quarrel  with  Father  Dagobert  also, 
from  which  Father  Dagobert  emerged  victorious.11  Father  Hilary  may 
have  considered  his  appointment  to  the  village  in  the  far  northern  wilder- 
ness as  an  exile,  and  consequently  took  little  interest  in  the  administration 
of  the  parish.  On  dune  6,  1774,  the  habitants  of  Ste.  Genevieve  sent  a 
remonstrance  against  Father  Hilary  to  Don  Pedro  Piernas,  the  lieutenant 
Governor : 

"The  undersigned  habitants  of  Saint  Genevieve  find  it  necessary 
to  demand  your  justice  against  an  attempt  of  Father  Hilary.  If  that 
attempt  were  carried  out,  it  would  deprive  them  of  their  lands.  We 
were  strangely  surprised  on  hearing  him  announce  to  us  last  Sunday 
that  we  were  to  pay  him  the  tenth  of  all  the  produce  of  our  lands, 
although  he  is  not  at  all  ignorant  that  hitherto  we  have  paid  no  more  than 
the  tewenty-sixth  part;  that  a  constant  and  uninterrupted  custom  has, 
without  doubt,  been  regulated  to  our  days  by  the  royal  power  and  the 
ecclesiastical  assembly ;  and  that  His  Catholic  Majesty,  fortunately, 
and  according  to  all  the  wise  laws  to  which  we  are  and  always  shall  be 
very  submissive,  has  not  considered  it  advisable  to  inform  us  that  he 
has  changed  anything  in  this  regard.  Consequently,  it  cannot  be  annulled 
by  one  single  religious.  We  are  surprised  at  seeing  this  attempt  made  by 
a  religious,  who,  since  he  has  been  among  us,  has  given  no  instruction 
to  the  children  or  preached  a  sermon  or  given  an  exhortation  to  his 
parishioners.  We  have  not  in  any  way  endeavored  to  relax  the  old 
custom  in  regard  to  Father  Hilary,  and  we  would  be  willing,  if  our 
power  permitted,  to  make  a  greater  sacrifice,  but  our  poverty  does  not 
permit  us  to  do  it,  for  we  find  it  very  difficult  to  support  our  families. 
We  pay  a  fifth  (a  royal  tax)  to  the  mill  (i.  e.  the  fifth  of  the  meal  ground 
as  a  toll)  as  well  as  the  defence  of  our  boundaries;  the  beadle  serves  him 
for  twenty  sols  per  livre;  labor  is  excessively  clear,  as  well  as  the  things 


io     "The  Spanish  Regime  in  Missouri,"  vol.  I,  p.  54. 

11  The  struggle  of  Father  Hilaire  de  Geneveaux  against  the  Jesuits  and  then 
against  his  superior  Father  Dagobert  is  authentically,  though  not  always  judicially, 
discussed  by  the  historian  of  Louisiana,  "The  Spanish  Domination,"  pp.  49-94. 


St.  Genevieve  and  its  Dependencies  85 

of  the  first  and  indispensable  need.  Another  surprise  on  our  part  was  for 
us  to  hear  that  Father  Hilary  has  forbidden  us  all  spiritual  aid  from 
the  religious  of  the  other  bank  (of  the  river)  in  his  absence.  We  are 
unaware  of  the  reason  which  imposes  so  severe  a  law  upon  us."12  The 
complaint  was  forwarded  to  Don  Louis  de  Unzaga,  the  Governor,  who 
answered  on  February  20,  1775,  that,  the  custom  shall  not  be  altered 
in  any  way,  and  that  is  it  not  right,  while  the  King  supports  the  parish 
priests,  for  them  to  expect  another  fee,  which  would  mean  a  double 
compensation  and  a  very  large  one."13 

The  Apostolic  Prothonotary's  neglienee  in  keeping  the  Records  in 
good  order  was  severely  reprimanded  by  his  Superior,  Bishop  Cyrillo  de 
Barcelona,  acting  for  the  Bishop  of  Havana,  Cuba.  Father  Bernard 
de  Limpach,  was  ordered  to  go  to  St.  Genevieve  to  enter  all  the  missing 
records  of  Baptisms  and  Marriages.  This  was  done  in  September  1778. 
From  October  1778  to  May  1786,  Father  Pierre  Gibault,  signing  himself 
"priest,"  administered  all  the  baptisms,  being  accepted  by  the  Spanish 
authorities  as  administrator  of  the  Parish  until  a  pastor  could  be  sent 
from  New  Orleans. 

On  September  27,  1778,  the  parishioners  of  the  old  village,  in  a 
meeting  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Commandant,  de  Cartabona,  and 
the  Parish  Priest  of  St.  Louis  and  its  Dependencies,  P.  Bernard  de 
Limpach,  decided  to  remove  the  Church  from  the  river  bank  to  a  more 
elevated  location  on  the  land  of  Charles  Valle.  In  the  year  of  1782,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Old  Village,  fearing  the  encroachment  of  the  river, 
began  "pen  a  peu, "  as  Father  Dahmen  says,  to  remove  their  homes 
three  miles  northward  to  the  more  elevated  ground  of  the  present  site 
of  Ste.  Genevieve.  In  the  3rear  of  the  great  waters,  "L'  Annee  des 
Grandes  Eaux."  Father  de  Saint  Pierre  arrived  from  Vincennes  and 
remained  until  his  house  in  Cahokia  should  be  completed.  (May  18th, 
1785-July  10th,  1786.)  On  September  11th,  1786,  Father  Louis 
Guignes,  of  the  Order  of  Capuchins,  appears  on  the  scene  and  remains 
as  Pastor  of  St.  Genevieve  and  its  Dependencies  until  November,  1788. 
One  of  these  dependencies,  is  the  old  Parish  of  the  Post  of  Arkansas, 
the  cherished  foundation  of  Henri  de  Tonti.  Father  Guignes,  as  Pastor 
of  St.  Genevieve,  visited  the  place  a  few  times  during  his  incumbency 
and  administered  the  sacrament  of  Baptism  to  thirty-seven  persons, 
eleven  of  whom  were  Indians.  Five  marriages  also  were  solemnized  on 
these  occasions.  Father  Guignes  had  his  residence  in  the  new  village 
in  a  house  that  was  bought  from  M.  Roussin,  and  was  fitted  up  for  a 
presbytere.  Father  Paul  de  Saint  Pierre  succeeded  to  the  pastorate  of 
St.  Genevieve  in  1789.14 


12     "The  Spanish  Regime  in  Missouri,"  vol.  I,  p.  121  s. 
is     "The  Spanish  Regime  in  Missouri, "  vol.  I,  p.  125. 

i-i     M.  S.  material  in  "Spanish  Archives''  in   possession  of  Missouri  Historical 
Society. 


Chapter  12 
BANISHMENT  OF  THE  JESUITS 


This  chapter  records  the  final  act  of  the  wonderful  drama  of  divine 
inspiration  enacted  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in  the  Mississippi  Vallejr, 
from  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth,  to  almost  the  last  quarter  of 
the  eighteenth  Centuries.  Like  the  story  of  the  Jesuit  Missions  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  riv<er  and  in  the  Lake  Regions,1  it  is  a  story  of  seeming- 
failure  after  glorious  successes  attained  by  "the  faith,  daring  and 
religious  zeal  of  the  brave  sons  of  St.  Ignatius."  Its  pioneer  saint,  the 
heroic  Father  Marquette,  started  out  on  his  voyage  of  discovery  and 
evangelization  to  the  Mississippi  and  down  its  winding  course,  in  his 
birch-bark  canoe,  and  won  the  plaudits  of  the  world  after  having  gained 
the  martyr  of  duty's  crown.  The  first  Mission  among  the  Illinois  was 
that  of  Kaskaskia  under  the  Rock,  afterward  crowned  with  ramparts  of 
Fort  St.  Louis  near  the  present  city  of  Utica.  Then  came  the  magnan- 
imous servants  of  God,  an  Allouez,  a  Rale,  a  Gravier,  a  Binneteau,  a 
Marest,  a  Pinet,  a  Senat,  a  Mermet,  and  the  other  glorious  knightly 
followers  of  that  great  leader  of  men  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola. 

Now,  after  the  lapse  of  ninety-one  eventful  years  the  grand  story 
comes  to  a  sudden  close  with  a  poignant  note  of  failure ;  the  Banishment 
of  the  Jesuits  from  Louisiana  in  1764.  Father  Francis  Philibert  Watrin, 
who  had  lived  among  the  Illinois  for  almost  thirty  years  gives  a  touching 
account  of  the  tragedy.  In  his  recital  of  the  affair,  Father  Watrin 
assures  his  correspondent  in  Rome,  he  will  be  careful  to  say  nothing  which 


i  This  great  work  began  in  Canada,  on  June  19,  1625,  when  Fathers  Charles 
Lalemant,  Edmond  Masse  and  Jean  Brebeuf,  members  of  the  Jesuit  Order,  arrived 
at  Quebec,  to  take  up  the  work  initiated  by  the  Franciscan  Fathers,  called  the 
Eecollets,  in  1615,  to  bear  the  message  of  the  gospel  to  the  roving  hordes  that  filled 
the  forests  from  Quebec  to  Lake  Huron.  Father  Lalemant  remained  there  for  a  time 
and  in  1626  wrote  the  first  letter  of  the  famous  ' '  Relations  of  the  Jesuits. ' '  Jean 
de  Brebeuf  was  selected  for  the  Huron  mission,  and  there  won  the  crown  of  martyr- 
dom. The  Huron  Mission  became  in  due  time  one  of  the  glories  of  the  American 
Church,  strong  in  faith  and  rich  in  heroic  virtue.  But  the  relentless  fury  of  the 
Iroquois,  urged  on  by  English  and  Dutch  neighbors,  drove  the  Christian  Hurons  and 
their  friends  from  their  ancient  seats,  ever  westward  along  the  northern  lakes.  The 
Jesuits  followed  their  demoralized  flock  as  far  as  the  Straits  of  Mackinac  and  the 
western  edge  of  Lake  Superior.  On  September  17,  1641,  Fathers  Raymbault  and 
Jogues  visited  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  They  were  the  first  Europeans  that  ever  passed 
through  the  Sault  and  stood  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior.  From  Pointe  de  St. 
Esprit,  the  most  westerly  outpost  of  religion  or  civilization,  Father  Marquette  and 
his  companions  looked  wistfully  towards  the  home  of  the  Sioux  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  five  years  before  the  New  England  Eliot  had  addressed  the  tribe  of 
Indians  that  dwelt  within  six  miles  of  Boston  Harbor. 

(86) 


Banishment  of  the  Jesuits  87 

will  depart  in  the  least  from  these  two  rules,  "love  for  religion  and  the 
truth."2 

The  unrelenting  propaganda  against  the  Society  of  Jesus,  especially 
in  lands  of  the  Latin  tongue,  acquired  for  Pombal,  Choiseul,  d'Aranda, 
Tannucci  and  their  accomplices  the  name  of  Immortals  through  the 
destruction  of  the  American  Missions.  Among  those  who  took  up  the 
cry  against  the  Jesuits  in  the  Missions  along  the  Mississippi  River  was 
a  certain  M.  de  la  Freniere,  of  the  Superior  Council  of  New  Orleans. 
Before  this  assembly,  utterly  incompetent  as  to  jurisdiction  and  ability, 
the  Jesuits  as  a  body  were  accused  and  condemmed  unheard.  "It  was 
said  that  the  Institute  of  the  Jesuits  was  hostile  to  royal  authority,  the 
rights  of  bishops,  and  the  public  peace  and  safety ;  and  that  the  vows 
uttered  according  to  this  Institute  were  null  and  void."  They  were 
condemned  to  drop  the  name  and  the  garb  of  Jesuits.  Excepting  their 
books  and  some  wearing  apparel,  all  their  property,  real  and  personal, 
was  to  be  seized  and  sold  at  auction.  But  let  Father  Watrin  tell  us  the 
shocking  details  of  this  act  of  usurpation  and  the  sufferings  it  entailed. 
"It  was  ordained  that  the  chapel  ornaments  and  the  sacred  vessels  of 
New  Orleans  should  be  delivered  up  to  the  Reverend  Capuchin  Fathers ; 
that  the  chapel  ornaments  and  sacred  vessels  of  the  Jesuits  living  in  the 
country  of  the  Illinois  should  be  delivered  up  to  the  Royal  procurator 
for  that  country,  and  that  the  chapels  should  then  be  demolished ;  and 
that,  finally,  the  afore-said  Jesuits,  so-called,  should  return  to  France, 
embarking  upon  the  first  ships  ready  to  depart, — prohibiting  them, 
meanwhile,  from  remaining  together.  A  sum  of  six  hundred  livres  was 
assigned  to  pay  each  one's  passage,  and  another,  of  1,500  francs,  for 
their  sustenance  and  support  for  six  months.  They  were  enjoined  to 
present  themselves,  after  that  term,  to  Monsieur  the  Duke  de  Choiseul, 
Secretary  of  State  in  the  Department  of  Marine,  to  ask  him  for  the 
pensions  which  would  be  assigned  from  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  their 
property."3 


2  Father  Watrin. 's  "Memoir  on  the  Banishment  of  the  Jesuits  of  Louisiana," 
dated  September  3,  1764,  was  published  by  Carayon,  Paris  1865,  and  given  in 
English  by  Thwaites  in  the  "Jesuit  Eelations, "  vol.  LXX,  and  by  Alvord  and 
Carter  in  "Illinois  Historical  Collections,"  vol.  X.  The  Critical  period  1763-1765.  An 
abridgement  of  the  same  Memoir  was  translated  into  English  by  the  Bev.  D.  Lynch, 
S.  J.,  and  published  in  the  "Magazine  of  Western  History,"  vol.  I,  pp.  263-269. 
The  original  Latin  Ms.  of  the  Abridgement  was  discovered  in  the  Archives  of  the 
Propaganda,  in  Bome,  by  Father  Van  der  Sanden,  Chancellor  of  St.  Louis  Arch- 
diocese. It  bore  the  name  of  Father  Philibert  Watrin  as  its  author.  All  our  quota- 
tions are  taken  from  this  Memoir  as  published  in  French  and  English  in  Thwaites, 
"The  Jesuit  Eelations  and  Allied  Documents,"  vol.  LXX,  pp.  212-301.  The  author 
takes  this  occasion  to  extend  his  sincere  thanks  to  the  Firm  of  Burrows  Brothers  Com- 
pany for  courteous  permission  to  make  liberal  extracts  from  their  monumental  edition 
of  the  "Jesuit  Eelations"  in  this  and  the  foregoing  chapters. 

a     "Jesuit  Eelations,"  vol.  VXX,  p.  219. 


Hislory  of  I  Ik    Archdiocesi    of  St.  Louis 

But  why  must  these  things  be  done?  What  crimes  have 
the  Jesuits  committed,  that  such  a  severe  penalty  should  be  inflicted  upon 
lli. 'in.'  Father  Watrin  received  an  answer,  that  surprised  everyone 
concerned:  "It  is  Maid  thai  the  Jesuits  established  in  the  colony  had 
not  taken  any  care  of  their  missions;  that  they  had  thoughl  only  of 
making  their  estates  valuable;  and  that  they  were  usurpers  of  the 
vicariate-general  of  New  Orleans."4  Father  Watrin  I'elt  it  to  be  his  duty 
to  answer  the  threefold  charge,  not  that  he  expected  to  make  any  impres- 
sion ,,n  his  self-constituted  judges,  but  that  he  desired  to  give  honorable 
men  who  might  inquire,  an  opportunity  of  judging-  for  themselves. 
"There  is  today  hardly  any  province  in  France"  he  said,  "where  there 
is  not  some  prominent  person  who  has  lived  in  Louisiana;  of  these 
persons,  there  is  not  some  one  who  has  not  known  Jesuits  there,  and 
most  of  them  have  even  been  able  to  scrutinize  these  Jesuits  very 
closely. 

Now.  the  Jesuits  await  with  confidence  the  testimony  that  can  be 
rendered  concerning  them,  upon  the  points  in  question  here;  still  more, 
they  dare  to  cite,  as  witnesses  of  their  conduct,  three  Governors  of 
Louisiana,  and  a  Vicar-General  of  the  episcopate  of  Quebec  for  this 
same  colony.  All  were  still  living  in  this  month  of  June  of  this  year, 
1764."5 

'The  first  witness  will  be,  then,  Monsieur  de  Bienville,  now  captain 
of  the  Royal  ships,  who  twenty-two  years  ago  retired  to  Paris.  He  must 
be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  colony  of  Louisiana;  it  was  he  who 
in  1698  accompanied  his  brother,  Monsier  d 'Iberville,  when  that  illus- 
trious naval  officer  discovered  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  which  Sieur 
de  la  Salle,  that  famous  adventurer,  had  missed.  Monsieur  de  Bienville 
was  then  left  upon  the  shores  of  this  river,  to  begin  a  settlement  there; 
it  was  he  who  governed  this  colony  for  forty-four  years,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  intervals;  it  was  he  who  put  it  nearly  in  the  condition  in 
which  it  is  today,  by  building  New  Orleans  and  the  fort  of  Mobile,  and 
b\  forming  the  other  posts  that  are  seen  in  Louisiana.  During  so  long 
a  government,  he  was  always  very  attentive  to  all  that  was  taking  place 
in  the  various  parts  of  this  vast  province ;  he  knew  the  worth  of  all  those 
who  were  employed  there.  Now,  no  one  in  this  country  can  have  for- 
gotten the  very  special  kindness  with  which  he  honored  the  Jesuits  of 
this  colony:  would  he  have  acted  thus  toward  missionaries  who,  failing 
in  the  care  of  their  mission,  had  failed  in  the  most  essential  of  their 
duties.'"'' 

:'The  second  witness  will  be  Monsieur  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil, 
late  Governor  of  New  France;  he  succeeded  Monsieur  de  Bienville   in 


"Ji    nit   Relations.' '  1.  cit.,  p.  221. 
Ibidem,  p.  L'l':;. 
Ibidem,  \<.  223. 


Banishment  of  the  Jesuits  89 

the  government  of  Louisiana.  The  Jesuits  found  in  him  also  a  protector, 
and  even  an  openly  declared  friend ;  it  would  be  difficult  to  add  anything 
to  the  tokens  of  kindness  which  he  constantly  conferred  upon  them.  But 
what  was  it  that  could  win  for  them  such  kindness?  It  was,  without 
doubt,  the  impression  which  they  made  upon  him  by  their  fidelity  to 
their  principal  duties."7 

"A  third  witness  for  the  Jesuits  of  Louisiana  is  Monsieur  de  Kerlerec, 
captain  of  a  ship,  and  last  Governor  of  this  colony ;  a  single  proof  suffices 
to  show  what  he  thought  of  them.  It  is  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  them, 
a  little  before  their  ruin ;  he  recalled  to  them  these  words  of  Our  Lord 
to  his  disciples:  Beati  eritis  cum  vos  oderint  homines,  et  persecuti  vos 
f  uerint,  et  dixerint,  omne  malum  adversum  vos  mentientes,  propter  me : 
guadete  et  exultate !  Is  it  credible  that  Monsier  de  Kerlerec  would  have 
chosen  to  apply  this  text  to  missionaries  who  did  not  give  any  care  to  their 
missions?"8 

"Finally  a  fourth  witness  will  be  Monsieur  the  Abbe  de  L'Isle  Dieu  ; 
for  more  than  thirty  years  he  had  been  in  Paris,  Vicar-general  of  the 
episcopate  of  Quebec,  and  especially  charged  with  the  affairs  of  that 
diocese  which  concern  Louisiana.  Now,  it  is  also  this  Abbe  who  has 
shown  what  he  thought  of  the  Jesuits  of  Louisiana  when  he  wrote  to 
them  after  the  decree  of  the  6th  of  August,  1762 — that  they  Avere  passing 
away  with  the  regrets  of  the  episcopal  body  and  all  good  people.  In 
writing  thus  it  is  probable  that  he  did  not  regard  them  as  people  who 
had  failed  to  care  for  their  missions."9 

Thus  spoke  the  Supei'ior  of  the  men  that  stood  condemned  by  a 
band  of  tyrants  who,  vested  with  a  little  brief  authority,  used  it  as 
only  tyrants  will,  to  destroy  them  who  would  not  sanction  their  evil 
cause.10  Father  Watrin  would  no  longer  address  them  who  refused  to 
hear.  But  turning  to  the  audience  he  saw  before  him,  in  spirit,  he 
continued:  I  hear  some  one  say:  "Cannot  the  Jesuits  of  Louisiana 
defend  themselves,  then,  except  through  the  testimony  of  others?  Ought 
they  not  to  let  the  work  that  they  have  done  in  their  missions,  the 
operations  and  the  fruits  of  their  zeal,  speak  for  them?"11  Indeed  they 
can,  answered  the  Father  in  mournful  tone:  "In  the  country  named 
Illinois,  the  Jesuits  had  four  permanent  missions.  The  first  was  that 
one  where  the  savages,  called  Kaskaskias  were  instructed ;  and  these 
are  the  exercises  which  were  carried  on  there.  At  sunrise,  the  bell  rang 
for  prayer  and  mass;  the  savages  said  prayers  in  their  own  language, 
and  during  the  mass  they  chanted  to  the  air  of  the  Roman  chant,  hymns 


7  "Jesuit  Relations,"  1.  eit.,  p.  224. 

s  Ibidem,  p.  224. 

9  Ibidem,  p.  227. 

10  Ibidem,  p.  227. 

ii  Ibidem,  p.  230. 


90  History  of  Ihr  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

and  canticles,  also  translated  into  their  language,  with  the  suitable 
prayers;  at  the  end  of  the  mass,  the  missionary  catechized  the  children. 
Having  returned  to  his  house,  he  was  occupied  in  instructing  the  adult 
neophj  it's  and  catechumens,  to  prepare  them  for  baptism  or  for  penitence, 
for  communion  or  for  marriage;  as  soon  as  he  was  free,  he  went  through 
the  village  to  arouse  the  believers  to  fervor,  and  to  exhort  unbelievers 
to  embrace  Christianity.  The  rest  of  the  day  was  needed  for  reciting 
the  divine  office,  studying  the  language  of  the  savages,  and  preparing 
the  instructions  for  Sunday  and  feastdays;  for  so  many  exercises,  so 
varied  and  so  continual,  there  was  surely  needed  care,  and  a  great  deal 
of  care.  The  savages,  at  least,  certainly  believe  that  the  Jesuits  took  care 
of  them ;  as  for  the  first  news  of  the  decree  declared  against  their  mis- 
sionaries, they  wished  to  go  to  find  the  officer  who  commanded  in  that 
country,  to  beg  him  at  least  to  leave  them  Father  Meurin,  who  was 
charged  with  their  mission.  And  what  other  idea  could  they  have  of  the 
Jesuits?  A  single  one  of  the  latter  could  represent  them  all,  as  men 
entirely  devoted  to  the  instructions  of  the  savages.  Such  was  Father  de 
Guyenne,  who  died  in  1752  (sc.  1762.)  Having  spent  thirty-six  years 
in  the  missions  of  Louisiana,  he  had  traversed  those  of  the  Alibamons, 
the  Arkansas,  and  the  Miamis.  He  had  been  Cure  of  Fort  Chartres, 
and  had  everywhere  been  respected  as  a  man  of  rare  virtue,  of  singular 
discretion  and  of  an  inviolable  attachment  to  the  duties  of  a  missionary. 
Since  the  year  1743  he  had  devoted  himself  to  the  Illinois  mission. 
Called  to  more  honorable  and  easier  positions,  he  had  remained  with 
his  savages;  and  by  his  constancy  he  had  preserved  religion,  which 
had  become  much  unsettled  in  that  nation ;  he  had  even  greatly  revived 
their  fervor  by  his  untiring  application  to  all  the  exercises.  Finally, 
four  years  before  his  death,  afflicted  by  a  partial  paralysis  which 
rendered  him  incapable  of  movement,  and  feeling  a  great  weakness  in 
his  chest, — an  old  trouble  which  left  him  hardly  enough  strength  to 
make  himself  heard, — he  did  not  cease  receiving  at  all  times  his  dear 
neophytes,  who  came  from  a  long  league's  distance  to  be  instructed.  He 
catechized  them,  exorted  them  and  heard  their  confessions;  he  pre- 
pared them  for  the  communion ;  and,  in  the  capacity  of  superior  of  the 
house,  he  used  his  power  to  relieve  their  poverty.  Does  not  a  man  so 
faithful  to  his  ministry  up  to  the  last  day  of  his  life  make  it  presumable 
that,  among  the  Jesuits  established  amid  the  Illinois,  there  remained  some 
zeal  and  care  in  regard  to  their  missions?"12 

"At  one  and  one-fourth  leagues  from  the  village  of  the  Illinois 
savages,  there  was  a  French  village  also  named  Kaskaskia ;  for  forty- 
four  years  there  had  been  in  this  village  a  parish,  which  has  always  been 
governed  by  the  Jesuits.  Now,  we  dare  to  repeat  here,  regarding  those 
who  were  charged  with  this  employ,  what  has  been  said  above  of  their 


12    "Jesuit  Eelations,"  1.  cit.,  p.  231. 


Banishment  of  the  Jesuits  91 

associates  in  general — that  there  is  hardly  any  province  in  France  where 
there  are  not  still  witnesses  of  the  exactness  of  these  Cures  in  discharg- 
ing their  functions,  that  is,  in  visiting  the  sick  and  in  relieving  the  poor. 
These  too  are  witnesses  of  their  assiduity  at  the  tribunal  of  penance,  and 
at  the  almost  daily  instructions  of  the  children — to  which  must  be  still 
added  the  instructions  of  the  negroes  and  the  savages,  slaves  of  the 
French,  to  prepare  them  for  baptism  and  for  the  reception  of  the  other 
sacraments."13 

"But  here  is  something  which  is  more  than  care;  since  the  year 
1753,  there  has  been  in  the  French  village  of  Kaskaskias  a  newly-built 
parochial  church ;  this  church  is  104  feet  long  and  44  feet  wide.  Now, 
it  never  could  have  been  finished,  if  the  expense  of  the  building  had  not 
been  drawn  from  the  building  fund  and  from  the  contributions  of  the 
parishioners.  These  Jesuits  successively  Cures  of  this  parish — Father 
Tartarin,  Father  Watrin,  and  Father  Aubert — have  employed  for  this 
purpose  the  greater  part  of  what  they  obtained  from  their  surplice  and 
their  mass  fees.  When  the  cures  have  the  construction  and  ornamenta- 
tion of  their  church  so  much  at  heart,  it  is  also  probable  that  they  do 
not  fail  in  their  other  duties."14 

"Would  you  have  yet  another  proof  of  the  care  that  the  Jesuits  have 
taken  of  this  parish.  Fifteen  years  ago,  at  a  league  from  the  old  village, 
on  the  other  bank  of  the  Mississippi ;  there  was  established  a  new  village 
under  the  name  of  Ste.  Genevieve.  Then  the  Cure  of  Kaskaskia  found  him- 
self obliged  to  go  there  to  administer  the  sacraments,  at  least  to  the  sick ; 
and,  when  the  new  inhabitants  saw  their  houses  multiplying,  they  asked 
to  have  a  church  built  there.  This  being  granted  them,  the  journeys 
of  the  missionary  became  still  more  frequent,  because  he  thought  that 
he  ought  then  to  yield  himself  still  more  to  the  willingness  of  his  new 
parishioners,  and  to  their  needs.  However,  in  order  to  go  to  this  new 
church  he  must  cross  the  Mississippi,  which,  in  this  place,  is  three-eighths 
of  a  league  wide ;  he  sometimes  had  to  trust  himself  to  a  slave,  who  alone 
guided  the  canoe ;  it  was  necessary,  in  fine,  to  expose  himself  to  the  danger 
of  perishing,  if  in  the  middle  of  the  river  they  had  been  overtaken  by  a 
violent  storm.  None  of  all  these  inconveniences  ever  prevented  the  Cure 
of  Kaskaskia  from  going  to  Ste.  Genevieve  when  charity  called  him 
thither,  and  he  was  always  charged  with  this  care  until  means  were 
found  to  place  at  Saint  Genevieve  a  special  Cure — which  occured  only 
a  few  years  ago,  when  the  inhabitants  of  the  place  built  a  house  for  the 
pastor.  These  two  villages,  that  of  Kaskaskia  and  that  of  Saint 
Genevieve,  made  the  second  and  the  third  establishment  of  the  Jesuits 
in  the  Illinois  country.     There  is  no  need  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 


13     "Jesuit  Eelations, "  1.  eit.,  p.  233. 
i<     Ibidem,  p.  234. 


92 


II  islam  of  I  In    Archdiocese  of  St.  Lams 


that,  to  accomplish  only  a  pari  of  the  work  that  has  just  been  indicated, 
care,  courage,  and  constancy  were  accessary."16 

At  eighty  leagues  Erom  the  Illinois  was  the  post  called  Vincennes  or 
Saint  Ajige,  from  the  uames  of  the  officers  who  commanded  there.  This 
Posl  is  upon  the  river  Ouabache,  (Wabash)  which,  about  seventy  leagues 
lower  down,  together  with  the  Ohio,  which  it  has  joined,  discharges  its 
waters  into  the  .Mississippi;  there  were,  at  the  last,  in  this  village  at 
Least  sixty  houses  of  French  people,  without  counting  the  -Miami  savages, 
who  were  quite  near.  There  to  was  sufficient  cause  for  care  and 
occupation— which  the  Jesuits  did  not  refuse— a  conclusion  which  must 
be  reached  if  one  considers  thai  this  post  was  cvrvy  day  inrrcasing  in 
population  ;  that  the  greater  pari  of  its  new  inhabitants,  having  long  been 
voyagcurs,  were  little  accustomed  to  the  duties  of  Christians;  and  that, 
to  establish  anion-  them  some  manner  of  living,  many  instructions  and 
exhortations,  private  and  public  were  necessary."18 

With  this  passage  Father  Watrin  carries  us  outside  the  territory 
of  the  future  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  Still  even  Vincennes  is  intimately 
related  to  its  elder  sister  through  its  first  prelate,  the  saintly  Bishop 
Simon  Brute,  who  received  his  consecration  in  the  Cathedral  of  St. 
Louis,  at  the  hands  of  his  noble  friend  Joseph  Rosati.  But  what  did  the 
missionary  do  for  the  savages?  Yes,  what  did  he  not  do  for  them,  amid 
scenes  often  revolting  in  their  squalor,  heartrending  in  the  deeds  he  must 
witness  without  being  able  to  prevent  or  ameliorate  them.  But  Father 
Watrin  does  not  touch  upon  the  heroic  side  of  missionary  life.  All  that 
he  says  in  justification  of  the  missionary's  conduct  is  this: 

"Pie  lived  with  them,  always  ready  to  teach  them  the  Christian 
doctrine  as  soon  as  it  pleased  God  to  open  their  hearts;  meanwhile,  he 
kept  them  in  alliance  and  friendship  with  the  French,  and  he  succeeded 
in  this  all  the  better,  because  these  people  saw  clearly,  by  his  conduct,  that 
he  was  not  in  their  midst  to  make  a  fortune.  This  disinterestedness 
established  his  credit,  and  through  that  he  became  useful— we  dare  to 
say,  even  necessary — to  the  colony."17 

Just  so,  just  so,  comes  the  answer  from  the  eager  throng.  But,  why 
have  you  not  provided  the  Poste  of  Arkansas  with  a  priest?  That  place 
is  within  your  jurisdiction:  There  is  a  garrison  there,  and  there  are 
Indians  there  who  have  always  been  friendly  to  the  Jesuits. 

"This,  perhaps,  was  the  occasion  for  it"  answers  the  patient  Father: 
"In    1763,    there    were    no    more    missionaries    among    the    Arkansas, 

where  the  Jesuits  had  I a  obliged  by  the  terms  of  their  foundation,  to 

furnish    one." 


is     "Jesuit   Relations, ' '  l.  eit.,  p.  l>::5. 

":       Ibidem,    p.   237. 

i-     Ibidem,  p.  241. 


Banishment  of  the  Jesttits  93 

"Several  years  before,  Father  Carette  had  left  his  post ;  his  brethren 
had  decided  that  he  ought  to  have  left  it  sooner.  In  spite  of  the  little 
hope  that  there  was  of  leading  the  savages  of  the  place  to  Christianity, 
the  Father  studied  their  language  a  long  time,  and  labored  to  correct  the 
morals  of  the  French,  but  reaped  hardly  any  fruit  from  his  toil.  He 
nevertheless  followed  both  the  French  and  the  savages  in  their  various 
changes  of  location,  occasioned  by  the  overflowing  of  the  Mississippi, 
near  which  the  Poste  is  situated.  Notwithstanding  so  many  annoyances, 
the  missionary  Avas  not  discouraged  at  seeing  his  efforts  rendered  useless 
by  the  conduct  of  those  who  ought  to  have  sustained  them ;  he  continued 
in  patience,  until  the  event  which  we  are  about  to  describe.  In  the  fort 
of  the  Arkansas  there  was  no  longer  a  chapel,  no  longer  any  room  wherein 
one  could  say  mass,  except  the  room  where  the  commandant  took  his 
meals.  This  was  not  a  very  suitable  place,  not  only  because  is  was  a  din- 
ing room,  but  on  account  of  the  bad  conduct  and  freedom  of  langu- 
age of  those  who  frequented  it ;  everything  that  was  in  the  fort  entered 
there,  even  to  the  fowls.  A  chicken,  flying  over  the  altar,  overturned 
the  chalice,  which  had  been  left  there  at  the  end  of  the  mass.  The 
spectators  were  not  affected  by  this ;  one  of  those  who  ought  to  have  been 
most  concerned  about  it,  exclaimed  :  'Ah  !  behold  the  shop  of  the  good  God 
thrown  down ! '  To  these  sentiments,  so  little  religious,  corresponded 
a  life  as  little  Christian.  Father  Carette  at  last  concluded  that  he  must 
withdraw,  at  least  until  he  should  see  a  chapel  built  in  the  fort,  and 
until  they  were  disposed  to  respect  religion  there ;  besides,  he  was 
necessary  elsewhere,  for  work  from  which  better  success  was  expected."18 

We  have  now  recounted  the  substance  of  the  able  defense  made  by 
Father  Watrin  against  the  traducers  of  his  Brother  Jesuits  of  the  Illinois 
country.  Not,  indeed,  before  the  Superior  Council  at  New  Orleans,  was 
it  spoken,  not  in  any  public  assembby  was  it  heard.  But,  within  his 
own  conscience,  serene  as  the  deep  blue  of  heaven,  in  the  very  presence  of 
God.  In  his  letter  he  gave  but  the  transcript  of  what  he  thought 
and  felt  in  the  dark  days  of  September  1763.  What  happened  next  is 
recounted  in  the  same  letter :  Meanwhile,  the  courier  despatched 
to  the  Illinois  to  bear  the  decree,  arrived  on  the  night  of  September 
23rd,  at  Fort  Chartres,  distant  six  leagues  from  the  residence  of  the 
Jesuits.  He  delivered  to  the  procurator  of  the  king  the  commission 
which  charged  him  to  execute  the  decree ;  and  on  the  next  day,  about 
eight  or  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  that  officer  of  justice  repaired  to 
the  house  of  the  Jesuits,  accompanied  by  the  registrar  and  the  bailiff 
of  that  jurisdiction.  Some  clays  afterward,  he  tried  to  turn  to  account 
the  moderation  that  he  had  used  in  not  arriving  during  the  night,  "as 
his  orders  directed,"  said  he  ;  with  that  exception,  they  ought  to  have  been 
satisfied  with  his  exactness.     He  read  to  Father  Watrin,  the  Superior, 


is     "Jesuit  Relations,"  1.  c-it.,  p.  269. 


94  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  decree  of  condemnation,  and,  having  given  him  a  copy  of  it,  he  made 
him  at  once  leave  his  room  to  put  the  seal  npon  it ;  the  same  thing  was 
done  with  the  other  missionaries  who  happened  to  be  in  the  house. 
There  remained  one  hall  where  they  could  remain  together,  although 
with  great  inconvenience;  but  this  favor  was  refused  them,  because  the 
guards  placed  in  custody  of  the  property  seized,  opposed  this ;  they  were 
unwilling  that  the  Jesuits  should  be  able  to  watch  their  conduct  so 
closely.  The  procurator  of  the  King  feared  to  displease  these  guardians, 
and  would  not  permit  the  Jesuits  to  remain  at  the  house  of  one  of  their 
confreres — who  being  Cure  of  the  place,  had  his  private  lodging  near  the 
parish  church ;  they  did  not  put  the  seal  thereon,  because  there  was 
nothing  there  to  seize.  The  missionaries,  driven  from  their  own  house, 
found  quarters  as  best  they  could.  The  Superior,  sixty-seven  years  old. 
departed  on  foot  to  find  a  lodging,  a  long  league  away,  with  a  confrere 
of  his,  a  missionary  to  the  savages ;  and  the  French  who  met  him  on  this 
journey  groaned  to  see  persecution  begin  with  him.  As  soon  as  the 
savages  learned  that  he  had  arrived  among  them,  they  came  to  show  to 
him  and  to  Father  Meurin,  his  associate,  the  share  which  they  took  in 
the  distress  of  their  Fathers :  the  news  of  their  condemnation  had  already 
caused  many  tears  to  be  shed  in  the  village.  They  were  asked  why 
they  were  thus  treated,  especially  in  a  country  where  so  many  disorders 
had  been  so  long  allowed.  The  old  missionary,  after  several  repeated  inter- 
rogations, finally  replied  ;  Arechi  Kiecuegane  t  chichi  ki  canta  manghi — It  is 
because  we  sternly  condemn  their  follies.  They  comprehended  the  meaning 
of  this  answer — indeed,  they  knew  that  the  Jesuits,  in  whatever  place  they 
may  be  established,  consider  themselves  bound  by  their  profession  to  com- 
bat vice;  and  that,  in  fighting  it,  they  make  enemies  for  themselves."1" 

They  wished,  then,  to  ask  that  at  least  the  chapel  and  the  house  of 
the  missionary  be  preserved,  in  order  that  the  best  instructed  person 
among  them  might  assemble  the  children  and  repeat  the  prayers  to 
them ;  and  that  every  Sunday  and  Feastday  he  might  summon  those 
who  prayed — that  is  to  say,  the  Christians — by  the  ringing  of  the  bell, 
to  fulfill  as  well  as  possible  the  duties  of  religion.  They  did,  in  fact, 
make  such  a  request,  and  obtained  what  they  asked.  There  was  no  delay 
in  presenting,  in  the  name  of  nearly  all  the  habitants,  a  petition  addressed 
to  the  commandant  and  the  commissary  of  the  country,  in  order  to  secure 
the  retention  of  at  least  Father  Aubert,  the  Cure  of  French  Kaskaskia ; 
and  as  the  answer  seemed  to  be  deferred  too  long  a  time,  a  little  while 
afterward  a  second  petition  was  sent.  "While  waiting  for  an  answer  to 
this,  the  more  intelligent  of  the  habitants  asked  by  what  right  the  govern- 
ment had  taken  possession  of  the  property  of  the  Jesuits  ;  and  what  power 
it  had  over  their  persons  in  a  country  ceded  by  the  treaty  of  peace  to  the 


19     "Jesuit  Relations,"  1.  cit.,  p.  275. 


Banishment  of  the  Jesitils  95 

crown  of  England.  Above  all,  they  Avere  indignant  at  the  seizure  made 
of  the  sacred  vessels  of  a  chapel  belonging  to  the  Hurons  of  Detroit, 
which  Father  Salleneuve,  missionary  to  that  nation,  had  brought  to 
the  Illinois  country,  when  he  had  taken  refuge  there,  two  and  a  half 
years  before.  There  was  another  cause  for  astonishment :  this  Father, 
who  had  come  from  Detroit,  and  Father  de  la  Morinie,  from  the  post  of 
Saint  Joseph,  did  not  belong  to  Louisiana,  but  to  Canada;  it  was  extreme 
want  that  had  obliged  them  to  withdraw  to  the  country  of  the  Illinois, 
and  they  had  remained  there  only  for  lack  of  the  necessary  opportunities 
to  return  to  their  posts.  Father  Salleneuve  had  no  work  in  the  Illinois 
mission,  and  Father  de  la  Morinie  had  only  taken  charge  of  the  church 
of  Sainte  Genevieve  through  the  motive  of  a  zeal  that  refuses  itself 
to  nothing;  it  was  plain  that  the  Council  of  New  Orleans  ought  to  have 
neither  known  nor  thought  of  them.  But  those  who  had  the  authority 
in  Illinois  did  not  think  thus,  and  the  Jesuits  submitted  to  every 
interpretation  that  the  officials  chose  to  give  to  the  decree."20  Mean- 
while, the  auction  Avas  finished;  the  house,  the  furniture,  the  cattle, 
the  lands,  had  been  sold;  the  slaves  were  to  be  taken  to  New  Orleans, 
to  be  sold  there  for  the  benefit  of  the  king;  and  the  chapel  was  to  be 
razed  by  the  man  to  whom  the  house  had  been  adjudged.  The  Jesuits 
were  then  permitted  to  re-enter  their  former  home,  the  use  of  which 
was,  by  a  clause  inserted  in  the  bill  of  sale,  reserved  to  them  until  their 
embarkation. 

They  found  their  chapel  in  a  still  more  melancholy  condition; 
after  the  sacred  vessels  and  the  pictures  had  been  taken  away,  the  shelves 
of  the  altar  had  been  thrown  down,  the  linings  of  the  ornaments  had 
been  given  to  negresses  decried  for  their  evil  lives;  and  a  large  crucifix, 
which  had  stood  above  the  altar,  and  the  chandeliers,  were  found  placed 
above  a  cupboard  in  a  house  whose  reputation  was  not  good.  To  see 
the  marks  of  spoliation  in  the  chapel,  one  might  have  thought  that 
it  was  the  enemies  of  the  Catholic  religion  who  had  caused  it."21 

The  Jesuits  were  forced  to  leave  not  only  their  missions,  but  the 
country  of  their  adoption  also.  Their  mighty  organization  as  one  of 
the  great  Orders  of  the  Church  was  suppressed  and  they  themselves 
were  homeless  wanderers.  Yet,  in  due  time  the  Society  of  Jesus  was 
to  rise  again  from  the  ruins ;  and  Jesuit  Fathers  of  a  younger  generation, 
but  of  equal  "faith  and  daring  and  religious  zeal,"  were  destined  to 
come  and  continue  the  work  their  brothers  had  so  grandly  inaugurated 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  before. 


20     "Jesuit  Relations,"  I.  cit.,  p.  276. 
2i     Ibidem,  p.  279. 


PART  ONE 


THE  ERA  OF  PREPARATION 

BOOK  II 

The  Church  in  the  Valley 
during  the  Transition  Period 


Vol.  I— 1 


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BOOK   II 

Chapter  1 
THE  FOUNDING  OF  ST.  LOUIS 


It  is  a  memorable  coincidence  that,  at  the  very  time  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  at  Kaskaskia  were,  with  saddened  hearts,  making  their  prepa- 
rations for  the  voyage  down  the  river  to  New  Orleans  and  to  exile, 
another  party  arrived  from  New  Orleans  seeking  with  anxious  but  hope- 
ful hearts  a  place  where  they  might  establish  their  trading  station  and 
their  home.  Neither  one  knew  of  the  other.  And  yet  the  leader  of  the 
traders  and  trappers  was  destined  in  his  own  way  to  further  the  great 
work  which  the  others  had  to  relinquish.  The  foundation  of  St.  Louis 
by  Laclede-Liguest  was,  under  the  Providence  of  God,  the  means  of 
sending  out  the  rays  of  divine  truth,  as  from  a  central  orb,  into  all 
the  dark  expanses  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

They  are  but  traders,  voyageurs  and  coureurs  de  bois,  men  of  a 
hardy  race,  not  over-religious,  though  Catholic  at  heart,  every  one  of 
them.  There  is  no  priest  among  them.  Laclede-Liguest  is  of  noble 
lineage:  the  members  of  the  firm  he  represents  are  merchant-princes, 
enjoying  the  confidence  of  the  government.  Their  letters-patent  or 
charter  as  we  would  say,  grant  to  them  the  exclusive  right  of  trading 
with  the  Indians  on  the  Missouri  River.  They  have  brought  along  a 
large  assortment  of  goods  to  give  in  exchange  for  the  skins  and  peltries 
of  the  northern  wilds.  In  Ste.  Genevieve,  the  only  European  settle- 
ment of  importance  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  M.  Laclede-Liguest 
could  find  no  magazine  large  enough  for  storing  his  merchandise.  Be- 
sides, it  is  too  far  removed  from  the  Missouri  River.  He  therefore, 
determines  to  found  a  new  town  as  near  as  possible  to  the  watery  high- 
way that  should  carry  his  boats  and  pirogues  to  the  waters  of  the  North- 
west. For  the  time  being,  he  finds  a  cheerful  shelter  at  Fort  Chartres 
with  its  commandant  Noyon  de  Villiers  and  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive, 
who  are  waiting  rather  eagerly  for  the  arrival  of  the  English  garrison. 

After  his  business  affairs  have  been  arranged  by  the  dispatch  of 
his  bateaux  and  pirogues  to  the  Indian  nations  along  the  Missouri  and 
the  Mississippi,  Laclede  finds  time  and  inclination  to  think  about  his 
higher  projects.  In  company  with  the  young  Auguste  Chouteau  he  sets 
out  on  a  journey  to  find  the  best  location  for  his  proposed  village  and 

(99) 


100  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  8t.  Louis 

discovers  it,  to  his  great  delight,  on  a  rocky  eminence  of  the  river  front, 
covered  with  a  fine  grove  of  walnut  trees,  a  few  miles  below  the  junction 
of  the  two  great  rivers.  "You  will  come  here  as  soon  as  navigation 
opens,"  said  Laclede  to  Chouteau,  "and  will  cause  this  place  to  be 
cleared,  in  order  to  form  our  settlement  after  the  plan  that  I  shall  give 
you."1 

On  his  return  to  Fort  Charlies  Laclede  is  reported  to  have 
said  to  M.  de  Noyon  and  his  officers,  that  he  had  found  a  location  for 
his  settlement  which  might  become,  hereafter,  "one  of  the  finest  cities 
of  America."2  The  rest  of  the  winter  was  spent  in  maturing  the  plan 
for  his  city  and  procuring  the  things  necessary  for  the  commencement 
of  his  new  settlement.  Having  hired  a  number  of  workmen  from  the 
villages  and  towns  along  the  river,  he  sent  them  in  boats  to  the  site 
he  had  chosen  and  marked.  Auguste  Chouteau  was  in  command  of 
the  expedition.  This  was  on  the  15th  day  of  February  1764.  The  first 
house  built  was  intended  for  the  storage  of  Laclede's  merchandise,  which 
he  was  bound  to  remove  from  Fort  Chartres  before  the  arrival  of  the 
English.  Smaller  cabins  were  built  for  the  members  of  the  expedition. 
In  the  early  part  of  April  Laclede  arrived  among  Chouteau's  company 
of  builders.  He  laid  down  the  lines  for  the  streets  of  the  new  village, 
fixed  the  place  of  his  own  house,  assigned  one  block  for  religious  purposes 
and  designated  another  as  the  Place  des  Armes  and  then,  to  crown  his 
work,  named  the  new  foundation,  St.  Louis,  in  honor  of  St.  Louis  IX, 
the  patron  saint  of  the  King  of  France.  A  party  of  French  Cahokians 
came  as  mere  onlookers  but  decided  to  stay.  Yet,  when  a  large  band  of 
Missouri  Indians  suddenly  appeared  with  friendly  intentions,  but  over- 
friendly  importunities,  the  Cahokians  departed  for  home,  and  Laclede 
himself  had  to  be  brought  up  from  Fort  Chartres  to  restore  order  and 
peace.  Thus  proceeded  the  work  of  raising  the  village  of  St.  Louis  on 
the  natural  foundation  of  the  wind-swept  eminence  hard  by  the  river 
and  drawing  by  its  beauty  and  youthful  vigor  many  of  the  habitants 
from  Cahokia,  St.  Philip,  Fort  Chartres  and  Kaskaskia  to  build  their 
hearths  and  homes  there,  and  to  live  and  die,  as  they  thought,  under 
the  Lilies  of  France.  Auguste  Chouteau  in  his  Journal  of  the  ' '  Founding 
of  St.  Louis,"  relates  some  of  the  particulars  of  this  migration.  After 
stating  how  Monsieur  Laclede  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  prevent 
the  French  families  of  the  Illinois  country,  who  naturally  dreaded 
the  regime   of  England,  and  its  heretical  king,   from  going  with  the 


i  "Journal  of  the  Founding  of  St.  Louis,"  by  Auguste  Chouteau,  in  "Missouri 
Historical  Society  Collections,"  vol.  IV,  p.  351. 

2  Chouteau's  Journal,  p.  352.  Bishop  Briand  of  Quebec,  in  1769,  had  predicted 
that  Cahokia  would  eventually  be  the  center  of  religion  in  the  Illinois  Country.  He 
was  mistaken,  but  his  guess  as  to  the  Location  of  the  eenter  was  not  very  far  from 
being  right. 


The  Founding  of  St.  Louis  101 

French  commander  de  Noyon  down  to  New  Orleans,  young  Chouteau 
continues,  saying  that  he,  on  the  contrary,  advised  them  to  go  up  the 
liver  to  his  own  new  settlement  on  the  French  side,  promising  at  the 
same  time,  that  he  would  cheerfully  furnish  them  with  the  necessary 
means  of  transporting  them  and  their  families  and  their  property  to 
their  future  abode.  "Several  families  accepted  these  offers"  he  writes, 
"and  obtained  immediately  the  wagons  and  harness  to  proceed  to  St. 
Louis,  M.  Laclede-Liguest,  aided  them  in  settling,  and  ordered  me  to 
assign  them  lands,  according  to  the  plan  he  had  made,  which  I  did  as 
exactly  as  possible."3  The  people  from  Cahokia  also  returned,  forming 
with  the  thirty  families  from  Fort  Chartres  and  St.  Philip,  Laclede's 
original  followers,  the  "compact  body  required  to  give  permanence  to 
St.  Louis.  Fort  Chan  res  had  nothing  left  of  its  population  save  the 
garrison,  soon  to  be  withdrawn.  The  village  of  Nouvelle  Chartres  with 
the  chapel  of  St.  Anne,  lay  in  ruins,  the  departing  villagers  having 
taken  along  the  boards,  the  -windows  and  the  door-frames  and  everything 
else  they  could  transport  to  the  places  where  they  intended  to  settle."4 
As  for  the  Indians  of  the  Kaskaskia  Missions,  Chouteau  tells  us,  that 
the  great  chief  of  the  Ottawas,  Pontiac,  forced  them  to  join  him  in  his 
proposed  attack  upon  the  English,  saying  to  them:  "If  you  hesitate 
one  moment,  I  will  destroy  you,  like  the  fire  which  passes  through  a 
prairie :  Open  wide  your  ears,  and  remember  it  is  Pontiac  who  speaks."5 
It  has  been  remarked  by  some  writers  as  rather  strange  that  no  priest 
lent  his  presence  to  the  grand  occasion  of  the  foundation  of  St.  Louis. 
On  all  similar  occasions  heretofore  the  Church  was  represented  by  mem- 
bers of  priesthood;  The  Vexilla  Regis  or  the  Te  Dcum  Laudamus  as- 
cended to  God  in  praise  and  thanksgiving  and  humble  petition,  whilst 
the  smoke  of  incense  floated  on  the  air  and  the  salute  of  the  guns 
announced  that  the  place  belonged  to  God  and  the  King.  Why  the 
exception  in  the  case  of  St.  Louis?  Laclede  and  his  followers  were 
Catholics  and  loved  the  splendor  of  the  Catholic  service.  But  here  there 
is  no  hymn,  no  ceremony,  no  mass,  no  priest.  The  explanation  is  not 
far  to  seek.  Whilst  young  Chouteau  and  his  chief  and  friend  Laclede 
are  busy  with  the  preliminaries  of  the  founding  of  their  village,  the 
only  priest  remaining  in  the  vast  territory  of  Upper  Louisiana,  the 
Recollet  Luke  Collet,  bowed  down  by  the  weight  of  years  and  infirmities, 
is  in  hiding  for  fear  of  the  British  soldiery :  and  Father  Meurin,  the 
expelled  Jesuit  of  Kaskaskia  Mission,  is  in  New  Orleans,  in  enforced 
exile,  begging  his  unjust  jailors  of  the  Superior  Council  to  permit  him 
to  return  to  his  poor  Indians  and  French  on  the  banks  of  the  Miss- 
issippi.    Father  Meurin,  after  a  toilsome  voyage,  arrived  at  Kaskaskia 


3  Chouteau 's   Journal,   passim. 

4  Chouteau's  Journal,  p.  361. 

5  Chouteau's  Journal,  p.  361. 


102  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

in  mid-summer,  1764,  having  loft  New  Orleans  in  the  middle  of  Feb- 
ruary. "We  have  every  reason  to  suppose,"  says  one  who  made  an 
exhaustive  study  of  the  good  Father's  life,  "that  if  Father  Meurin  had 
been  allowed  to  leave  New  Orleans  when  he  desired,  he  would  have 
witnessed  the  historic  act.""  But  although  he  was  not  present  at 
the  city's  birth,  he  nevertheless  can  claim  the  distinction  of  being 
the  pioneer  priest  of  St.  Louis,  by  virtue  of  his  visits  in  1766,  and  his 
frequent  ministrations  there  in  the  three  following  years.  As  the  people 
had  not  as  yet  succeeded  in  building  a  church,  Father  Meurin  must 
have  said  mass  in  the  home  of  some  one  of  the  better  situated  families. 
This  is  the  usual  way  of  founding  missions  or  parishes.  First  come  the 
visits  of  the  priest  and  the  services  of  the  church  in  any  decent  though 
primitive  locality,  as  a  private  residence,  an  assembly  room,  a  tent  or 
even  the  open  air ;  the  building  of  a  church  comes  later.  So  it  happened 
that  the  first  Baptism,  Father  Meurin,  priest  of  "Our  Lady  of  the 
Cahokias, "  administered  in  St.  Louis  took  place  in  a  tent,  as  the  first 
entry  in  the  record  shows.  The  child  baptized  was  named  Mary 
Deschamps,  and  the  Baptism  is  said  to  have  been  "in  the  country  of 
the  Illinois,  in  St.  Louis,  in  a  tent  for  want  of  a  church."  The  second 
St.  Louis  child  baptized  by  Father  Meurin  was  Antoine,  son  of  Lizette, 
a  Pawnee  slave.  This  Baptism  was  on  the  9th  of  May  17(56.  Auguste 
Chouteau's  mother,  Marie  Therese  Chouteau,  had  come  up  the  river 
from  New  Orleans  with  her  five  children,  two  sons  and  three  daughters, 
landing  at  Fort  Chartres  on  November  3,  1763,  after  a  voyage  of  three 
months.  The  husband,  August  Rene  Chouteau,  remained  in  New  Orleans. 
Mrs.  Chouteau  spent  the  winter  1763-64  in  Fort  Chartres,  but  in  March 
proceeded  to  Cahokia,  where  she  awaited  the  completion  of  her  house 
in  St.  Louis.  In  September  she  came  over  to  the  new  village,  the 
first  white  woman  in  St.  Louis.  She  is  affectionately  regarded  as  "The 
Mother  of  St.  Louis."  The  scandalous  legend  as  to  her  relations  with 
Laclede-Liguest  broadcast  by  Billon  and  Paul  Beckwith  was  exploded 
by  Alexander  N.  De  Menil  in  his  Madame  Chouteau  Vindicated.  The 
assertion  that  the  Catholic  clergy  of  New  Orleans  and  of  St.  Louis 
connived  at  the  supposed  adulterous  relations  of  Laclede  and  Mrs. 
Chouteau,  and  that  she  was  permitted  to  approach  the  sacraments,  as 
she  certainly  was,  in  spite  of  a  notorious  concubinage,  is  too  silly  to 
merit  attention.  Yet,  the  libel  was  believed  by  many  for  upwards  of 
ninety  years.  The  fact  is  now  established  that  the  mother  of  St.  Louis, 
was  "a  true,  honest  and  respectable  wife  and  mother,"  in  spite  of  the 
other  fact  that  she  left  her  cruel  husband  on  two  occasions,  in  1750, 
after  the  birth  of  August,  and  in  1763,  after  the  birth  of  her  last  child, 
Marie  Therese.     A  reconciliation  of  the  two  spirited  persons  had  been 


6     "Sebastian  Louis  Meurin,"  by  Charles  H.  Metzger,  S.  J.,  in  "Illinois  Cath- 
olic Historical  Eeview,  vol.  Ill,  p.  372. 


The  Founding  of  St.  Louis  103 

effected  in  1757,  which  lasted  until  1763.  Her  husband  died  in  the 
summer,  177G,  and  Madame  Chouteau  and  her  five  children  did  not 
inherit  from  him.7 

The  first  Catholic  Church,  a  small  log-house,  was  erected  in  1770, 
on  the  Church-lot  assigned  by  Laclede,  and  was  blessed  on  the  24th 
of  June  of  the  same  year,  not  by  Father  Gibault,  as  is  generally  said, 
but  by  Father  Meurin  himself.  In  the  absence  of  the  priest  in  charge, 
the  burials  were  generally  performed  by  some  layman  that  held  a  sub- 
ordinate position  in  the  church,  as  the  chantre  or  the  sacristan.  In 
the  early  days  it  was  one  Rene  Kiercereau,  that  attended  to  this  office 
from  October  1770  to  March  1772,  and  recorded  the  burial  of  nineteen 
whites,  ten  negroes,  and  five  Indians.  The  next  priest  to  inscribe  his 
name  and  title  on  the  Church  Records  of  St.  Louis  was  the  celebrated 
Father  Pierre  Gibault,  "Parish  Priest  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of 
Our  Lady  of  Kaskaskia  and  Vicar  General  of  My  Lord,  the  Bishop  of 
Quebec. ' '  Father  Gibault  served  the  Church  of  St.  Louis  from  June 
1770  to  January  1772. 

The  population  of  St.  Louis  was  even  then  a  strange  mixture  of 
many  types ;  there  were  retired  hunters  and  trappers  and  boatmen 
from  Canada,  farmers  from  Lower  Louisiana,  Spanish  soldiers  and 
traders,  Indian  and  Negro  slaves,  native  Creoles  from  the  towns  beyond 
the  river,  adventurers  from  France  and  Spain,  some  of  them  men  of 
gentle  birth  and  culture.  But,  as  diversified  as  these  elements  were, 
there  ran  through  all  the  tangled  skein  the  golden  thread  of  a  common 
religion,  uniting  them  into  one  family,  the  family  of  God.  Religion 
was  to  them,  not  a  mere  thing  of  the  intellect,  much  less  a  soothing 
appeal  to  the  sense,  nor  a  system  of  philosophy,  though  it  was  all  this 
and  more ;  Religion  was  to  them  the  first  and  foremost  duty  and 
privilege,  the  life  of  the  spirit  permeating,  vivifying  and  uniting  into 
one  body  the  men  and  women  that  had  received  Christ  by  Faith.8 

All  that  had  so  far  been  accomplished  in  the  Mississippi  Valley 
in  regard  to  civilization  was  due  to  the  spirit  of  Catholicism,  the 
proudest  possession  of  the  French  pioneers.  Now,  in  spite  of  the 
English  regime  to  the  east  and  the  Spanish  regime  to  the  west  of  the 
river,  the  French,  influence  remained  dominant.  St.  Louis  was  in  many 
ways  a  replica  of  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia.  Crime  was  hardly  known. 
Justice  was  administered  in  a  fatherly  way  either  by  the  priest  or  by 
some  one  chosen  from  "the  ancients,"  as  Father  Roux  styles  the  elder 
citizens.  The  announcements  of  sales  and  other  publications  were 
made  on  Sundays  from  the  church  steps.    There  were  some  minor  offices 


7  Billon,  F.  L.,  "Annals  of  St.  Louis,  1764-1804,"  p.  412.  "Madam  Chouteau 
Vindicated,"  Alexander  N.  DeMenil,  in  "Globe-Democrat,"  October  16,  1921. 

s  They  were  the  children  of  the  France  before  the  Eevolution,  still  worthy  of 
the  ancient  name,  ' '  The  First  Daughter  of  the  Church. ' ' 


104  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

in  the  church,  held  by  Laymen,  the  clianter  or  singer  who,  in  the  absence 
of  the  priest,  was  empowered  to  perforin  the  burial  service;  the  sacristan 
or  verger,  and  the  Suisse  whose  office  it  was  to  keep  order  during  the 
divine  service.  The  church,  with  all  that  it  implied,  was  the  center  of 
the  people's  life  in  French  and  Spanish  days.  "Learning  none  had, 
unless  it  was  the  parish  priest,  and  he,  their  oracle  in  matters  of  faith, 
could  be  taken  likewise  as  their  voucher  in  matters  of  science,"  as 
Scliarf9  remarks.  Their  honor  and  good  name  was  their  great  treasure. 
Their  hospitality  was  proverbial;  every  latch-string  hung  out  and  every 
man's  house  was  the  stranger's.  Punctuality  and  honesty  in  all  dealings, 
politeness  and  courtesy  to  strangers,  friendship  and  cordiality  among 
neighbors,  gentle  kindness  and  affection  at  home,  reverence  for  elders, 
respect  for  superiors,  and  justice  to  all,  were  among  the  social  virtues 
prevalent  among  this  primitive  people.  "Contented  with  little  and 
happy  with  more,"  seems  to  have  been  their  rule  of  life.  They  had  no 
politics,  save  loyalty  to  France,  and  a  dim  belief  that,  the  King  of 
France  was  monarch  of  all  the  earth,  or  at  least  ought  to  be.  Care  and 
worry  found  no  lodgement  at  their  fireside.  "God  is  in  His  heaven," 
they  said,  "All  is  right  with  the  world." 

"Amusements,  festivals  and  holidays  were  natural  among  such  a 
people.  They  were  too  devout  not  to  keep  every  Fete  in  the  calendar, 
and  too  fond  of  enjoyment  not  to  wish  there  were  twice  as  many  more. 
Neither  sex  nor  condition  were  kept  from  these  festive  enjoyments ;  pleas- 
ure was  like  the  church  floor,  free  to  all  without  distinction  of  quality. 
The  black  slave  danced  to  the  same  fiddle  that  sent  his  mistress  and 
master  tripping,  and  the  stolid  Indian  sat  by  on  his  haunches,  wrapped 
in  his  blanket,  watching  and  wondering.  It  has  become  a  proverb,  the 
contentment  and  happiness  of  the  negro  slaves  in  French  Illinois.  All 
were  Catholics  and  all  kept  the  festivals  of  the  great  Mother  Church  in 
the  same  indentical  spirit."10 

In  our  far  less  joyous  days  some  may  wonder  at  the  levity  displayed 
by  these  people,  others  may  even  raise  eye-brows  in  solemn  disapproval. 
Yet,  as  Stoddard  writes  "It  must  be  confessed  that  the  French  people 
avoid  all  intemperate  and  immoral  excesses,  and  conduct  themselves 
with  apparent  decorum."11 

And  Scharf  is  fair  enough  to  add  his  favorable  judgment:  "It 
seems  certain  that  to  their  honest  religious  convictions,  and  the  candor 
with  which  they  obeyed  them,  the  habitants  of  Upper  Louisiana  owed 
much  of  that  sterling  business  integrity  and  that  rigid   adherence  to 


o     "History  of  St.  Louis,"  vol.  I,  p.  281. 
io     "History  of  St.  Louis,"  by  Scharf,  vol.  I,  p.  282. 
n     "Sketches  of  Louisiana,"  Stoddart,  p.  316. 


The  Founding  of  St.  Louis  105 

truth  in  all  its  forms  which  always  excited  the  surprise  and  admiration 
of  strangers."12 

The  village  of  St.  Louis  had  not  yet  kept  the  second  anniversary  of 
its  birth,  when  it  received  a  garrison  of  thirty  men  and  a  Commandant, 
October  1765. 

A  valuable  accession  it  was,  as  all  were  Frenchmen  and  stood  under 
the  command  of  Laclede's  special  friend,  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive.  But 
what  business  had  a  French  commandant  on  the  soil  that  was  now  known 
to  belong  to  Spain?  Was  his  authority  in  St.  Louis  self-constituted,  or 
did  he  rule  by  popular  action  or  acclamation?  Nothing  of  the  kind. 
St.  Ange  held  the  same  power  in  all  parts  of  the  Illinois  country  that 
Noyon  de  Villiers  had  exercised,  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  France, 
until  the  Spanish  government  should  have  taken  actual  possession.  So 
he  was  just  as  much  in  authority  on  the  Missouri  side  as  he  had  been 
on  the  Illinois  side,  until  the  coming  of  Captain  Sterling  to  Fort  Chartres. 
In  fact,  the  Spanish  authorities  in  New  Orleans  in  1769  treated  St.  Ange  as 
the  representative  of  the  Spanish  government,  and  when  Don  Alexandre 
O'Reilly,  the  Spanish  Governor  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  ordered 
that  all  subjects  of  the  colony  who  wished  to  remain  under  the  domina- 
tion of  his  Catholic  Majesty,  must  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  it  was 
"Captain  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive,  Commandant  of  the  Spanish  Colony 
of  Illinois,"  that  was  appointed  to  make  them  take  it  in  this  form: 
"That  they  promise  and  swear  to  God  and  to  his  Catholic  Majesty, 
to  be  faithful  to  him  and  to  sacrifice  their  lives  for  his  service,  to  warn 
him  or  his  commandants  of  anything  coming  to  their  knowledge  pre- 
judicial to  his  state  or  to  the  support  of  his  crown  and  of  his  person, 
and  to  live  under  the  laws  it  shall  please  his  said  Catholic  Majesty  to 
impose  on  them."13 

The  settlers  of  St.  Louis,  whether  cheerfully  or  not,  actually  took 
the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Spanish  King,  on  November  9,  1769. 

On  February  17, 1770,  three  months  after  the  date  of  this  occurrence, 
St.  Ange  resigned,  and  Don  Pedro  Piernas,  the  first  Spanish  Lieutenant- 
governor,  assumed  the  government  of  the  Illinois  country  (St.  Louis 
and  dependencies.) 

It  is  said  that  when  Captain  Stirling,  the  first  English  commander 
at  Fort  Chartres,  died  in  January  1776,  on  the  request  of  the  inhabi- 
tants there,  St.  Ange  came  over  from  the  Spanish  possessions  to  take 
charge  of  the  post  of  Fort  <'hartres  until  the  arrival  of  Captain  Stirling's 


12  "History  of  St.  Louis,"  by  Seharf,  p.  283. 

13  According  to  Seharf,  as  well  as  to  Shepard,  the  government  of  St.  Louis 
under  St.  Ange  was  self -constituted.  This  is  not  the  case.  St.  Ange  was  appointed 
"Captain,  Commanding  the  Spanish  Colony  of  Illinois,"  by  Count  O'Reilly,  Governor 
of  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  ef.  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  TV, 
p.  243  s. 


10G  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

successor,  Captain  Frazer,  from  Pittsburgh.  This  romantic  incident  is  a 
fiction,  as  St.  Ange  was  then  no  longer  among  the  living,  having  died 
December  27,  1774,  at  the  home  of  Madame  Chouteau.-  St.  Ange  was 
never  married.  In  his  will  which  was  made  December  27,  1774,  he 
bequeaths  25  livres  for  Masses  and  500  livres  for  the  construction  of  the 
church  of  St.  Louis. 

The  funeral  services  for  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  were  performed  by 
Father  Valentine,  a  Capuchin  Monk,  from  New  Orleans,  who  held  his 
faculties  from  the  Bishop  of  Santiago  de  Cuba,  to  whom  the  jurisdiction 
had  now  passed  from  the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  The  Record  of  Burials 
shows  (he  following  entry:  "In  the  year  1774,  27th  of  December,  I  the 
undersigned,  have  interred  in  the  cemetery  of  this  parish  the  body  of 
Don  Louis  de  St.  Ange,  Captain  attached  to  the  battalion  of  Louisiana, 
having  administered  the  sacraments  of  the  church.    Fr.  Valentine." 

Father  Valentine  in  official  acts  styles  himself  "Priest  of  the  Parish 
of  St.  Louis  and  its  dependencies,"  a  title  that  does  not  fully  square 
with  facts. 

St.  Louis  at  that  time  was  no  parish  in  the  Canonical  sense,  but 
only  a  mission.  No  doubt,  the  zealous  Capuchin,  was  regularly  appointed 
to  St.  Louis,  but  most  likely  as  the  chaplain  for  the  garrison  that  came 
with  Lieutenant  Governor  Piernas,  just  as  the  unnamed  chaplain  that 
accompanied  the  expedition  of  Don  Francisco  Rui14  to  build  the  Forts 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  River  in  March  1767,  three  years  previous 
to  the  advent  of  Piernas.  When  Rui  set  out  from  New  Orleans  to  the  Miss- 
ouri River,  he  was  instructed  to  take  along  with  him  a  chaplain,  (name  not 
given)  who  was  to  say  mass  on  shore  every  Sunday  and  Feast-day,  before 
day-break,  at  which  all  the  company  were  to  assist.  He  was  moreover 
enjoined  to  recite  the  Rosary  with  the  crew  every  night,  as  is  usual  on 
the  warships  of  Spain."15  We  suspect  that  the  unnamed  chaplain  of 
Rui's  expedition  was  no  one  else  than  Father  Valentine,  and  that,  after 
the  relief  of  Rui  by  Piernas,  and  the  subsequent  appointment  of  Piernas 
to  the  poste  of  St.  Louis,  he  came  with  Piernas  to  serve  as  the  priest  of 
the  mission  of  St.  Louis  and  its  dependencies.  As  the  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor could  not  erect  Parishes  or  appoint  parish  Priests,  the  Capuchin, 
Father  Valentine  cannot  be  called  the  first  Pastor  of  St.  Louis,  but  only 
its  first  resident  priest.  He  remained  from  May  1772  to  June  1775,  and 
during  that  period  baptized  sixty-five  whites,  twenty-four  negroes  and 
eighteen  Indians.  He  also  solemnized  four  marriages  of  whites  and 
officiated  at  the  interment  of  forty-two  whites,  eleven  negroes  and  nine- 


ii  Thirteen  documents  in  regard  to  Don  Francisco  Bui's  voyage  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Missouri  and  the  erection  of  the  forts  at  this  place  are  given  by  Houck,  in 
' '  Spanish  Regime  in  Missouri, ' '  vol.  I,  pp.  1-52.  St.  Ange 's  name  is  always  men- 
tioned with  respect. 

is     "Spanish  Regime  in  Missouri,"  vol.  I,  p.  4. 


The  Founding  of  St.  Louis  107 

teen  Indians.  Until  now  Father  Valentine  had.  been  officiating  in  the 
little  log-church  of  Father  Menrin's  time  and  lived  in  the  adjoining 
presbytere,  as  the  priest's  residence  was  then  called.  But  he  prevailed 
upon  Governor  Piernas  to  build  a  new  church,  more  in  keeping  with  the 
growing  importance  and  dignity  of  St.  Louis.  Judge  Wilson  Primm,  a 
scion  of  some  of  the  earliest  and  best  families  of  St.  Louis,  has  given 
us  a  very  interesting  account  of  the  erection  of  the  second  church-building 
in  the  village  under  the  administration  of  Don  Pedro  Piernas.  In  a 
lecture  delivered  before  the  Missouri  Historical  Society  he  adverted  to 
a  drawing  that  had  been  made  under  his  personal  direction,  representing 
the  old  church  that  had  been  demolished  in  1820,  according  to  the 
Government  Record:  "On  the  26th  of  December  1774,  the  inhabitants 
of  St.  Louis  met  together  in  the  government  chamber  in  presence  of  Don 
Pedro  Piernas,  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  Establishment  of  Illinois 
and  of  the  dependencies  belonging  to  his  Catholic  Majesty,  of  Reverend 
Father  Valentine  and  Mr.  Sarpy,  Principal  Church-warden,  and  deter- 
mined upon  the  building  of  a  church.  The  church  is  to  be  sixty  feet 
long  and  thirty  feet  in  width  and  is  to  be  built  of  posts  set  in  the  ground. 
The  posts  are  to  be  eighteen  feet  long  hewed  on  both  sides,  to  the  width 
of  six  inches  above  ground,  and  to  be  of  very  sound  white  oak,  and  the 
square  of  the  church  to  be  fourteen  feet  high.  The  inhabitants  are  to 
furnish  all  the  wood  and  other  materials  necessary  for  the  construction 
of  the  building,  according  to  an  assessment  to  be  made  on  each  white 
and  black  person  of  the  age  of  fourteen  years  and  upwards,  excepting 
wives  and  persons  sixty  years  of  age,  who  shall  be  exempt  as  to  their 
persons  only."16 

The  superintendent  of  the  building  and  of  the  assessments  is  Pierre 
Baron,  who,  being  present,  accepts  the  office  and  promises  to  do  his  duty. 
The  inhabitants  add  to  him,  Rene  Kiercereau,  Antoine  Riviere,  dit 
Bacasset,  Joseph  Taillon  and  Jacques  Moise,  ' '  who  must  be  present  at  the 
assessment  and  at  the  furnishing  of  materials."17 

' '  There  is  to  be  a  gallery  around  the  church  five  feet  wide  supported 
by  posts  of  good  wood,  set  into  the  ground."18 

The  specifications  were  now  worked  out  by  the  Committee  and  at 
their  completion  another  Parish  meeting  was  held  in  the  chamber  of  the 
parsonage  of  said  Parish  of  St.  Louis,  at  the  termination  of  Parochial 
Mass,  for  the  purpose  of  letting  out  to  the  lowest  bidder  the  ' '  labor  and 
construction  of  the  church  proposed  to  be  erected."19 

The  specifications  were  read  and  explained  with  loud  and  intelligible 
voice.     The  lowest  bid  was  that  of  Pierre  Lupin  Baron,  carpenter  and 


is  Printed  in  "The  Church  Progress, "  of  St.  Louis,  February   Is,   1917. 

17  Ibidem. 

is  Ibidem. 

is  Ibidem. 


108  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

joiner,  "at  the  sum  of  twelve  hundred  livres  in  shaved  deer  skins, 
merchantable  at  this  Post."  Don  Pedro  Piernas  signed  the  contract  the 
19th  day  of  April  1775.  But  the  building  contractor,  Pierre  Baron, 
dying  on  the  28th  day  of  January  1776,  another  Parish  meeting  was 
called  by  the  new  Lieutenant  Governor  Don  Francisco  Cruzat,  at  which 
the  work  under  the  same  conditions  was  let  out  to  Jean  Cambas,  he  being 
the  lowest  bidder,  at  the  sum  of  fourteen  hundred  and  eighty  livres, 
in  shaved  deer  skins.  The  only  new  condition  was  that  the  building 
must  be  completed  by  the  cud  of  May. 

Father  Valentine  did  not  enjoy  his  new  church ;  for  in  June 
1776  he  was  on  his  way  down  to  New  Orleans,  never  to  return.  To  the 
people  of  St.  Louis  it  must  have  been  a  source  of  regret  to  hear  that  their 
priest,  Father  Valentine,  had  suddenly  departed,  June  6,  1775,  and  would 
not  return.  Rumor  was  busy  with  the  mysterious  event.  A  letter  arrived 
from  Cahokia  at  M.  Dutelets  home  in  St.  Louis,  in  which  Father  Valen- 
tine gives  as  his  reason  for  his  strange  conduct,  the  fear  of  compromising 
the  new  Governor,  M.  Cruzat  and  himself.20 

The  Capuchin  Friar  did  not  tarry  at  Kaskaskia,  as  some  have 
stated,  but  went  directly  to  New  Orleans  to  report  to  his  Superior. 
We  found  his  name  in  the  Register  of  the  Post  of  Arkansas,  as  having 
baptized  thirty-five  persons  on  April  19,  1772,  one  month  before  his 
coming  to  St.  Louis.  This  would  show  that  he  came  directly  from  New 
Orleans,  stopping  off  for  a  day  or  two  at  the  Post. 

Later  on  we  find  Father  Valentine  at  Cote  des  Allemands,  and  at 
Iberville.     (1778-81.) 


20  His  household  goods  were  sold  at  auction  after  his  departure  from  St.  Louis. 
The  catalogue  of  the  sale  is  preserved  in  the  Spanish  Archives  of  the  Missouri  His- 
torical Society  at  the  Jefferson  Memorial,  St.  Louis. 


yjwvaw  Je  uwpcubftu. 


X^Li^^ty»r~£y 


*'  6)    -^   - 


6&^0?J&mK 


SIGNATURES  OF  ST.  LOUIS  PRIESTS  AND  PRELATES 


Chapter  2 
CIVIL  ALLEGIANCE  AND  ECCLESIASTICAL  AUTHORITY 


The  battle  of  Quebec,  in  which  Montcalm  was  killed,  September 
18th,  1759,  sounded  the  death-knell  of  the  power  of  France  in  the  New 
World.  But  the  last  agony  was  protracted  for  a  few  years.  By  the 
Treaty  of  Paris,  February  10th,  1763,  Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  Cape 
Breton  and  the  French  possessions  to  the  East  of  the  Mississippi,  New 
Orleans  excepted,  were  ceded  to  England. 

This  great  river  thus  became  the  boundary  between  the  English  and 
French.  But  the  extreme  weakness  of  France,  at  the  close  of  the  seven 
years  war  had  previously  led  to  another  act,  that  eventually  retired  the 
French  from  the  North-American  Continent.  On  the  3rd  of  November 
1762,  the  Marquis  of  Grimaldi,  the  Ambassador  of  Spain,  and  the  Duke 
de  Choiseul,  the  French  Premier,  signed  at  Fontainebleau  an  Act  by 
which  the  French  King  ceded  to  His  Cousin  of  Spain,  and  to  his  succes- 
sors forever,  in  full  ownership,  from  the  pure  impulse  of  a  generous 
heart  the  Country  under  the  name  of  Louisiana.  The  Spanish  monarch, 
rather  reluctantly  accepted  the  donation  tendered  to  him  by  the  gener- 
osity of  his  Most  Christian  Majesty,  his  cousin  Louis  XV. 

From  that  date,  November  13th,  1762,  the  Illinois  Country  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  as  well  as  Lower  Louisiana  with  New  Orleans  was 
legally  part  and  parcel  of  the  world-empire  of  Spain :  yet,  as  the 
donation,  as  well  as  the  acceptance,  was  to  be  kept  secret  for  a  time,  the 
King  of  France  continued  to  act  as  sovereign  of  Louisiana.  Theoreti- 
cally the  two  powers,  Spain  and  England,  faced  each  other,  with  the 
Mississippi  between  them  as  boundary  line;  the  actual  establishment, 
however,  of  both  powers  in  their  new  possessions  was  as  yet  a  problem. 
The  French  Commandants,  Noyon  de  Villiers  and  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive 
remained  in  charge  on  the  Illinois  side,  whilst  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
river  there  was  nothing  to  hold,  but  the  village  of  Ste.  Genevieve 
and  the  Poste  of  Ai'kansas. 

On  the  loth  of  March,  1763,  the  King  of  France,  announced  that 
he  had  determined  to  disband  the  troops  serving  in  Louisana.  Only 
four  companies  of  infantry  were  to  remain  under  the  command  of 
D  'Abbadie.  The  Indians  were  highly  incensed  when  they  heard  of  the 
treaty  of  cession,  and  said,  the  King  of  France  had  no  right  to  dispose 
of  them  and  their  lands  to  any  other  sovereign.  The  French  Creoles, 
were  dissatisfied  but  hopeful.  An  English  convoy  of  about  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  souls,  officers,  soldiers  and  children  coming  up  the 
Mississippi  to  occupy  the  strategic  points  of  their  new  possessions,  were 

(109) 


110  History  of  Hit    Arvhdiovcsi    of  SI.    Loins 

harrassed  again  and  again  by  the  Indians,  and  at  last  driven  back  to 
New  Orleans.  The  official  transfer  of  the  formerly  French  territory 
east  of  the  .Mississippi  was  effected  on  October  10th,  1765.  St.  Ange  de 
Bellerive  acted  for  France,  Captain  Thomas  Stirling  for  England. 

St.  Ange  and  bis  thirty  French  soldiers  immediately  departed 
for  the  village  of  St.  Louis,  which  lie  still  regarded  as  French  territory, 
until  the  official  transfer  to  Spain  should  be  made.  The  donation  of 
Louisiana,  that  is  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  with  New  Orleans, 
was  made  known  by  an  offical  Letter  of  Louis  XV,  dated  April  1764, 
more  than  two  years  after  the  cession.  In  this  document  the  royal  heart 
goes  out  to  the  people  of  Louisiana,  who  had  served  him  and  France 
so  well.  Among  other  things  the  Letter  expresses  the  hope,  that  the 
King  of  Spain  "will  be  pleased  to  instruct  his  Governor,  that  all  ecclesi- 
astics and  religious  communities  shall  continue  to  perform  their  functions 
of  curates  and  missionaries,  and  to  enjoy  the  rights,  privileges  and 
exceptions  granted  to  them,  that  all  the  judges  of  ordinary  jurisdiction, 
together  with  t  lie  Superior  Council,  shall  continue  to  administer  justice 
according  to  the  laws,  forms  and  usages  of  the  colony."1 

All  this  sounds  very  sweet  and  kind ;  but  it  was  in  this  very  year, 
1764,  that  the  Superior  Council,  headed  by  La  Freniere  and  Foucault, 
struck  the  blow  that  crushed  the  only  band  of  missionaries  left  in 
Louisiana.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Spanish  government  still  delayed  to 
take  possession  of  the  gift  of  King  Louis.  On  January  20th,  1768,  Aubry, 
the  French  Commander  in  New  Orleans  wrote:  "I  am  in  the  most 
extraordinary  position.  I  command  for  the  King  of  France  and,  at  the 
same  time,  I  govern  the  Colony  as  if  it  belonged  to  the  King  of  Spain. 
A  French  Commander  is  gradually  moulding  Frenchmen  to  Spanish 
domination."2  The  Spanish  Governor  Ulloa  had  no  military  power  at 
his  disposal.  The  spirit  of  independence  was  spreading  among  the 
French.  The  Superior  Council,  that  had  expelled  the  Jesuits,  now 
expelled  the  few  Spaniards  with  Ulloa,  the  Spanish  Governor.  It  was 
a  bloodless  revolution,  but  a  revolution  nevertheless,  and  now  Spain 
roused  itself  to  quick  and  decisive  action.  Upon  the  arrival  of  the  news 
of  the  revolution  a  cabinet  council  was  held  in  which  the  Duke  of  Alba 
gave  this  brief  and  characteristic  opinion;  "that  the  King  (of  Spain) 
ought  to  retain  Louisiana,  on  account  of  the  extreme  importance  of  the 
River  Mississippi,  being  the  fixed  and  settled  limit  of  the  English  pos- 
session."3    Don   Alexander   O'Reilly,    the   most   distinguished    military 


i     Gayarre,  "History  of  Louisiana,"  vol.  II.  p.   II-'. 

2  Gayarre,  vol.  II,  p.  185.  "Considering  thai  the  French  troops  refused  to 
obey  the  Spanish  governor,  Aubrey  would  remain  the  apparent  and  nominal  chief 
of  the  Colony,  but  would  govern  according  to  the  dictates  of  UHoa,"  i.  e.  the  Spanish 
governor,    p.  167. 

3  Gayarre,  vol.  II,  p.  252. 


Civil  Allegiance  and  Ecclesiastical  Authority  111 

officer  of  Spain  at  the  time,  was  commissioned  to  take  possession  of 
Louisiana,  with  the  significant  remark:  "Your  Excellency  knows  very 
well  that  the  loss  of  great  interests  is  looked  upon  by  Spain  with  indif- 
ference, but  that  it  is  not  so  with  regard  to  insults."4 

Don  Alexander  O'Reilly  came,  saw,  and  conquered,  not  by  storm 
of  battle,  but  by  mere  show  of  power.  Some  among  the  ringleaders 
paid  the  penalty  of  death  for  their  rebellious  acts,  among  them  the 
deporters  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in  1764.  It  was  in  1769  that  Louisiana 
became  finally,  but  not  forever,  a  Spanish  Colony.5 

A  census  of  the  population  in  the  Missiissippi  Valley,  exclusive  of  the 
Indians,  was  one  of  the  first  acts  of  Governor  O'Reilly.  The  sum  total 
of  inhabitants,  slaves  included,  was  only  13,538. 

Although  the  political  change  thus  effected  did  not  immediately 
bring  about  a  change  in  the  spiritual  jurisdiction,  it  certainly  was  a 
step  in  that  direction.  The  Bishop  of  Quebec,  though  now  a  subject  of 
the  King  of  England,  remained  Ordinary  of  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana, 
whilst  the  Superior  of  the  Capuchins  at  New  Orleans,  Father  Dagobert 
de  Longwi  continued  to  claim  his  authority  as  Vicar-General  of  Quebec. 
Yet  the  union  of  Church  and  State,  which  then  obtained  in  Spain  and 
France  alike,  placed  certain  obligations  upon  the  State  in  regard  to 
the  temporal  support  of  the  Church  and  its  ministers.  Naturally, 
therefore,  would  the  Spanish  authorities  prefer  to  deal  with  bishops 
and  priests  of  their  own  nationality,  whilst  Rome,  as  a  rule,  was  willing 
to  sanction  the  change.  His  Catholic  Majesty,  as  the  King  of  Spain 
was  called,  had  in  the  course  of  time  received  or  assumed  a  number 
of  exceptional  privileges  in  the  matter  of  appointment  and  recall  of 
the  Clergy,  high  and  low.  These  so  called  prerogatives  of  the  crown 
would  certainly  be  put  in  use  in  the  new  colony  of  Louisiana,  as  they 
were  practiced  in  the  other  parts  of  the  Spanish  realm.  But  for  the 
first  few  years  nothing  was  attempted  in  the  matter  of  placing  the  colony 
under  Spanish  ecclesiastical  control,  because  there  was  so  very  little  to 
be  controlled,  and  that  little  so  very  hard  to  reach.  The  Bishop  of  Quebec, 
being  in  possession,  was  left  in  possession,  although  the  leading  men 
of  New  Orleans  and  the  Capuchin  Superior,  were  already  making  trouble 
for  their  Spiritual  Head.  After  the  pacification  of  the  country  the  juris- 
diction of  Quebec  in  all  Louisiana,  lapsed  into  that  of  Santiago  de  Cuba, 
although  the  Pope  delayed  his  recognition  of  the  royal  edict  until  1777. 
Bishop  Briand  of  Quebec  was  glad  to  be  relieved  of  the  burden.  In 
April  1767  he  wrote  to  Father  Meurin :  "  As  yet  I  have  no  news  from 
Xew  Orleans.  The  difficulty  of  governing  from  such  a  distance,  or 
finding  persons  in  whom  to  confide,  the  troubles  which  the  Capuchins 
have  always  stirred  up  there,  their  bad  conduct,   their  disobedience, 


*     Gayarre,  vol.  II,  p.  266. 

5     For  a  life-sketch  of  Don  Alexandre  O'Keilly  see  Gayarre,  vol.  II,  p.  283. 


111!  History  of  the  Archdiocest    of  St.   Loins 

their  twenty-three  years  of  stubborn  resistence  to  their  Ordinary,  all 
these  considerations  have  so  disgusted  and  harrassed  me,  that  I  have  an 
extreme  repugnance  to  assume  charge  of  that  section,  and  I  assure  you, 
thai  1  would  not  be  sorry  if  the  Spanish  government  wished  it  to  be 
dependent  on  one  of  their  dioceses  in  America."6  This  much  is  suffi- 
cient h  plain,  that  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  gave  his  full  consent  to  the  dis- 
memberment of  his  diocese  by  the  loyal  decree,  although  he  could  not  con- 
sider himself  altogether  relieved  of  responsibility  until  Rome  approved  of 
the  act.  Early  in  June  of  the  year  1772  the  Spanish  Capuchins,  P. 
Cyrillo  de  Barcelona,  in  company  with  four  other  Capuchins,  arrived 
in  New  Orleans,  with  the  commission  from  the  Bishop  of  Santiago  de 
Cuba,  James  Joseph  Echeverria  to  investigate  the  religious  conditions 
in  the  new  Province.  By  request  of  Father  Cyrillo,  Father  Dagobert 
was  continued  in  his  office  as  Superior,  and  consequently  as  Vicar-General 
of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  But  Father  Cyrillo,  as  the  representative  of 
the  Bishop  of  Santiago,  acted  independently  of  Father  Dagobert,  first 
as  Vicar-General  and,  from  1781  on,  as  Bishop  of  Tricala,  and  Auxiliary 
for  Louisiana.  In  1787  the  diocese  of  Santiago  di  Cuba  was  dismembered, 
all  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas  being  assigned  to  the  new  diocese  of  St. 
Christopher  de  Havana.  The  Bishop  of  Havana,  Joseph  de  Tres- 
palacios,  retained  Bishop  Cyrillo  as  his  auxiliary  for  Louisiana.  On 
April  25th,  1792,  another  dismemberment  occured,  and  Louisiana  and 
the  Floridas  were  erected  into  a  diocese,  the  Cathedral  of  which  was 
fixed  in  New  Orleans.  The  Bishop  of  the  new  diocese,  Louis  Pehalver  y 
Cardenas,  arrived  in  New  Orleans  on  July  17th,  1795.  The  official  name 
of  the  diocese  was  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas,  although  its  Bishops 
sometimes  assumed  the  style  of  Bishop  of  New  Orleans.  When  on 
July  20th,  1802,  the  Louisiana  territory  was  returned  to  France  by 
Spain  and,  less  than  a  year  later,  sold  by  France  to  the  United  States, 
April  30th,  1803,  Bishop  Penalver  left  NeAv  Orleans  for  Guatamala. 
The  western  portion  of  Upper  Louisiana,  that  is  the  territory  of  the 
future  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  was  now  under  Spanish  rule  in  spiritual  as 
well  as  temporal  matters,  and  the  parishes  were  provided  with  priests 
at  the  expense  of  the  Spanish  government. 

But,  what  were  the  fortunes  of  its  eastern  portion  that 
was  left  in  the  power  of  heretical  England?  What  was  the 
condition  of  religion  and  public  morals  in  the  ancient  Catholic 
settlements  of  the  Illinois  Country  along  the  eastern  borders  of 
the  Mississippi?  Dark  and  threatening  were  the  clouds  that  had 
settled  down  over  the  former  scenes  of  peace.  There  was  but  one  priest 
left  in  all  Upper  Louisiana.  The  devoted  son  of  St.  Francis,  Father 
Luke   Collet  at   Fort   Chart  res,   a  venerable  man,  bowed   down  by  the 


o     Alvord  and  Carter,  "The  New   Regime,  1765-1767,"  in  British  Series,  vol.  II. 
p.  560. 


Civil  Allegiance  and  Ecclesiastical  Authority  113 

weight  of  many  years  of  patient  toil  and  sorrow  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 
The  Bishop  of  Quebec  had  sent  him  to  the  Illinois  Missions,  and  the 
Frenchman's  natural  love  for  the  French  cause  had  kept  him  an  exile 
from  Canada,  until  now.  But  he  and  he  alone  would  not  forsake  his 
post  of  honor,  though  the  current  of  his  life  was  well  nigh  spent.  But 
who  was  his  bishop  after  Canada  itself  was  lost  to  the  English?  Father 
Collet  surely  had  no  doubts  about  the  matter:  the  Bishop  of  Quebec 
was  still  his  Ordinary.  To  him  he  looked  for  guidance  and  support. 
But  for  a  time  there  was  no  bishop  at  Quebec.  Bishop  Pontbriand  had 
died  in  June  1760,  and  the  Bishop-Elect,  John  Oliver  Briand,  was 
debarred  by  English  Tyranny  from  receiving  consecration.  The  Church 
had  no  Bishop  in  the  English  colonies  along  the  A'lantic  seaboard.  In 
fact  only  two  of  the  thirteen  colonies.  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania 
permitted  the  exercise  of  the  Catholic  religion.  The  little  band  of  heroic 
priests  of  these  two  liberal  colonies  acted  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Vicar  Apostolic  of  London,  who  at  that  time  was  Bishop  Challoner. 
Canada  and  all  the  French  territory  on  the  eastern  borders  of  the 
Mississippi  now  belonged  to  England.  "In  consequence  of  this  increase 
of  British  territory."  says  Burton,  "Bishop  Challoner  had  to  consider 
whether  under  the  terms  of  his  faculties,  he  was  or  was  not  responsible 
for  the  spiritual  well-being  of  Canada  and  the  other  new  possessions."7 
Rome  did  not  give  a  definite  answer,  but  asked  for  further  information. 
Quebec  retained  possession.  At  last,  Bishop  Briand.  in  order  to  bring 
peace  to  his  distracted  people,  resigned  in  favor  of  Bishop  D'Esglis, 
who  was  persona  grata  witli  the  British  authorities.  This  paved  the 
way  for  the  so-called  "Quebec  Act,"  passed  by  Parliament  in  177-1,  an 
Act  which  gave  the  Canadians  the  free  exercise  of  the  Catholic  religion 
as  under  the  former  French  rule.  It  was  this  Act  of  Justice  that  healed 
the  wound  of  Canada's  being  torn  from  her  mother  France,  and  it  was 
the  unexpectedness  of  it  that  won  the  Canadian's  loyalty  and  good  will 
for  her  English  rulers.  The  successive  Bishops  of  Quebec  continued 
to  exercise  their  hereditary  right  and  power  on  the  eastern  borders 
of  the  Mississippi,  in  Cahokia,  Kaskaskia,  Fort  Chartres  and  Vincennes, 
even  after  the  appointment  of  Carroll  as  Prefect  Apostolic  and  Bishop 
of  Baltimore.  Bishop  Carroll's  jurisdiction  over  the  entire  territory  to 
the  Spanish  boundary,  the  Mississippi  River,  was  not  formally  established 
until  January  29th,  1791.8 

But  previous  to  that,  on  October  6th,  1788,  Bishop  Hubert  of  Quebec 
and  the  Prefect  Apostolic  at  Baltimore,  John  Carroll,  had  arranged  a 
modus  vivendi,  Bishop  Hubert  wrote:  "It  is  true  that  the  settlements 
in  the  country  of  the  Illinois  are  incontestably  in  the  diocese  of  Quebec, 


-     Guilday,  "Life  and  Times  of  John  Carroll,"  p.  148. 

s     Shea,  John  G.  "Life  and  Times  of  Most  Rev.  John  Carroll,"  p.  382. 


114  History  of  tht   Archdiocese  of  St.  Loins 

according  to  our  original  grant,  and  also  that  the  Seminary  of  Quebec, 
for  that  reason,  long  had  the  right  to  nominate  a  Superior  among  the 
Tamarois,  a  prerogative  which  the  said  Seminary  resigned  in  favor  of 
the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  Be  that  as  it  may,  I  believe  it  is  prudent  for  us 
under  the  circumstances,  to  accommodate  ourselves  to  the  new  order 
of  things,  although  1  be  not  at  liberty  to  assent  to  the  dismemberment  of 
this  part  of  my  diocese  without  the  consent  of  my  Coadjutor  and  of  my 
clergy.  Divine  Providence  having  permitted  that  the  Illinois  should 
have  fallen  into  the  power  of  the  United  States,  the  spiritual  charge  of 
which  is  confided  to  your  care,  I  urgently  beseech  you  to  continue  in 
the  meantime  to  provide  for  these  missions,  as  it  Avould  be  difficult  for 
me  to  supply  them  myself  without,  perhaps,  giving  some  offense  to  the 
British  government."9  This  letter  proves  among  other  things  that 
during  the  British  period  the  spiritual  authority  in  the  country  east  of 
the  Mississippi  remained  vested  in  the  Bishop  of  Quebec.10 


9  Letter  of  Bishop  Hubert  lo  Bishop  Carroll  in  Guilday,  "Life  and  Times  of 
John  Carroll,"  p.  297. 

i°  The  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  over  the  Mississippi  Valley  suffered  a  number 
of  changes,  generally  following  the  changes  of  political  authority.  The  earliest 
priests  in  Canada,  Recollets  and  seculars,  derived  their  jurisdiction  from  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Rouen,  in  Normandy,  but  after  the  appointment  of  Bishop  Laval,  all  the 
priests  in  Canada  and  New  France  were  dependent  on  the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  The 
Vicariate  Apostolic  and,  later  on,  the  Diocese  of  Quebec,  included  all  Canada  and 
Louisiana,  that  is  the  territory  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi  River.  This  con- 
dition lasted  from  October  1st,  1674  until  November  3rd,  1762,  when  the  part  of 
Louisiana  west  of  the  Mississippi  river  together  with  the  city  and  territory  of  New 
Orleans  was  ceded  to  Spain  and  in  consequence  passed  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
Santiago  de  Cuba.  Bishop  Hubert,  of  Quebec,  in  his  Report  to  Rome  in  1792  states: 
' '  This  latter  Province,  Louisiana,  having  passed  over  to  Spanish  domination,  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec  has  first  transferred  his  jurisdiction  to  the  Bishops  of  Havana." 
The  correct  title  of  the  Spanish  diocese  was  Santiago  de  Cuba,  but  as  the  Bishop 's 
residence  was  at  Havana,  the  diocese  generally  went  by  that  name. 

Havana,  however,  became  a  diocese  in  its  own  right  in  1787.  During  the  time 
in  which  Louisiana  was  a  part  of  the  diocese  of  Santiago  de  Cuba,  in  1772,  Bishop 
James  Joseph  de  Echevarria  sent  the  Capuchin  Father  Fray  Cyrillo  de  Barcellona, 
his  auxiliary  Bishop,  to  reside  at  New  Orleans.  On  April  25th,  1793,  by  decree 
of  the  Sacred  Consistorial  Congregation,  Louisiana  and  the  Floridiis  were  dis- 
membered from  the  See  of  Havana  and  erected  into  a  diocese,  the  Cathedral  of 
which  was  fixed  in  New  Orleans. 

As  a  useful  help  to  a  better  understanding  of  the  vexed  problem  of  Ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  we  subjoin  a  kind  of  diagram  taken  from  the 
"Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  II,  p.  351: 

1.  Territory  West  of  the  Mississippi: 

1.  1658-1674— Vicariate  Apostolic  of  Canada. 

2.  1674-1759— Diocese  of  Quebec. 

3.  1759-1787 — Diocese  of  Santiago,  Cuba  and  St.  Christopher  de  Havanna. 

4.  1787-1825 — Diocese  of  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas. 

2.  Territory  East  of  the  Mississippi. 

1.  1658-1674— Vicariate  of  Canada. 

2.  1674-1784 — Diocese  of  Quebec. 

3.  1784-1789— John  Carroll,  Prefect  Apostolic  of  the  United  States. 

4.  1789-1808— Diocese  of   Baltimore. 

5.  1808-1834 — Diocese  of  Bardstown. 


Chapter  3 
RETURN  OP  FATHER  SEBASTIAN  MEURIN 


We  have  in  a  former  chapter  narrated  Father  Watrin's  account 
of  the  Jesuit  exodus  from  Kaskaskia  to  New  Orleans  and  their  treatment 
there.  The  Capuchins  received  them  kindly,  the  Superior  Council  with 
haughty  arrogance.  Father  Meurin  could  not  forget  the  tears  and 
praj'ers  of  his  neophytes  that  he  would  stay  with  them,  or  if  he  had  to 
leave,  to  come  back  to  them  as  soon  as  he  could.  He  petitioned  the 
Superior  Council  for  leave  to  return  to  the  Illinois,  not  as  a  Jesuit,  but 
as  a  secular  priest  and  missioner.  To  his  own  surprise  the  Council 
acceded  to  his  request.  Father  Meurin  then  begged  to  be  allowed  to 
start  on  the  upward  voyage  in  January ;  the  Council  delayed  its  permis- 
sion until  the  end  of  February.  "This  was  a  brave  resolution,"  says 
Father  Watrin  in  praise  of  Father  Meurin,  after  the  sale  of  all  the 
property  of  the  Jesuits,  he  could  not  count  upon  any  fund  for  his 
subsistence,  the  French  were  under  no  obligation  to  him,  and  the 
savages  have  more  need  of  receiving  than  means  for  giving;  further- 
more, the  health  of  this  Father  was  very  poor,  as  it  had  always  been 
during  the  twenty-one  years  which  he  had  spent  in  Louisiana.  But 
he  knew  in  what  danger  the  Illinois  neophytes  were  of  soon  forgetting 
religion,  if  they  remained  long  without  missionaries;  he  therefore 
counted  as  nothing  all  the  other  inconveniences,  provided  he  could 
resume  the  duties  of  his  mission.  His  request  was  granted  and  a 
promise  was  given  to  him  that  a  pension  of  six  hundred  livres  would 
be  asked  for  him  at  the  court."1 

Father  Meurin  was  informed  by  the  Council  that  the  diocese  of 
Quebec  no  longer  included  Louisiana.  In  order  to  obtain  permission 
to  return  to  the  Illinois  country  he  was  obliged  to  sign  a  document,  that 
he  would  recognize  no  other  ecclesiastical  superior  than  the  Superior  of 
the  Capuchins  at  New  Orleans,  and  that  he  would  take  up  his  residence 
in  Ste.  Genevieve.  Of  course,  this  might  be  true;  Father  Meurin  had 
no  means  to  test  the  truth  of  the  assertion.  But  as  to  his  faculties,  he 
had  no  misgivings.  If  the  Illinois  country  was  still  under  the  Bishop  of 
Quebec,  as  he  believed,  he  was  still  entitled  to  all  the  rights  he  enjoyed 
before  from  Quebec.  If  Quebec's  power  had  lapsed,  then  the  Superior 
of  the  Capuchins  gave  valid  faculties.  So  he  signed  the  document, 
renouncing  his  allegiance  to  Quebec  only  on  condition  that  the  change 
of  jurisdiction  was  a  fact. 


Alvord  and  Carter,  "The  Critical  Period,  1763-1765,"  p.  118. 

(115) 


IK!  History  of  tlu   Arckdiocest   of  St.  Louis 

"About  this  time"  as  Father  Metzer,  S.  J.  shows  in  his  article 
on  Sebastian  Louis  Meurin,2  "he  made  application  at  Rome  for  very 
extensive  powers  which  were  "ranted  the  following  year."  On  September 
4,  17(i.">,  tin*  Holy  Office  decreed  thai  His  Holiness  should  be  asked  to 
grant  the  power  of  dispensing-  in  cases  of  marriage  which  involved 
"disparitas  cultus,"  to  Father  Meurin,  who  had  petitioned  for  this 
power.  That  same  day  the  Holy  Father  "granted  for  a  triennium  from 
the  date  of  receipt,  this  extraordinary  faculty,  'dispensandi  super 
disparitate  cultus  in  matrimoniorum  celebr-atione,'  for  the  relief  of  a 
mission  almost  destitute  of  every  aid,  and  for  the  spiritual  comfort  of 
a  Christian  flock,  so  far  remote  by  sea  and  land."3  In  this  way  Father 
Meurin  "received  from  the  Holy  See  for  his  country  of  the  Illinois 
extraordinary  faculties,  such  as  had  never  been  granted  to  any  'bishops, 
vicars  apostolic  or  missionaries  in  America.'  "4 

Leaving  New  Orleans  in  the  middle  of  February,  1764,  the  truly 
Apostolic  man  stopped  over  at  the  Post  of  Arkansas  on  March  1,  1764, 
and  baptized  thirteen  persons,  as  "the  archives  of  the  Station  of 
Arcansa"  attest.  He  must  have  arrived  at  Ste.  Genevieve  towards  the 
end  of  May,  as  the  journey  up-stream  usually  required  ninety  days 
at  least.  But  Ste.  Genevieve  was  only  one  of  the  missionary's  cares. 
There  was  Kaskaskia  with  its  French  and  Indian  Catholics,  there 
was  Cahokia,  even  now  a  thriving  commercial  town,  and  there  was  St. 
Louis,  the  newly  founded  village  on  the  western  bank  of  the  river. 
Calls  there  came  for  spiritual  assistance  from  Vincennes  on  the  Wabash, 
and  from  isolated  mining  camps  to  the  west  of  Ste.  Genevieve.  From 
regions  utterly  unknown,  Catholics  would  come  to  Father  Meurin  in 
Ste.  Genevieve,  as  we  learn  from  his  entry  of  a  burial:  "I  know  neither 
the  family,  nor  the  parish,  nor  where  or  when  he  was  born." 

"The  first  entry,  in  the  Ste.  Genevieve  parish  records,  is  a  baptism 
conferred  May  13,  1764,  on  the  son  of  Louis  and  Janette,  negro  slaves 
of  Jean  Baptiste  Beauvais  of  Kaskaskia,  the  child  was  christened  Lotus. 
The  first  marriage  of  which  Meurin  makes  record  under  date  of  October 
30th,  1764,  is  a  very  interesting  case,  the  parties  being  Mark  Constan- 
tinot  of  Canada,  and  Susan  Henn,  of  German  parentage,  who  had  settled 
in  Pennsylvania.  As  both  had  been  carried  into  slavery  by  the  Shawnee 
Indians  some  five  years  previous,  they  contracted  a  natural  marriage, 
which  was  blessed  with  two  daughters.  Availing  themselves  of  a 
favorable,   opportunity   for   escape,   they   fled   from   captivity   and    on 


-  Cf.  "Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vols.  Ill  and  IV.  Father  Metzger  'a 
exhaustive  study  of  Father  Meurin 's  life  and  times  deserves  hearty  recognition. 
This  and  the  following  chapter  are  greatly  indebted  to  it. 

3  Hughes,  Thomas,  S.  J.,  "The  History  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  North 
America,"  Text  Vol.  II,  p.  589,  quoted  by  Metzger,  1.  c. 

■*     Hughes,  op.  cit.  p.  598. 


Return  of  Father  Sebastian  Meurin  117 

October  30th  presented  themselves  to  Father  Meurin  to  have  him  pro- 
nounce the  church's  blessing  on  their  union.5  It  is  of  interest  to  note 
that  Father  Meurin  styles  himself  "pretre  missionaire, "  or  "cure  aux 
Illinois,"  or  finally  "cure  aux  pays  des  Illinois,"  while  he  designates 
the  church  in  Ste.  Genevieve  as  "  L'Eglise  de  Saint  Joachim  aux  Illinois,'' 
or,  "en  la  paroisse  de  St.  Joachim  de  Ste.  Genevieve'  and  finally  "a  Ste. 
Genevieve."  The  years  1766  and  1767  mark  the  period  of  his  greatest 
activity  in  Ste.  Genevieve  as  is  evidenced  by  the  parish  records,  for  in 

1766  he  baptized  thirty-one  persons  and  married  five  couples,  while  in 

1767  he  baptized  twenty-eight  persons  and  married  eight  parties.  A 
comparative  study  of  his  duties  and  activities  at  Sainte  Genevieve  and 
at  Kaskaskia  as  recorded  in  the  official  documents  of  both  places  is  not 
without  interest. 

The  Parish  records  both  of  Baptisms  and  Marriages  show  a  constant 
annual  increase  for  Ste.  Genevieve  and  a  proportionate  decrease  for  Kas- 
kaskia. The  newer  town  was  in  the  ascendant,  the  older  town  in  rapid  de- 
cline. ' '  The  last  entry  for  this  period  in  Father  Meurin 's  hand  is  the  bap- 
tism on  October  22,  1768,  after  which  Father  Gibault  cared  for  the  spirit- 
ual wants  of  the  people  and  Meurin  kept  away  from  Ste.  Genevieve,  save 
on  two  occasions." 

On  the  26th  day  of  August  1767  Father  Meurin  received  from 
Bishop  Briand  the  appointment  as  Vicar-General  for  the  Illinois  country. 
This  honor  and  burden  came  in  consequence  of  a  letter  that  the  lone 
missionary  in  the  wilderness  had  sent  to  the  newly-consecrated  Bishop 
of  Quebec,  Briand,  in  which  the  spiritual  condition  of  his  vast  field  of 
labor  was  graphically  described.  The  fears  and  hopes  of  Father  Meurin 
struck  a  responsive  chord  in  the  heart  of  the  Bishop  who  had  experienced 
in  his  own  person  the  malice  and  hatred  of  the  world.  We  here  give  the 
main  parts  of  Father  Meurin 's  letter  to  Bishop  Briand : 

"The  country  of  the  Illinois  is  nothing  more  than  six  villages  of 
about  fifty  to  eighty  fires  each,  not  including  the  slaves  whose  number 
is  sufficiently  great.  Each  of  these  villages  on  account  of  the  distance 
between  them  and  their  situation,  demands  a  priest;  namely,  in  the 
English  territory,  the  Parish  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  at  Kaskaskia, 
that  of  St.  Joseph  at  Prairie  du  Rocher,  and  the  Parish  of  the  Holy  Fami- 
ly. In  the  French  or  Spanish  territory  beyond  the  river  are  situated  the 
villages  of  Ste.  Genevieve  with  the  title  of  St.  Joachim  on  which  are 
dependent  the  Salines  and  the  Mines;  and  thirty  leagues  above  is  the 
new  village  called  St.  Louis  which  has  been  formed  out  of  the  ruins 
of  St.  Philippe  and  Fort  de  Chartres.  These  two  villages  are  as  large  as 
the  first  in  inhabintants  or  slaves,  red  or  black. 

"St.  Joachim  or  St.  Genevieve  is  the  place  of  my  residence,  as  it 
was  ordained  by  the  conditions  of  my  return  to  the  country.     It  is 


Rozicr's  "History  of  the  Early  Settlement  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  p.  118. 


118  History  of  the   Archdiocese,   of  St.   Louis 

from  there  that  I  come  every  springtime  and  go  through  the  other 
villages  for  Easter.  I  return  thither  again  in  the  autumn  and  every 
time  that  I  am  called  for  the  sick.  This  is  all  my  infirmities  and  my 
means  can  permit  me.  Still  this  is  disagreeable  and  prejudicial  to  the 
people  of  Ste.  Geneieve  who  alone  nourish  and  support  me ;  and  they 
complain  of  it.  With  only  these  visits  the  people,  and  especially  the 
children  and  slaves,  are  lacking  sufficient  instruction ;  and  since  they 
are  deprived  of  the  pastoral  vigilance  they  are  insensibly  losing  piety 
and  abandoning  themselves  to  vices.  There  are  here  still  many  families 
in  which  religion  rules  and  who  fear  with  reason  that  it  will  become 
extinct  with  them.  They  join  in  prayer  with  me  that  you  have  pity  on 
their  children  and  send  them  at  least  two  or  three  priests,  if  your 
Bighness  cannot  send  the  four  or  five  that  are  needed.  One  of  these 
should  have  the  title  Grand  Vicar  of  your  Highness.  I  try  to  maintain 
in  my  absence  the  use  of  the  offices  and  prayers  to  assist  in  the  sancti- 
fication  of  Sundays  and  saints'  days.  There  are  already  a  number  who 
no  longer  attend  church  or  who  seem  to  come  there  only  to  show  their 
lack  of  respect  for  it.  Some  intractable  and  insolent  people  say,  haughtily 
enough,  that  I  have  no  title,  and  that  I  am  not  their  Pastor,  that  I  have 
no  right  to  give  them  advice,  and  that  they  are  not  obliged  to  listen  to 
me.  They  would  not  have  dared  to  speak  this  in  the  time  of  M.  Stirling6 
and  Farmer,7  commandants,  from  whom  I  had  every  protection.  Under 
the  command  of  these  two  first  no  person  dared  to  attempt  the  least 
indecency." 

' '  The  church  of  Ste.  Anne  has,  for  almost  a  year,  been  without  roof, 
doors  and  windows,  and  with  walls  broken  or  badly  closed,  because  the 
church  wardens  have  changed  their  home  and  village  without  inform- 
ing me  or  having  others  elected;  and  they  left  the  keys  to  the  beadle 
who  withdrew  also  and  left  them  with  an  inhabitant,  and  thus  they 
pass  from  one  to  another.  When  finally  I  was  informed,  I  went  there 
and  demanded  and  obtained  from  the  English  commandant  his  consent 
to  the  removal  of  the  furniture  of  the  church  of  Ste.  Anne  to  the  chapel 
of  St.  Joseph  at  Prairie  du  Rocher.  I  myself  carried  the  sacred  vessels, 
accompanied  by  the  one  to  whom  the  keys  had  been  given.  There 
was  petition  upon  petition  from  the  two  single  inhabitants  who  remained 
there  and  assured  the  commandant  that  the  church  and  furniture  be- 
longed to  them  personally.  An  order  was  given  me  to  bring  back  the 
sacred  vessels  and  to  leave  them  all  in  the  said  church  of  Ste.  Anne.     I 


6  Captain  Thomas  Stirling-  came  to  America  in  1758.  As  British  Commissioner 
he  accepted  the  cession  of  the  Illinois  country  in  March  1765,  at  Fort  Chartres  and 
became  commandant  of  the  colony. 

i     Major  Robert   Farmar   sm- sded    Stirling   as   Commandant    on    December    2, 

1765,  to  be  superseded  by  Lt.  Col.  John  Reed,  in  the  summer  of  1766.  Father  Meurin 
was  on  good  terms  with  Stirling  and  Farmar  but  not  with  Reed. 


Return  of  Father  Sebastian  Meurin  119 

did  not  believe  it  my  duty  to  go  there.  I  wrote  in  the  form  of  a  petition 
drawn  up  in  the  name  of  your  chapter,  since  I  did  not  know  that  it 
should  be  done  in  the  name  of  Your  Highness ;  I  Avas  obliged  to  stand 
a  suit;  my  adversaries  insisted  upon  I  know  not  what  yet;  I  lost  your 
suit ;  I  wrote  again ;  English  judges  were  named,  and  the  process  will 
be  ended  when  it  shall  please  God  and  Your  Highness.  The  church  is 
getting  always  in  a  worse  condition;  open  on  every  side,  it  has  served, 
I  am  told,  as  a  den  for  beasts  during  winter.  The  furniture  and  orna- 
ments are  still  there  and  I  know  not  in  what  state.  I  await  your  orders 
and  the  repentance  of  the  opponents.  The  sacred  vessels  are  still  at 
Prairie  du  Rocher. 

"Post  Vincennes  on  the  Wabash,  among  the  Miami  Piankashaw,  is 
as  large  as  our  best  villages  here  and  has  still  greater  need  of  a  mission- 
ary. Disorder  has  always  been  great  there,  but  it  has  increased  in  the 
last  three  years.  Some  come  here  to  be  married  or  to  make  their  Easter 
duty.  The  majority  do  not  wish  to,  nor  can  they  do  it.  The  guardian 
of  the  church  there  publishes  the  banns  for  three  Sundays ;  to  those  who 
wish  to  come  here  he  gives  a  certificate  of  publication  without  opposi- 
tion, which  I  myself  republish  before  marrying  them.  Those  \vho  do 
not  wish  to  come  declare  in  a  loud  voice  in  their  church  their  mutual 
consent.    Can  such  a  marriage  be  permitted  ? 

"Before  I  returned  to  the  Illinois,  I  was  assured  at  New  Orleans 
that  Louisiana  was  not  and  would  no  longer  be  in  the  diocese  of  Quebec. 
I  was  made  to  promise  and  sign  that  I  would  no  longer  recognize  any  other 
ecclesiastical  superior  than  the  Reverend  Father  Superior  of  the  Capu- 
chins, who  alone  had  and  would  have  all  jurisdiction,  that  on  the  first 
occasion  they  would  give  me  a  certificate  of  it  if  I  required.  It  is  on  this 
condition  that  I  signed,  adding  that  when  it  should  please  his  Holiness 
to  give  the  jurisdiction  to  the  highest  chief  of  the  Negroes,  I  should  be 
submissive  to  him  as  to  one  meriting  more  than  Bishops.  Consequently, 
as  my  signature  was  given  upon  the  promise  of  a  confirmation  Avhich 
has  not  yet  come,  I  am  bound  no  longer  with  any  relations  with  Rome 
or  with  Quebec.  That  is  what  has  hindered  me  up  to  the  present  from 
writing  to  the  Grand  Vicars  of  the  diocese,  especially  since  I  have  not 
found  a  safe  opportunity  by  land  as  I  have  today  by  MM.  Despins  and 
Beauvais,  who  are  going  to  Montreal,  and  should  return  this  next  autumn. 
They  have  volunteered  to  bring,  at  their  own  expense,  the  missionaries 
you  appoint  for  this  place,  and  the  parishioners  have  promised  to  reim- 
burse them.     The  great  need  of  missionaries  for  this  country  has  forced 

me  to  knock  at  all  doors  in  order  to  obtain  some While   I   am 

awaiting  the  effects  of  Your  pastoral  charity,  I  shall  continue  to  make 
use  of  the  former  powers  which  I  received  from  M.  Mercier,  twenty-five 
years  ago,  which  have  been  continued  by  MM.  Laurent  and  Forget, 
the  latter  of  whom  verbally  left  me  at  his  departure  all  that  he  had 


120  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

received.  The  Grand  Vicar  whom  you  will  send  to  us  will  limit  them  as 
hi'  shall  judge  fit  tint:  and  will  find  me  as  did  his  predecessor,  with  all 
zeal  and  possible  respect,  my  lord,  Your  Bighness,  very  humble  and  very 
obedienl  servant,  Sebastian  Louis  Meurin,  missionary  priest."8 

It  was  a  saddening  view  that  the  missionary  presented  to  his  Bishop: 
l>m  it  was  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  facts.  Even  the  British 
authorities,  though  indifferent  to  the  Catholic  religion,  saw  the  necessity 
of  providing  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  their  French  subjects.  Captain 
Thomas  Stirling  wrote  to  General  Gage:  "The  inhabitants  complain 
very  much  for  want  of  Priests,  there  is  but  one  now  remains,  the  rest 
either  having  died  or  gone  away,  and  he  (Meurin)  stays  on  the  other 
side.  He  was  formerly  a  Jesuit  and  would  have  been  sent  away  likewise, 
if  the  Kaskaskia  Indians,  to  whom  he  was  priest,  had  not  insisted  upon 
his  staying,  winch  the  French  allowed  him  to  do  upon  his  renouncing 
-lesuitism  and  turning  Sulpician.  This  priest  might  be  of  great  use 
to  us,  if  he  was  brought  over  to  this  side,  which  I  make  no  doubt  might 
be  effectuated,  provided  his  former  appointments  were  allowed  him, 
which  was  600  livres  pr.  annum  from  the  King,  as  Priest  to  the  Indians."11 

father  Meurin  renewed  his  petition,  before  receiving  an  answer  to 
his  first  letter:  "I  am  sixty-one  years  old,  I  can  no  longer  supply  the 
spiritual  needs  of  this  country,  where  the  most  robust  man  could  not 
serve  long,  especially  as  it  is  divided  by  a  very  rapid  and  dangerous 
river.  Pour  priests  are  accessary;  if  you  can  give  only  one,  he  should 
be  appointed  for  Kaskaskia.  At  this  moment  I  am  called  on  to  go 
to  a  man  who  is  dangerously  ill  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  thirty  leagues  from 
Cahokia,  where  T  have  been  only  three  days.  I  am  forced  to  leave 
undone  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  work  to  be  done  here.  1  beg 
you,  my  Lord,  to  have  pity  on  this  pari  of  your  flock  and  on  me."10 

Whilst  the  weary  missionary  was  living  in  a  fond  delusion  of  hope 
thai  the  Bishop  would  relieve  him  of  a  part  of  his  burden,  the  Bishop 
only  burdened  him  with  a  new  and  dangerous  honor.  His  words  were: 
"I  send  you  letters  of  appointment  as  Grand  Vicar  in  the  most  extended 
terms;  you  will  use  them  wherever  you  may  chance  to  be,  throughout 
this  part  of  my  diocese  whose  limits  are  immense  and  unknown  even  to 
myself;  at  least  it  is  certain  that  they  extend  to  all  lands  which  the 
French  have  possessed  in  North  America."11 

After  some  remarks  about  the  Capuchins  and  Orsulines  in  New 
Orleans    His    Grace    continues:      "If    you    think    that    the    government 


v     Alvord  and  Carter,  "The  New  Regime,"  pp.  522-529.     Printed   in  Carayon, 
" Bfinissi'iin'iit  des  Jesuites,"  p.  58. 

!»     Alvord  and  Carter,  op.  cit.  p.  124.     That   Meurin  had  turned  Sulpician   is  a 
mistake  of  SI  irling  \s. 

io     Alvord  and  Carter,  op.  eit.  p.  568-569. 
"     Alvord  and  Carter,  op.  eit.  p.  560. 


Return  of  Father  Sebastian  Meurin  121 

authorizes  and  supports  you,  you  could  use  your  powers  even  in  New 
Orleans,  and  exercise  there  your  authority  over  the  whole  secular  and 
regular  clergy,  which  may  be  there,  and  nominate  for  the  sisters  the 
confessor  whom  they  wish,  and  give  limited  letters  as  Grand  Vicar  to 
one  of  the  Capuchins  whom  you  judge  most  worthy."12 

It  was  indeed  a  dizzy  height  to  winch  Briand  had  raised  Meurin. 
The  appointment  only  filled  the  gentle  missionary  with  consternation 
instead  of  joy  and  pride. 

With  sincere  gratitude  for  the  Bishop's  very  kind  mark  of  con- 
fidence, Father  Meurin  expresses  his  deep  solicitude  in  regard  to  possible 
effects  of  his  appointment :  "My  letters  of  last  spring  must  have  omitted 
to  inform  you  of  my  age,  and  of  my  weakness  of  body  and  mind.  I 
retain  only  a  small  portion  of  weak  judgment,  have  no  memory,  and 
possess  still  less  firmness.  I  need  a  guide  both  for  the  soul  and  for  the 
body;  for  my  eyes,  my  ears,  and  my  legs  likewise  are  very  feeble. 
I  am  no  longer  good  for  anything  but  to  be  laid  in  the  ground.  I  trust, 
Monsigneur,  that  you  will  be  good  enough  to  forgive  me  for  having 
neither  carried  nor  sent  your  graces  and  favors  to  New  Orleans,  accord- 
ing to  your  letters  and  instructions, — of  which  I  have  thought  proper 
to  let  even  our  dear  Ursulines  remain  ignorant,  lest  they  might  have 
occasion  for  sorrow,  which  they  do  not  deserve."13  As  to  the  consequences 
touching  himself,  Father  Meurin  says:  "How  would  I  have  been 
received  there  after  having  stated  over  my  own  signature  (in  order  to 
obtain  permission  to  return  to  the  Illinois)  that  I  would  always  act 
as  Vicar  of  the  Reverend  Capuchin  Fathers, — subject  to  their  visits, 
their  reprimands,  and  corrections,  and  to  their  jurisdiction,  etc.,  which 
was  to  be  the  only  one  throughout  the  Mississippi.  As  soon  as  they,  the 
Spanish  authorities  heard,  through  the  voyageurs,  that  you  honored 
me  with  the  appointment  as  Vicar-General,  a  warrant  of  proscription 
was  issued  against  me ;  and  it  would  have  been  executed  had  I  not,  on 
being  warned  thereof  by  a  friend  in  authority,  escaped  from  it  by  with- 
drawing to  English  territory.  There,  on  at  once  taking  the  oath  of 
allegiance  as  a  former  resident,  I  secured  myself  against  the  Spanish 
prosecutions, — which  declare  that  I  am  a  criminal,  because  I  have  re- 
ceived jurisdiction  from  Quebec,  which  is  so  opposed  to  the  intentions 
and  interests  of  Spain."14 

Father  Meurin,  having  taken  up  his  residence  on  British  soil,  had 
occasion  to  carry  out  the  Bishop's  instructions  in  regard  to  the  mission 
property  at  Cahokia.  This  property  as  we  have  seen,  was  sold  by  Father 
Forget  Duverger,  the  last  representative  of  the  Seminary  of  the  Priests 
of  the  Foreign  Mission,  to  one  Sieur  Lagrange,  and  by  him  conveyed  to 


12     Alvord  and  Carter,  op.  cit.  p.  561. 

«     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  71,  p.  385  note. 

14     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  71,  passin. 


122  History  of  tin    Archdioces(    of  St.   Louis 

Sieur  Joutard.  The  latter  was  now  bargaining  to  sell  it  to  an  English- 
man. As  the  property  was  originally  granted  to  the  Missionary  Society 
of  Quebec  Seminary,  and  as  Father  Forget  had  received  no  power  of 
sale  from  the  Quebec  Seminary,  the  various  sales  were  void.  Hence 
Father  Meurin  protested  against  the  proposed  action  of  Sieur  Joutard 
as  illegal.  To  the  Bishop  he  writes:  "About  a  month  ago,  having  learnt 
that  Sieur  Joutard  was  bargaining  to  resell  it  to  an  Englishman,  I 
went  to  oppose  the  sale  on  behalf  of  the  Gentlemen  of  your  Seminary, 
who  claim  this  property  as  still  belonging  to  them,  through  its  having 
been  sold,  without  their  power  of  attorney  and  without  their  knowledge 
by  the  person  who  was  but  the  steward  thereof.  I  also  undertook  to 
support,  by  the  use  of  your  name,  Monseigneur,  my  contention  for  the 
preservation  of  all  property  belonging  to  the  churches  for  their  main- 
tenance and  that  of  the  missionaries  whom  You  deign  to  employ.  Mr. 
Forbes,  the  commandant,  (there  is  no  civil  government  here  as  yet), 
asked  me  for  the  letters  containing  my  commission.  I  showed  him  Your 
letters,  and  those  of  Monsieur  the  Superior.  As  regards  the  letters 
conferring  the  appointment  of  Vicar-General,  he  replied,  that,  inasmuch 
as  Monsieur  de  Gage  had  given  no  instructions  respecting  the  episcopacy 
and  the  office  of  Vicar-General,  he  could  not  take  cognizance  of  them ; 
and  that  this  seemed  purely  a  scheme  on  Your  part  and  mine.  He  there- 
fore expressly  forbade  me  to  use  the  letters,  or  to  assume  the  title  of 
Vicar-General  in  any  letter,  or  deed,  or  in  public,  until  he  should  receive 
an  answer  from  his  General  regarding  both  your  jurisdiction  in  the 
country  and  the  Cahokia  property.  He  promised  me,  however,  that  the 
latter  should  not  be  offered  for  sale  until  then.  Sieur  Joutard  goes 
to  Canada,  and  thence  to  New  York  or  London,  to  obtain  release  from 
the  possession  of  the  said  estate.  The  land  at  Fort  Chartres  is  also, 
for  the  same  reason,  in  danger  of  being  carried  away  by  the  river. 
I  have  caused  to  be  removed  and  conveyed  to  la  Prairie  du  Rocher  the 
remains  of  Monsieur  Gagnon  and  Reverend  Father  Luc,  (Luke)  a 
Recollet,  both  worthy  missionaries This  is  all  I  can  do." 

"There  is  also  in  this  village  of  the  Kaskaskias,  the  property  of 
the  Jesuits  which  was  unjustly  seized,  confiscated  and  sold  by  the  French 
government  after  the  cession  of  the  country  to  England.  If  your  Lordship 
or  your  missionaries  in  Canada  wish  to  revindicate  it,  as  for  myself  I 
ask  nothing.  I  am  too  old.  But  I  would  always  be  grieved  to  see  the 
chapel  and  cemetery  profaned,  being  now  used  as  a  garden  and  store- 
house by  the  English,  who  rent  them  from  Sieur  Jean  Baptiste  Beauvais 
— who,  under  the  decree  of  confiscation  and  the  contract  of  sale  and 
purchase  of  the  property,  was  obliged  to  demolish  the  chapel  and  leave 
its  site  and  that  of  the  cemetery  uncultivated  under  the  debris.  He  says 
that  the  subdelegate,  the  executor  of  the  decree,  has  since  sold  the 
property  to  him.     By  what  right?     The  presses  used  for  the  vestments 


Return  of  Father  Sebastian  Meurin  123 

and  sacred  vessels  are  now  used  in  his  apartments,  as  well  as  the  altar- 
cruets  and  the  floor." 

"During  the  four  A'ears  while  I  have  ministered  to  these  English 
parishes,  I  have  received  no  tithes  therefrom ;  I  have  received  naught 
but  what  was  given  me  out  of  charity  by  some,  and  the  fees  for  masses. 
I  have  always  exhorted  them  to  pay  the  tithes  to  the  fabrique,  for  the 
support  of  the  churches  and  of  the  missionary,  when  one  comes.  They, 
I  mean  the  rich  ones,  have  always  claimed  that  they  owe  nothing  when 
there  is  no  resident  pastor."15 

In  1768  Father  Meurin  made  the  first  attempt  on  British  Territory 
to  hold  the  Corpus  Christi  Procession.  At  the  request  of  the  habitants, 
he  asked  the  commandants  to  allow  the  militia  to  turn  out  under  arms, 
as  is  the  custom  among  the  Roman  Catholics,  to  escort  the  Blessed 
Sacrament.  This  they  refused.  The  weather  was  not  settled  ;  the  Father 
was  indisposed  and  fatigued,  through  having  had  a  procession  very 
early  on  the  other  side,  at  Ste.  Genevieve.  In  Kaskaskia  he  had  one 
only  in  the  Church,  and  likewise  on  the  day  of  the  octave. 


is     "Jesuit  Relations,"  vol.  71,  pp.  33-34. 


(  Shapter  4. 
MEURINAND  GIBAULT 


At  last  the  prayers  and  importunities  of  Father  Meurin  are  begin- 
ning to  bring  results,  nol  indeed  in  the  measure  of  his  expectations,  but 

after  all.  in  a  very  effieient  way.  Father  Pierre  Gibault  arrives  from 
Quebec  at  Kaskaskia  towards  the  end  of  September  1768,  in  the  quality 
of  Vicar  General  of  the  Illinois  Country,  with  the-  entire  territory  as 
his  missionary  field.  lie  is  a  native  of  Montreal,  born  April  7th,  1737. 
lie  made  his  studies  at  the  expense  of  the  Quebec  Seminary,  and  was 
destined  for  the  Illinois  missions  from  the  beginning.  The  Bishop  de- 
sired him  to  reside  at  Cahokia,  but  Father  Meurin  gladly  left  him  in 
charge  of  Kaskaskia,  as  the  more  central  and  otherwise  more  desirable 
location.  Father  Gibault  was  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  full  of  fiery 
energy,  so  that  Father  Meurin  expressed  the  fear  that,  being  so  full 
of  zeal,  he  would  not  last  long.  He  had  done  wonderful  things  at  Mack- 
inac  during  his  short  stay  at  that  old  .Jesuit  foundation.  Bishop  Briand 
took  occasion  to  showT  his  high  regard  for  the  young  man.  Only  one  or 
two  mistakes  the  missionary  had  made  which  added  a  stroke  of  weak- 
ness to  the  otherwise  ideal  picture.  "I  am  a  little  displeased  with  him," 
writes  the  Bishop,  "for  having  taken  his  mother  with  him  without  letting 
me  know  beforehand.  Such  conduct  scarcely  becomes  a  missionary,  who 
seeks,  and  should  seek,  God  alone.  It  was  for  this  that  I  ordained  him. 
I  would  not  have  sent  him  on  so  distant  a  mission  without  his  consent. 
If  he  had  told  me  that  he  must  of  necessity  have  his  mother  with  him, 
I  would  most  probably  not  have  assigned  him  to  that  good  work  but 
would  have  put  him  in  charge  of  a  parish  in  this  colony.  It  is  my  firm 
conviction  that  if  a  priest  is  to  do  justice  to  his  office  and  fulfill  his 
ministry  worthily  in  your  part  of  the  country  he  cannot  have  his  parents 
with  him  nor  be  encumbered  by  a  large  household.  In  other  respects 
Father  Gibault  seems  to  be  possessed  of  the  qualities  and  disposition  nec- 
essary for  success."1  The  other  mistake  was  his  assisting  at  the  marriage 
of  a  Frenchman  with  an  Indian  woman,  a  practice  that  was  rather  com- 
mon in  the  Illinois,  but  forbidden  in  Canada.  These  things  may  appear 
insignificant,  but  in  a  man  of  Gibault 's  character  and  position  they 
were  regarded  as  rather  serious.     A  more  serious  matter  in  the  estima- 


i  Cannon,  "Banissi  menl  iles  Jesuites  de  la  Louisiana,"  is  the  best  collection 
of  Father  Meurin's  correspondence  with  the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  The  present  ex- 
trad  is  found  <>n  p.  83.  Cf.  Metzger,  "Sebastian  Louis  Meurin/'  in  "Illinois  Cath- 
olic Eistorical   Review,"  vol.  I  V,  p.  46. 

(124) 


^e=^2w  ri. 


Meurin   and   Gibault  125 

tion  of  Father  Meurin  was  the  young  missionary's  illness.  "Father 
Gibault  has  been  ill  practically  ever  since  his  arrival"  writes  Father 
Meurin,  "At  first  he  suffered  from  a  severe  fever  and  was  in  danger; 
of  late  a  slight  but  persistent  fever  saps  his  strength.  However,  his 
courage  buoys  him  up  and  enables  him  to  perform  his  chief  duties  in 
the  parish  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Kaskaskias.  He  thought 
it  best  to  make  Kaskaskia  his  permanent  residence,  and  go  from  time 
to  time  to  the  Spanish  colony  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  from  which  I,  as  a 
Jesuit,  was  banished.  Such  was  his  good  fortune  that  he  succeeded  in 
getting  almost  all  the  people  in  these  two  parishes  to  perform  their 
Easter  duty,  which  most  of  them  had  neglected  for  years."-  But  Father 
Gibault 's  health  improved  from  day  to  day,  and  the  labors  and  priva- 
tions of  the  ministry  only  served  to  harden  him  against  the  evil  influ- 
ences of  exposure  to  bad  weather,  extended  trips  through  forests  and 
over  mountains,  the  crossing  of  rivers  and  torrents.  Indeed  the  Lord, 
as  Father  Meurin  prayed,  renewed  His  ancient  miracles  in  his  behalf. 
"There  remained  only  the  danger  of  eventual  discouragement.  For  this 
country  is  in  such  a  wretched  condition  that  long  before  we  have  com- 
pleted our  work  in  one  place  the  stations  where  we  worked  earlier  have 
returned  to  their  original  condition,  if  not  indeed  to  a  worse  condition, 
since  we  cannot  possibly  give  enough  lime  to  any  locality  to  root  out 
evil  practices  and  accustom  the  people  to  righteous  living."3  Father 
Gibault 's  work  was  clearly  marked  out  for  him  by  Father  Meurin :  "I 
never  miss  an  opportunity  to  explain  to  him  that  the  inhabitants  of 
St.  Louis,  of  Cahokia,  of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  Ste.  Genevieve  and  Vincennes 
are  as  much  his  parishioners  as  the  people  of  Kaskaskia,  to  whom  he 
seems  inclined  to  confine  himself.  Thus  the  whole  country  would  become 
one  great  parish,  until  there  were  priests  in  all  the  villages."4  Father 
Gibault  soon  realized  the  full  extent  of  bis  duty.  But  his  first  and  most 
pressing  obligation  was  to  the  people  of  Kaskaskia. 

Meanwhile  Father  Meurin  took  up  his  work  at  Cahokia,  across  the 
river  from  St^  Louis,  as  he  informs  Bishop  Briand  in  1768:  "up  to 
the  present  I  have  had  charge  of  the  parish  of  the  Holy  Family  among 
the  Cahokias  or  Tamarois,  from  the  time  I  came  here  in  autumn  till 
Christmas,  from  the  end  of  January  till  Easter,  and  then  I  stayed  here 
till  the  Ascension.  I  have  spent  the  last  twelve  days  here,  ministering 
likewise  to  the  inhabitants  of  Saint  Louis,  the  principal  village  of  the 
Spanish  colony,  from  which  I  was  banished.  I  baptise  and  marry  them, 
hear  their  confessions  and  give  them  Communion,  etc. ;  I  only  go  to 


2  Carayon,   op.   cit.   p.   84,   Englished   in    Metzger's   article,   "Louisiana    Cath- 
olic Historical  Review,"  vol.  IV,  p.  47. 

3  Carayon,  op.  cit.  p.  84,  Metzger,  1.  c,  p.  47. 
*     Carayon,  op.  cit.  Metzger,  1.  c,  p.  48. 


126  History  of  lln    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Saint  Louis  in  case  of  sickness  and  then  only  a1  night  and  incognito. 
Prom  here  I  shall  go  to  Prairie  du  Rocher,  a  little  village  of  twenty 
people,  including  two  who  are  at  Port  Chartres,  one  league  from  here, 
and  four  men  living  at  Saint  Philip  at  a  distance  <>f  three  leagues.  I 
retired  to  Prairie  du  Rocher  so  that  new  missionaries  might  have  a  better 
field  for  the  exercise  of  their  zeal  and  talent  and  might  find  it  easier  to 
secure  a  livelihood.  As  we  hoped  for  at  least  two  missionaries,  this  little 
parish,  which  is  part  of  Sainte  Anne  at  Port  Chartres,  invited  me  to 
spend  the  rest  of  my  days  here,  promising  to  build  me  a  parish  house 
and  to  furnish  everything  I  needed  for  the  rest  of  my  life,  no  matter  what 
infirmities  might  come  upon  me.  Because  of  this  I  promised  not  to 
abandon  them  unless  I  were  absolutely  forced  to  do  so,  stipulating,  how- 
ever, that  I  reserved  the  right  to  go  to  the  aid  of  the  other  villages  so 
long  as  I  could  do  so  and  they  needed  my  ministrations.  I  likewise 
promised  to  bequeath  to  their  church  everything  1  had  received  from 
them  or  from  any  other  source,  providing  no  other  Jesuits  returned  to 
this  country.  These  people  furnished  me  with  a  servant,  and  a  horse 
and  carriage  for  my  journeys,  no  doubt  hoping  thus  to  keep  me  alive 
the  longer.  May  God  reward  them  for  their  kindness.  There  is  nothing 
I  could  reasonably  desire ;  I  am  in  good  health  and  I  am  unburdened 
by  temporal  care.  Is  this  not  too  much,  Monseigneur,  for  a  poor  reli- 
gious, who  has  been  banished,  condemned  to  death,  and  escaped  several 
times  from  the  scaffold,  or  at  least  from  the  mines  ?  But  let  us  not  de- 
clare the  battle  won — all  of  these  evils  may  return.  On  one  occasion  when 
I  was  perhaps  a  trifle  too  enthusiastic  in  my  defense  of  the  Gentlemen 
of  your  seminary  in  the  presence  of  the  English  who  came  in  the  King's 
name  to  take  possession  of  the  house,  ground,  etc.,  of  the  mission  among 
the  Tamarois,  Mr.  Morgan,  President  of  Justice,  told  me  that  I  should 
not  forget  that  I  had  been  banished  by  the  Spanish,  and  that  my  posi- 
tion among  the  English  was  precarious.  Nevertheless,  I  am  still  here, 
living  now,  as  I  formerly  did,  in  the  mission  house,  and  taking  Father 
Gibault's  place."5 

And  so  they  labored  in  unison  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  peace 
to  men  of  good  will,  Meurin,  the  last  representative  of  the  old  order, 
Gibault,  the  high  minded  herald  of  the  new,  both  rejoicing  alike  if  the 
work  was  done,  whether  it  was  done  by  the  one  or  the  other,  whether  the 
glory  of  doing  it  redounded  to  the  old  or  the  young.  They  both  served 
a  Master  that  leaves  no  one  go  without  his  reward. 

One  more  severe  trial  awaited  the  lonely  Jesuit  in  his  seclusion  at 
Prairie  du  Rocher.     The  suppression  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  by  Pope 


5     Carayon,  op.  cit.  Metzger,  1.  c,  p.  47-48. 


Meurin   and    Gibault  127 

Clement  XIV  in  1774.6  Heretofore  the  persecution  of  the  Jesuits  had 
been  conducted  by  Kings  and  parliaments  and  Superior  Councils,  who 
absolutely  lacked  jurisdiction.  But  now  the  Pope  had  spoken,  though 
reluctantly,  and  all  was  over,  as  men  thought.  Heretofore  the  faith- 
ful son  of  St.  Ignatius  "did  not  consider  it  necessary  to  change  any- 
thing whatsoever,  either  in  my  religious  habit,  or  in  the  breviary,  Masses, 
and  Feasts,  proper  to  or  granted  to  the  Society  of  Jesus."7  But  now, 
he  asks  to  be  received  as  a  member  of  the  diocesan  clergy  of  Quebec  and 
then  in  the  beautiful  spirit  of  humility  he  adds:  "I  shall  consider  my- 
self very  happy,  if,  in  the  short  time  I  have  still  to  live,  I  am  able  to 
repair  the  acts  of  cowardice  and  negligence  of  which  I  have  been  guilty 
during  the  past  thirty-three  years.  If  you  will  be  so  kind  as  to  adopt  me, 
I  am  convinced  that  you  will  forgive  me  and  will  ask  mercy  for  me."8 
Father  Meurin  was  the  very  soul  of  humility  and  divine  charity.  His  last 
words  recorded  for  us  were  words  of  praise  bestowed  upon  his  people  of 
the  Illinois  and  the  Seminary  priests  whom  he  had  known  in  the  long  ago. 
Let  them  be  this  epitaph:  "The  people  of  this  country  are  not  any 
worse  than  those  of  Canada.  They  are  even  more  good  than  bad.  This 
is  sometimes  my  only  consolation,  as  it  was  the  consolation  of  Fathers 
Thaumer,  Mercier,  Gagnon  and  Laurens,  all  very  worthy  priests  of  this 
diocese,  whose  memory  is  still  in  benediction  here."9  There  are  many 
writers  of  note,  who  have  placed  on  record  the  remarkable  career  of 
Father  Pierre  Gibault,  as  missionary  and  pastor  of  souls,  as  the  Grand 
Vicar  for  many  years  of  the  Bishops  of  Quebec,  and  as  a  public  bene- 
factor and  patriot.10  In  the  wide  compass  of  a  diocesan  history  strange 
and  memorable  events  of  such  a  career  cannot  be  given  in  detail.  An 
adequate  history  of  Father  Gibault  and  his  Times  is  still  a  desideratum. 
We  must  confine  ourselves  to  a  brief  conspectus.  And  first  as  to  his 
parochial  labors  and  successes  in  Kaskaskia. 

At  the  time  of  Father  Gibault 's  arrival  in  Kaskaskia  the  old  town 
had  become  rejuvenated  though  not  in  the  spirit  of  religion.  It  con- 
tained a  population  of  over  fifteen  hundred  souls,  almost  all  Catholics  of 
some  sort.  The  women  were  still  true  to  the  Church  of  their  childhood, 
and  faithful  to  the  marriage  bond.  But  the  love  of  pleasure  and  gayety 
had  made  sad  inroads  upon  their  religious  fervor.  The  old  patriarchal 
life  had  given  place  to  fashion  and  folly.     As  for  the  men,  Father 


6  "Life  of  Pope  Clement  XIV,"  from  the  French  of  M.  Caraecioli,  London, 
1776,  Appendix,  pp.  35-84.    Also,  "American  Catholic  Quarterly  Eeview,"  XII,  699. 

7  Carayon,  op.  cit.  p.  97.     Metzger,  vol.  IV,  p.  54. 

8  Carayon,  ibidem. 

9  Letter  of  May  23,  1776.     Metzger,  p.  55. 

io     Cf.   Thompson,  Jos.,  "Illinois'   First  Citizen  Pierre  Gibault,"   in   "Illinois 
Catholic  Historical  Eeview,"  vols.  IV,  V,  VIII. 


128  History  of  lh<   Archdiocest   of  si.  Louis 

Oibault  could  not  find  ten  who  had  made  their  Easter  duty  for  the  last 
four  or  five  years.  Father  Meurin's  teachings  had  found  but  stony 
ground  in  frivolous  Kaskaskia.  But  the  young  missionary  from  Canada 
started  a  vigorous  attack  upon  ignorance  and  vice.  In  his  letter  to 
Bishop  Briand,  February  15,  1769,  he  writes:  "I  have  public  prayers 
every  evening  inwards  sundown,  catechism  four  times  a  week,  three  times 
for  the  whites,  and  once  for  the  blacks  or  slaves.  As  often  as  possible 
I  preach  on  such  matters  as  I  think  most  useful  for  the  instruction  of 
my  hearers.  In  a  word,  1  employ  my  talents  for  the  glory  of  God,  for 
my  own  sanctification  and  for  that  of  my  neighbor  as  much,  it  seems 
to  me,  as  I  ought  to  do.  I  trust  that  our  Lord  will  consider  more  what 
I  wish  to  do  and  the  intention  with  which  I  do  it.  than  what  I  ac- 
complish. ' ,11 

On  June  15th,  of  the  same  year  the  young  pastor  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  being  able  to  write  ....  "There  are  only  seven  or  eight 
persons  in  my  village  who  did  not  receive  their  Paschal  Communion, 
something  that,  according  to  the  oldest  inhabitant  had  never  been  known 
before  ....  My  tithes  amount  to  from  two  to  three  hundred  bushels 
of  wheat  and  four  or  five  hundred  bushels  of  maize  or  Indian  corn,  and 
perquisites."12  But  this  was  only  a  beginning  although  an  excellent 
one :  he  had  gained  the  good  will  and  the  confidence  of  his  parishioners 
composed  of  French  Creoles,  Canadians,  the  Indians  of  the  Mission  and 
the  soldiers  of  a  batallion  of  the  Eighteenth  Royal  Irish  Regiment.13 

Concerning  Ste.  Genevieve,  the  appointed  residence  of  Father  Meu- 
rin,  Father  Gibault  writes  soon  after  his  arrival  in  the  Illinois  country : 
' '  I  have  always  attended  Ste.  Genevieve,  which  is  two  leagues  from  my 
parish,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  which,  consequently, 
belongs  to  the  Spaniards.  I  easily  secured  the  permission  to  do  so  from 
the  English  governor ;  and  the  Spanish  Commandant,  being  very  devout, 
would  wish  me  to  have  it  forever,  etc.  Father  Meurin  has  no  permis- 
sion to  go  there.  The  comprehensive  title  of  Vicar  General  made  them 
banish  him  from  Ste  Genevieve,  where  he  would  have  stayed  as  a  simple 
missionary;  but  a  Jesuil  with  so  much  power  in  Spain  became  an  object 
of  suspicion.  I  do  not  cross  over  to  the  other  side  except  for  marriages 
and  baptisms  and  to  attend  the  sick."14 

After  restoring  order,  harmony  and  spiritual  life  in  all  the  mis- 
sions in  the  vicinity  of  his  residence  at  Kaskaskia,  Father  Gibault  ex- 
tended his  labors  to  more  distant  fields.  In  the  winter  of  1769-70  he 
set  out  for  Vincennes,  although  the  route  he  must  travel  was  Hirough  a 


ii  Thompson,  op.  cit.,  vol.  IV,  p.   200. 

12  Thompson,  op.  cit.,  vol.  IV,  p.  201. 

is  The  Royal  [rish  Regiment  was  stationed  at  Fort  Chartres. 

14  Thompson,  op.  'it.,  vol.  IV,  p.  199. 


Meurin  and   Gibault  129 

country  filled  with  hostile  and  savage  Indians  on  the  war  path,  who 
had  already  killed  many  people.  .Similar  conditions  obtained  at  this 
Post,  as  he  had  found  at  Kaskaskia.  Twenty  years  of  deprivation  of 
religious  ministration  had  introduced  libertinage  and  irreligion. 
"Nevertheless,"  as  the  missionary  says,  "when  he  arrived  everybody 
came  in  a  crowd  to  meet  him  on  the  banks  of  the  Wabash.  Some  threw 
themselves  upon  their  knees  and  were  quite  unable  to  speak ;  others 
spoke  only  by  their  sobs;  some  cried  out,  'Father,  save  us,  we  are 
nearly  in  hell';  others  said  :  'God  has  not  utterly  abandoned  us,  for  it  is 
He  who  has  sent  you  to  us  to  make  us  do  penance  for  our  sins ' ;  and 
others  again  exclaimed:  'Ah,  Sir,  why  did  you  not  come  a  month  ago, 
then  my  poor  wife,  my  dear  father,  my  loved  mother,  my  poor  child 
would  not  have  died  without  the  sacraments.'  "15  Father  Gibault  was 
deeply  touched  by  these  manifestations  of  good  will.  Of  his  successes  dur- 
ing the  two  months  of  his  stay  he  made  mention  to  his  Bishop  :  "I  have 
rebuilt  the  church  at  this  post.  It  will  be  of  wood  but  well  built  and 
very  strong ;  there  are  a  goodly  sized  presbytery,  a  fine  orchard,  a  garden 
and  a  good  farm  (terre)  for  the  benefit  of  the  pastor  who  would  live 
elegantly.  There  are  only  eighty  inhabitants  who  farm,  but  there  are 
many  people  of  all  trades,  numbers  of  young  men  who  are  daily  establish- 
ing themselves  here  ;  in  all  there  are  about  seven  or  eight  hundred  persons 
who  are  desirous  of  having  a  priest."10  To  make  his  joy  complete  an 
English  family  at  the  Post,  all  of  whose  members  were  Presbyterians, 
asked  to  be  received  into  the  Church.  During  Father  Gibault 's  absence 
from  Kaskaskia  Father  Meurin  wax  kept  busy  as  he  imforms  the  Bishop 
with  all  the  missions,  as  far  as  Cahokia,  his  own  residence  being  in 
Prairie  du  Rocher.  Sometime  after  Father  Gibault 's  return  from  Vin- 
cennes  his  mother  came  to  Kaskaskia  to  make  a  home  for  her  son,  and  his 
domestic  happiness  took  away  from  his  mission  the  character  of  a  place 
of  exile.  The  sister  who  accompanied  her  to  the  Illinois  country  had  not 
been  there  long  before  she  was  married.  Both  had  remained  behind  for 
a  time  at  Mackinac  until  a  home  was  prepared  for  them  at  Kaskaskia. 
In  allusion  to  Bishop  Briand's  reproach,  the  truehearted  son  wrote:  "i 
could  not  send  away  my  dear  mother  who  came  to  me  at  Montreal  say- 
ing that  she  would  go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  (with  me)  rather  than  be 
left  in  her  old  age  at  the  mercy  of  any  and  everybody."17  In  regard  to 
Father  Meurin  he  says :  "I  consider  myself  nearly  alone,  for  the  Rever- 
end Father  Meurin  has  been  unable  to  leave  his  house  since  last  autumn, 
partly  because  of  his  age  which  has  broken  him  down,  partly  because 
of  several  dangerous  falls  that  he  had  on  bad  roads  to  which  the  weight 


is     Thompson,  op.  cit.,  vol.  IV,  p.  202-203. 
io     Thompson,  op.  cit.,  vol.  IV,  p.  203. 
17     Thompson,  op.  cit.,  vol.  IV,  p.  203. 


Vol.  I— 5 


130  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

of  his  body  and  the  weakness  of  his  limbs  made  him  liable."  Two  more 
missionaries  arc  si  ill  needed,  one  for  the  Tainarois.  twenty  leagues  from 
here;  the  other  for  Post  Vincennes.  eighty  leagues  from  here.  Dis- 
orders are  many  there  ....  This  portion  of  your  flock  is  terribly 
exposed  to  wolves,  especially  at  Post  Vincennes  where  there  is  a  con- 
siderable number  of  people  who  are  much  better  able  to  support  a  priest 
than  at  the  place  where  I  am.  And  yet  I  find  myself  very  happily  fixed 
as  to  temporal  affairs."18 

The  missionary  on  the  spot  is  getting  importunate :  the  bishop  far 
away  does  not  respond.  So  the  life  of  weariness  and  fret  must  go  on. 
Father  Gibault  bears  his  cross  bravely,  without  repining.  The  Registers 
of  Michilimackinac,  of  the  Sault  of  St.  Mary,  St.  Joseph's  on  Lake  Michi- 
gan. Detroit,  Cahokia,  St.  Louis,  St.  Genevieve,  Kaskaskia,  Vincennes 
and  Peoria,  show  how  vast  an  extent  of  territory  he  traversed  during  his 
missionary  career;  and  his  letters  furnish  us  with  interesting  details 
regarding  his  ministry. 

Mostly  he  went  about  from  place  to  place  on  foot  or  horseback  or 
in  a  cart,  bearing  with  him  the  utensils  of  his  sacred  ministry;  some- 
times a  canoe  was  provided  by  a  friend  or  chance  companion  of  a  voyage. 
At  first  he  carried  a  belt  with  pistol  and  knife,  as  a  protection  against 
wild  animals  or  a  warning  to  marauders.  But  later  he  discarded  the 
pistol  as  being  more  dangerous  to  himself  than  to  any  possible  enemy. 
Facing  danger  at  almost  every  step,  braving  hardships  such  as  are  un- 
known today  in  all  but  the  most,  savage  countries,  bearing  his  burden 
alone  with  God,  ever  ready  for  the  call  of  duty,  Father  Gibault  was 
also  doomed  to  taste  the  bitterness  of  obloquy  and  defamation.  It  seems 
to  be  the  fate  of  all  the  great  and  good.  But  how  nobly,  how  convinc- 
ingly does  Father  Gibault  repel  the  impudent  accusation  in  a  letter  to 
his  Bishop:  "How  can  I,  in  all  the  pains  and  hardships  I  have  under- 
gone in  my  different  journeys,  winter  and  summer,  to  points  the  most 
separated,  attending  so  many  villages,  so  distant  from  each  other,  in 
all  weathers,  night  and  day,  snow  or  rain,  windstorm  or  fog  on  the 
Mississippi,  so  that  I  never  slept  four  nights  in  a  year  in  my  own 
bed,  never  hesitating  to  start  at  a  moment's  notice,  whether  sick  or 
well;  how,  I  ask,  can  a  priest  who  sacrifices  himself  in  this  way  with 
no  other  view  than  God's  glory,  and  the  salvation  of  his  neighbor,  with 
no  pecuniary  reward,  almost  always  ill-fed,  unable  almost  to  attend  to 
both  spiritual  and  temporal ;  how7  I  again  ask,  can  you  know  that  such 
a  priest,  zealous  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  his  holy  ministry,  careful  to 
watch  over  his  flock,  to  found  them  in  the  most  important  tenets  of 
religion,  to  instruct  the  young  unceasingly  and  untiringly,  not  only  in 


is     Thompson,  op.  cit.,  vol.  IV,  p.  202. 


Meurin   and   Gibault  131 

Christian  doctrine  but  in  reading  and  writing;  how  can  you  know  that 
he  is  one  who  gives  or  has  given  scandal  to  his  people. '  '19 

Father  Gibault  visited  Canada  in  1775.  On  his  way  he  made  a 
second  visit  to  Vincennes.  Returning  in  September  he  was  detained 
at  Mackinac  by  bad  weather  until  the  third  of  December.  After  retrac- 
ing his  course  to  Detroit,  he  wrote  the  Bishop :  ' '  The  suffering  I  have 
undergone  between  Michilimackinac  and  this  place  has  so  deadened 
my  faculties  that  I  only  half  feel  my  chagrin  at  being  unable  to  proceed 
to  the  Illinois."20  Yet  he  did  return,  but  how  early  in  the  year  we  do 
not  know.  Only  this  we  know  that  his  missionary  life  was  continued  with 
all  the  energy  of  his  soul. 

On  February  23,  1777  his  companion  in  the  vast  mission,  Father 
Sebastian  Louis  Meurin,  Indian  Missionary,  Vicar  General  and  Pastor 
of  St.  Joseph  Church,  Prairie  du  Rocher,  entered  into  life  eternal.  On 
February  27  or  29  Father  Gibault  buried  his  remains  in  the  Church  on 
the  gospel  side  of  the  altar,  from  which  they  were  removed  in  August 
1849  to  the  beautiful  Cemetery  of  St.  Stanislaus  Novitiate,  Florissant, 
Missouri.21 

Father  Gibault  was  now  left  alone  the  only  priest  in  the  wide 
domain  of  the  Illinois. 


i»     "Historical  Kecords  and  Studies,"  vol.  VI,  Part  II,  p.  153. 

20     Thompson,  op.  cit.,  vol.  IV,  p.  208. 

-1     Records  of  St.  Joseph 's  Parish  of  Prairie  du  Rocher. 


Chapter  5. 
FATHER  GIBAULT,  THE  PATRIOT  PRIEST. 


After  life's  fitful  fever  Father  Meurin  now  rests  in  peace:  but 
for  Father  Gibatilt  the  stormiest  years  of  his  eventful  career  are  draw- 
ing nigh.  The  Declaration  of  Independence,  July  4th,  177(i,  had  electri- 
fied the  English  Colonies  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  War  was  sweeping 
the  country  to  the  East  and  North.  Canada  was  held  safe  for  the 
British  by  French  Catholics  with  Bishop  Briands'  powerful  influence. 
"It  was  Bishop  Briand,"  as  his  successor  tells  us  in  glo\*  ing  terms,  "who, 
occupying  the  Sea  of  Quebec  a1  the  turning  point  in  the  history  of 
France.  Living  alternately  under  the  banner  of  the  Fleur  de  Lis  and 
again  under  the  British  standard,  loyal  at  first  to  the  former  until,  when 
on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  all,  save  honor,  was  lost,  generously  trans- 
ferred to  the  latter  the  homage  of  his  entire  loyalty,  used  all  his  sacred 
influence  during  those  terrible  days  to  keep  Canada  faithful  to  her 
new  masters.  And  the  people  of  Canada  with  few  exceptions,  whilst 
still  preserving  affection  for  their  old  mother-country,  were  happy  to 
live  in  the  shadow  of  the  British  flag  and  to  know  that  they  dwelt  in  one 
of  the  freest  countries  of  the  Avorld."1 

When,  however,  France  came  to  the  aid  of  the  struggling  Ameri- 
cans, this  sentiment  of  loyalty  became  clouded  with  new  hopes  and  fears, 
especially  in  the  old  French  possessions  on  the  Mississippi. 

Rumors  of  battles  and  sieges  and  massacres  came  floating  on  the 
air  in  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1778.  The  Illinois  country,  in- 
deed, felt  safe  from  attack.  The  garrison  of  the  little  stone  fort  in 
Kaskaskia  had  been  almost  completely  withdrawn  to  fight  the  rebels 
and  Indians  around  Detroit.  A  Frenchman,  Rocheblave,  was  comman- 
dant of  the  place.  He  had  a  presentiment  of  something  serious  im- 
pending, but  no  one  paid  any  attention  to  his  warnings.  His  business 
was  to  direct  the  neighboring  Indians  against  the  American  frontier 
settlements  of  Kentucky  and  Georgia.  "The  principal  inhabitants  Avere 
entirely  against  the  American  cause,"  neither  were  they  prepared  to 
fight  for  the  British.  They  desired  only  the  preservation  of  peace.  The 
Commandant,  a  bumptious  personage  imported  from  St.  Genevieve,  was 
scoffed  at  when  making  the  remotest  allusion  to  an  impending  attack. 
All  was  quiet  along  the  Okaw  River,  when  on  a  sudden,  in  the  depth 
of  night,  the  eagles  of  Avar  swooped  doAvn  on  Kaskaskia \s  peaceful  cit- 


'American  Catholic   Eistorical   Researches,"  vol.  XVII,  pp.   142  and   14.!. 

(132) 


Father  Gibault,  the  Patriot   Priest  133 

izens.  It  was  George  Rogers  Clark  with  his  little  band  of  so-called  Vir- 
ginians, daring  fellows  from  the  frontier  settlements  of  Kentucky.  The 
Governor  of  Virginia,  Patrick  Henry,  had  authorized  the  attack.  The 
intrepid  yet  most  prudent  Clark  had  carried  out  his  own  well  considered 
plan.  Kaskaskia  was  in  the  power  of  the  Virginians,  but  the  legend 
might  have  been  reversed  to  say :  The  Virginians  are  in  the  power  of 
Kaskaskia.  Quick  action  must  follow  the  surprise.  Rocheblave  is  a 
prisoner  of  war.  But  the  citizens  of  the  town,  and  the  neighboring 
Indians,  far  surpass  the  number  of  Clark's  volunteers.  Then  Cahokia 
too  must  be  captured  or  won  over,  but  that  is  a  question  for  tomorroAv. 
The  situation  requires  immediate  action.  The  unexpected  coming  of 
Clark's  Long  Knives  had  only  disturbed  and  not  roused  the  Kaskaskians 
to  resistance.  They  ask  permission  to  assemble  in  the  Church  for  divine 
service,  and  a  discussion  of  their  present  plight.  Clark  speaks  kindly 
to  them,  seeing  their  fear  and  bewilderment ;  for  there  are  few  things 
more  bewildering  than  the  surprise  of  an  attack  at  night.  Sagacious, 
as  Clark  is,  he  talks  to  them  about  the  advantage  of  joining  the  Ameri- 
can cause,  and  assures  them  that  the  Americans  are  not  the  wild  and 
beastly  fellows,  they  had  been  represented  to  be.  They  listened  in  silence. 
At  the  general  meeting  Father  Gibault  who  had  been  to  see  Clark,  dis- 
pelled their  anxieties,  assuring  them  of  the  friendship  and  protection 
of  the  Americans.  The  temper  of  the  Kaskaskias  was  now  changed  from 
fear  to  joy,  as  not  only  their  lives,  but  their  liberty  and  prosperity 
seemed  secure.  From  that  day  on  Father  Gibault  was  regarded  as  a 
tower  of  strength  for  Clark's  boldest  plans,  and  the  brave  priest  fully 
realized  the  commander's  expectations.2 

The  next  important  step  to  be  taken  by  the  Americans  was  the  cap- 
ture  of  Cahokia.  Owing  to  Father  Gibault's  assurances,  this  was  easily 
accomplished  by  Clark's  lieutenant  Joseph  Bowman.  Of  course,  a  wave 
of  alarm  and  consternation  swept  on  through  the  country  as  Bowman's 
cavalry  troop  rode  into  the  various  villages  on  their  way  to  Cahokia : 
But  Father  Gibault's  word  reassured  the  people,  and  all  was  calm  and 
quiet  once  more.  An  alleged  attempt  to  raise  the  Indians  at  Cahokia 
against  the  invaders  must  have  proved  futile.  Within  ten  days  practi- 
cally all  the  inhabitants  of  the  French  villages  from  Kaskaskia  to  Cahokia 
had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  sovereign  state  of  Virginia.  There 
is  nothing  said  here  about  Fort  Chartres,  which  a  few  years  previous 
was  called  ' '  the  most  convenient  and  best  built  fort  in  North  America, ' ' 
for  the  simple  reason  that  the  currents  of  the  Mississippi  river  had  suc- 
ceeded to  such  an  extent  in  their  work  of  undermining  its  massive  walls. 


2     Cf.  "Conquest  of  the  Country  Northwest  of  the  River  Ohio,   1778-1783,"  by 
William  Hayden  English,  1896.     Chapter  VII. 


134  History  of  Uu   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

thai  this,  the  proudesl  monument  of  the  power  of  France  in  America  was 
then  only  a  crumbling  ruin. 

Col.  Clark  was,  of  course,  fully  convinced  that  the  British  would 
try  to  cut  off  his  communications  with  Virginia.  In  order  to  do  this 
Vincennes  on  the  Wabash,  would  be  their  first  objective.  In  order  to 
secure  his  hold  on  the  Illinois  towns,  he  must  capture  Vincennes.  He 
learnt  from  Father  Gibault,  that  the  British  Governor  had  with-drawn 
the  garrison  from  the  fort,  yet  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  might  easily 
thwart  the  effort  at  capture.  Father  Gibault  counselled  peaceable  means 
of  conquest.  He  offered  to  go  to  Vincennes  himself  to  persuade  his  pa- 
rishioners there  to  deliver  town  and  village  to  the  Virginians.  But  as 
his  duties  were  spiritual,  he  asked  that  Dr.  Laffont,  a  citizen  of  Kas- 
kaskia,  be  appointed  as  head  of  the  mission.  Father  Gibault,  however, 
promised  Clark,  "that  he  would  give  the  people  of  Vincennes  such  hints 
in  the  spiritual  way  that  would  be  conducive  to  the  business."  The 
offer  and  suggestion  was  gladly  accepted  by  Clark.  Father  Gibault  re- 
ceived his  instruction  verbally :  Dr.  Laffont  was  appointed  head  of  the 
delegation,  but  its  soul  was  Father  Gibault.  Dr.  Laffont  was  ordered  by 
Clark  to  act  in  concert  with  him,  "the  priest,  who  will  prepare  the 
inhabitants  to  agree  to  your  demands. ' '  The  two  heralds  of  peace  started 
at  once  for  Vincennes  and  were  respectfully  received  at  the  town.  Father 
Gibault,  being  the  pastor  of  the  place,  knew  everybody  and  was  loved 
by  all.  When  he  opened  to  them  the  purpose  of  his  mission,  they  were 
surprised :  but  as  he  explained  to  them,  what  had  been  done  at  Kas- 
kaskia,  and  that  there  was  nothing  else  to  be  done  at  Vincennes  under 
the  circumstances  in  which  the  French  people  found  themselves  between 
two  warring  powers,  they  acquiesced  to  acknowledge  their  submission, 
and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Virginia.  The  boundaries  of  the  Great 
Republic  was  thus  extended  to  the  Mississippi  on  the  west  and  to  the 
Illinois  River  to  the  north.3 

Col.  Clark  wrote  two  accounts  of  the  whole  transaction,  the  second 
one  slightly  differing  from  the  first.  In  the  first  version  Clark  claims 
the  credit  of  originating  the  plan  for  himself,  in  the  second  document 
greater  prominence  is  given  to  the  priest.  However  that  may  be,  Father 
Gibault  was  in  reality  the  originator  and  main  actor  in  the  winning 
of  Vincennes  for  the  Americans.  Clark's  statement  is  that  Father  Gi- 
bault offered  to  go  to  Vincennes,  and  went  as  an  emissary  of  Virginia. 
The  British  authorities  condemned  the  priest  for  his  interference  by 
which  Vincennes  was  lost  to  their  cause.  The  Bishop  of  Quebec,  Briand 
and  his  successor,  were  displeased  with  their  former  Vicar  General  for 
turning  the  people  of  the  Illinois  County  to  the  American  side.     The 


a     Alvord,  C.  W.,  "Kaskaskia  Records,"  ]>.  XXVII  s. 


Father  Gibault,  the  Patriot  Priest  135 

testimony  in  favor  of  Father  Gibanlt's  decisive  influence  on  the  exten- 
sion of  American  power  north  of  the  Ohio  River  is  so  general  and  con- 
vincing, that  Judge  Law's  dictum  is  accepted  by  all  who  are  interested 
in  the  matter:  "To  Father  Gibault,  next  to  Clark  and  Vigo,  the  United 
States  are  more  indebted  for  the  accession  of  the  States  comprised  in 
what  was  the  original  Northwest  Territory,  than  to  any  other  man. '  '* 

It  is  true,  that  the  British  reconquered  Vincennes,  and  proposed 
the  reconquest  of  the  Illinois  villages  at  their  earliest  convenience.  But, 
thanks  to  the  fidelity  of  the  French  habitants,  and  the  salutary  respect 
for  the  power  of  America,  instilled  into  the  Indians  by  the  adhesion 
of  their  old  friends,  the  French,  to  the  American  cause,  Col.  Clark  held 
his  position  in  the  Illinois  country  and  regained  the  control  of  Vin- 
cennes. Clark's  second  capture  of  the  strategic  point  on  the  Wabash  was 
affected  by  French  militia  from  the  Mississippi  border,  under  French 
and  American  officers,  all  of  which  would  have  been  impossible  if  Father 
Gibault  had  not  exerted  his  influence  on  the  people  of  his  love  and  care. 
Yet,  as  the  Historian  of  "The  Illinois  Country"  tells  us:  "In  spite  of 
the  success  of  the  expedition,  Father  Gibault  was  unwilling  to  be  counted 
an  actor  in  it,  for  having  learned  of  the  village  gossip  about  his  in- 
fluence in  Vincennes,  he  pei-suaded  Dr.  Laffont  to  write,  a  few  days  after 
his  return,  a  letter  to  Clark,  in  which  Laffont  assumed  all  responsibility. 
In  less  than  a  month  after  he  started  for  Vincennes,  therefore,  he  was 
saying  that  he  had  done  nothing  more  than  counsel  "peace  and  union  and 
to  hinder  bloodshed."5  From  this  seeming  contradiction  it  would  ap- 
pear to  follow,  either  that  Father  Gibanlt's  character  of  courage  and 
veracity  must  suffer,  or  that  the  high  claims  made  for  his  name  and 
fame  as  one  of  the  great  heroes  of  the  western  world  must  be  con- 
siderably reduced.  Now  neither  point  of  this  dilemma  can  be  justly 
urged.  There  is  another  possibility,  a  possibility  that  is  often  disre- 
garded. What  if  Father  Gibault,  with  all  his  greatness  and  with  all 
his  grand  achievements  as  recorded  in  history,  was  essentially  a  modest, 
humble  man,  "After  crosses  and  losses  men  grow  humbler  and  wiser," 
is  a  saying  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  It  is  a  true  saying.  And  again ; 
"humility  is  the  solid  foundation  of  all  the  virtues."  Few  men  of 
his  time  have  had  greater  losses  and  crosses  than  Father  Gibault,  few  men 
among  his  contemporaries  have  attained  a  higher  degree  of  virtue. 
Crosses  laid  the  foundation  of  humility,  and  on  humility  was  built  the 
noble  character  of  Father  Gibault.  The  valiant  Pastor  of  Kaskaskia 
could  make  every  sacrifice  for  the  people  of  his  flock,  without  any  re- 
gard to  possible  praise  or  blame,  did  he  but  perform  what  he  recognized 


4  Law,  Judge  John,  "Colonial  History  of  Vincennes,"   (1858),  p.  55. 

5  Alvord,  C.  W.,  "Kaskaskia  Records,"  pp.  50-51. 


136  History  of  the  Archdiocest   of  St.  Louis 

as  his  duty.  The  success  of  his  undertakings  was  not  the  effecl  of  his 
work,  but  of  the  blessing  of  God.  Le1  God  be  praised  for  all,  and,  if 
a  few  little  fragments  of  praise  arc  due  to  the  human  instruments  of 
divine  power,  let  them  go  1<>  those  who  need  a  little  praise  in  order  to 
keep  up  their  courage  and  good  will.  Father  Gibaull  was  no  common 
man:  his  character  was  cast  in  a  heroic  mold.  His  was  not  a  "timid 
soul,"  as  Clark  was  pleased  to  describe  it.  The  stoutest  heart  of  a 
father  might  well  quake  at  the  sighl  of  the  sword  flashing  above  the  head 
of  his  children.  Father  Gibault  was  a  true  father  of  his  people  of 
Kaskaskia.  And  in  regard  to  serious  danger  to  himself,  the  brave  man 
will  seek  to  avoid  it.  as  long'  as  duty  and  honor  permits:  only  the  rash 
and  presumptuous  rush  into  danger  where  they  have  no  call.  If  Clark 
then  thought  he  saw  a  certain  trepidation  in  Father  Cibault  at  the  ap- 
proach of  the  British,  where  Clark's  followers  remained  cool  and  col- 
lected; he  should  have  thought  of  the  difference  between  the  French 
and  Anglo-Saxon  temperaments,  the  one  warm  and  demonstrative,  the 
other  cool  and  contemptuous. 

But  did  not  Father  Gibault  violate  his  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  English  King,  and  advise  his  people  to  do  likewise?  Do 
not  the  words  addressed  by  the  Canadian  Bishop  contain  a 
reflection  on  Father  Gibault's  conduct  at  Kaskaskia  and  Vincenncs ; 
' '  Our  good  friends  seem  at  times  to  forget  the  duty  of  loyalty  for  the 
children  of  Christ's  Church,  [t  is  not  a  sentimental  affair  nor  of 
personal  interest;  it  is  a  stern  and  serious  duty  of  conscience,  flowing 
from  a  principle  sacred,  immutable,  eternal,  as  the  Divine  Legislator. 
Let  them  not  be  uneasy,  then,  on  the  attitude  of  the  Catholic  clergy  in 
such  an  affair.  The  past  has  been  unassailable;  the  future  will  be,  be- 
cause our  Catholic  principles  do  not  change."0  Was  there  not  a  very 
noticeable  change  in  the  principle  of  loyalty  as  interpreted  by  Father 
Gibault's  word  and  practice?  We  feel  justified  in  saying,  "no."  Here 
is  the  proof:  Clark's  invasion  of  British  territory  was. one  of  the  law- 
ful phases  of  our  Revolutionary  war.  If  one  was  lawful  the  other  was 
lawful,  too.  Obedience  to  the  powers  that  be,  is  the  duty  of  the  Chris- 
tian. And  even  the  law  of  nations  cannot  but  sanction  the  practice  of 
renouncing  one's  allegiance  to  one  sovereign  and  transferring  it  by 
oath  to  another,  provided  there  be  a  just  cause. 

If  only  Colonel  Clark  had  been  less  addicted  to  self  glorification,  he 
would  have  better  interpreted  the  spirit  of  Father  Gibault.  Not  that 
he  failed  to  do  full  justice  to  the  priest  in  general,  but  that  he,  at  times. 
cast  a  slur  upon  his  friend  and  helper  in  need,  not  so  much  to  set  lower 
the  priest's  name  and   fame,  but  rather  to  exalt    his  own.      Here  is  a 


'•     "  American  Catholic  Historical  Researches,"  vol.  XVII,  p.   1  14. 


Father  Gibault,  the  Patriot  Priest  137 

case  in  point :  I  give  the  event  in  the  words  of  a  most  competent  judge  : 
"It  was  while  matters  looked  most  gloomy  that  Clark,  fearing  disaster, 
sent  Father  Gibault  with  his  official  papers  and  money  across  the  Miss- 
issippi, in  the  dead  of  winter,  in  January  1779,  to  place  them  in  safety 
on  the  Spanish  side  of  the  Mississippi.  To  show  his  friendship  for  the 
American  commander,  the  Cure,  attended  by  one  man  only,  undertook 
the  mission.  For  three  days  he  was  detained  by  the  floating  ice  on  an 
island  in  the  Mississippi,  but  at  last  successfully  carried  out  his  mis- 
sion."7 Now  what  does  the  doughty  warrior  make  of  this?  Clark  gives 
a  vivid  account  of  the  ball  at  Prairie  du  Rocher,  and  the  subsequent 
panic  at  the  report  of  Hamilton's  approach  with  eight  hundred  men. 
Then  he  describes  his  own  inimitable  self-possession,  dancing  on  as  if 
oblivious  of  his  danger.  Then,  casting  a  compassionate  glance  at  poor 
trembling  Father  Gibault,  who  probably  was  not  trembling  at  all,  the 
well-poised  warrior  pretended  to  his  "timid  friend,"  that  he  wanted 
him  "to  go  to  the  Spanish  side  with  public  papers  and  money."  It  can- 
not be  supposed  that  a  man  in  his  senses  would  send  some  one  giving 
signs  of  consternation,  on  such  an  important  mission.  Col.  Clark  ap- 
parently takes  no  account  of  moral  courage,  that  sees  the  danger,  yet 
braves  and  overcomes  it,  as  Father  Gibault  certainly  did  in  attempting 
the  dangerous  crossing.  This  failure  of  Clark's  judgment  makes  us 
very  doubtful  as  to  Father  Gibanlt's  alleged  consternation  on  this  oc- 
casion. 

Now  ,  as  Father  Gibault  realized  that  the  Illinois  Country  was  lost 
to  the  English,  he  made  use  of  his  privilege  to  submit  to  the  rule  of 
the  actual  masters,  the  United  States,  and  to  insinuate  to  his  people 
the  moral  right  of  so  doing,  whilst  refraining  from  counselling  the  act. 
Even  oath-bound  obligations  cease,  when  the  possibility  of  fulfilling  them 
ceases,  which  was  the  case  with  Father  Gibault  and  the  French  of  the 
Illinois. 

In  fact  necessity  as  well  as  common  prudence  sufficiently  coun- 
selled these  people  to  accept  the  boon  of  liberty  from  those  who  had  won 
it  for  them,  the  Virginians  of  Clark.  A  refusal  of  Clark's  generous 
proposals  meant  bloodshed,  rankling  hatred  and  possible  extinction. 
Under  such  conditions  any  just  ruler  would  have  readily  absolved  his 
subjects  from  their  sworn  allegiance  to  him.  The  British  King  could 
not  have  made  an  exception  here.  What  Gibault  really  did  was  not  to 
absolve  his  people  from  their  oath,  but  only  to  explain  to  them  the 
Church's  position  on  this  point  of  morality  which  in  itself  was  a  spir- 
itual matter,  within  his  competence  as  a  priest.  Hence  Father  Gibault 
could  truthfully  say  in  his  request  to  Dr.  Laffont  "that  in  all  civil  af- 


'     Herberman,  in  "Historical  Records  and  .Studies,"  vol.  VII,  Part   II,  p.   132. 


l.'iS  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.    Louis 

fairs,  not  only  with  the  French  but  with  the  savages,  he  meddled  with 
nothing,  because  he  was  not  ordered  to  do  so,  and  it  was  opposed  to 
his  priestly  vocation  ;  and  that  Laffont  alone  had  the  direction  of  the 
affairs,  he  having  confined  himself  toward  both  (nations)  solely  to  ex- 
hortation tending  toward  peace  and  union  and  to  the  prevention  of 
bloodshed."8 

In  the  history  of  the  Church  the  capture  of  Kaskaskia  and  Vin- 
cennes  by  George  Rogers  Clark  is  but  an  incident,  an  incident,  however 
of  far-reaching  influence  and  importance.  Such  an  incident  it  was  also 
in  the  life  of  Father  Gibault.  The  great  missionary  is  often  proudly 
extolled  as  "The  Patriot  Priest  of  America,"  comparable  possibly  to 
Father  Hidalgo,  of  Mexican  fame.  "The  Patriot  Priest  of  America," 
meaning  the  United  States,  he  certainly  was  not.  Father  Gibault  was 
never  an  American  in  that  sense.  He  was  a  Canadian  by  birth  and 
education,  a  British  subject  by  necessity,  and,  if  you  will,  an  American 
rebel  during  the  war  of  revolution,  whom  the  British  would  certainly 
have  hanged  if  he  had  fallen  into  their  hands.  The  fight  between  Eng- 
land and  her  colonies  was  not  his  fight,  though  the  outcome  may  have 
interested  him,  in  as  far  as  he  knew  that  France  was  assisting  the  colo- 
nies with  ships  and  armies  and  gold.  This  very  fact  may  have  kindled 
once  more  the  lingering  hope,  that  France  should  come  into  its  own 
at  last.  But  if  Canada  was  doomed  to  remain  subject,  either  to  the 
imperial  power  of  the  British,  or  the  republican  power  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, his  interest  in  the  one  and  in  the  other  was  gone. 

So  much  for  Father  Gibault 's  politics.  Above  all  things  Father 
Gibault  was  a  missionary  priest  bent  on  saving  souls  and  ever  ready  to 
protect1  his  people  against  the  powers  of  evil,  high  or  low,  whether  they 
dwelt  under  the  British  flag  or  the  banner  of  Spain.  Political  views  did 
not  count  here.  Pecuniary  advantages  were  of  no  consequence.  He  was 
first  and  foremost  and  always  the  representative  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
the  true  Kingdom  of  God. 

This  fact  does  not  in  the  least  derogate  from  the  true  greatness 
of  the  man.  For  a  great  man,  brave  and  strong  and  wise,  Father  Gibault 
certainly  was.  He  displayed  heroic  courage  in  many  a  dangerous  situa- 
tion ;  he  never  lost  his  presence  of  mind,  even  when  the  specter  of 
death  blocked  his  path-way  unannounced;  he  used  admirable  prudence, 
when  a  word,  a  suspicious  movement  might  have  ruined  him  and  his 
people.  He  was  one  of  the  most  generous  of  men,  and  his  friendships  were 
lasting  and  sincere.  Above  all  he  bore  the  mark  of  true  greatness;  he 
never  despaired,  no  matter  how  dark  and  threatening  the  future  might 
look.     He  was  a  man  of  high  ideals;  his  supreme  achievement  was  to 


»  Alvord,  ' '  Kaskaskia  Records, ' '  p.  50. 


Father  Gibault,  the  Patriot  Priest  139 

save  what  was  left  of  religion  and  tide  it  over  to  a  bright  future  he 
knew  would  come. 

That  this  acknowledged  greatness  of  the  man  accomplished  a  great 
advancement  for  America  in  Clark's  campaign  against  the  British  in 
the  Illinois  country,  is  undeniable.  But  here  he  certainly  builded  better 
than  he  knew.  Even  Clark  did  not  fully  realize  the  importance  of 
the  capture.  It  was  only  through  the  victory  of  Yorktown  that  Clark's 
memorable  victories  attained  their  real  importance,.  How  far  the  latter 
contributed  to  the  general  result  is  hard  to  say.  Certain  it  is  that  the 
decision  came  in  the  East.  We,  however,  behold  the  capture  of  the 
Old  French  towns  and  the  conquest  of  the  Illinois  country  in  a  reflected 
glory — Heroic  as  they  were,  that  mission  to  Vincennes  through  hostile 
bands  of  Indian  warriors,  and  through  the  bloodless  capture  of  the 
fort  and  town,  deserves  the  highest  admiration  and  praise.  In  this 
memorable  deed  of  war  for  the  sake  of  peace,  Father  Gibault  looms  up 
as  the  greater,  because  the  gentler  and  more  humane  of  the  two  victors. 
It  was  Father  Gibault  that  counselled  persuasion,  where  Clark  would 
have  been  forced  to  use  the  gun  and  sword.  By  Clark's  method  the 
innocent  would  have  suffered  with  the  enemy;  by  Gibault 's  prudence 
and  persuasivenss  the  enemy  profited  with  the  innocent  habitants  of  the 
town.  The  final  result  would  have  been  the  same  under  the  one  as  well 
as  under  the  other  plan ;  only  the  wounds  of  sorrow  and  anger  and  hate 
would  have  been  opened  a-fresh,  and  made  a  reconciliation  of  the  French 
and  the  Anglo-Saxon  almost  hopeless.  Father  Gibault 's  course  was  mis- 
understood or  misrepresented  by  many  of  his  friends  and  enemies.  His 
own  Bishop  disavowed  his  act  of  supporting  the  American  cause,  and 
denied  him  the  privilege  of  returning  to  Canada,  where  the  venerable 
priest  wished  to  spend  his  declining  years.  Yet,  even  his  enemies  had 
to  acknowledge  his  right  and  duty  to  obey  the  powers  that  be ;  Gibault 
was  not  an  English  subject  except  by  force.  He  regarded  the  British 
as  intruders  just  as  much  as  the  Virginians  under  Clark.  Between  the 
two  contending  factions  the  only  law  was  "salus  populi, "  the  good  of 
his  people.  And  the  salvation  of  his  people  clearly  lay  on  the  side  of 
Clark  and  his  Virginians. 


Chapter  6 

ST.    LOT  IS   AS   A    CANONICAL   PARISH 


Laclede's  Village,  as  St.  Lotus  was  usually  called  \)\  the  early  hunt- 
ers and  rivermen,  had  grown  into  a  town  of  marked  beauty,  size  and 
importance.  Stretching  along'  the  river  front  it  rose  in  three  tiers  of 
buildings,  under  the  shelter  of  a  ridge  of  considerable  height  that  form- 
(d  the  western  boundary  of  the  settlement.  The  three  streets  running 
parallel  to  the  river  bore  the  names:  Rue  Royale,  Rue  De  L'eglise,  Rue 
des  Granges.  The  heart  of  the  town  was  enclosed  by  the  Rue  Royale  and 
Rue  des  Granges  running  north  to  south,  and  Hue  de  la  Tour  (Walnul  ) 
and  Rw^  Bonhomme  (Market)  crossing  them  from  west  to  east  formed  two 
squares,  the  Church  block  and  Laclede's  trading  house  and  dwelling. 
There  were  nine  streets  on  each  side  of  the  Church  block,  most  of  them 
named  for  trees,  as  Chestnut,  Pine,  Olive,  etc.  At  that  time  St.  Louis 
was  without  fortifications  of  any  kind.  Being  built  on  an  elevated 
plateau,  the  approach  from  the  river  was  by  a  steep  incline  from  the 
foot  of  the  Rue  Bonhomme  (now  Market  St.).  In  1764  the  town  number- 
ed one  hundred  and  fifteen  houses,  fifteen  being  of  stone,  the  others  of 
logs  placed  in  an  upright  position,  the  interstices  filled  in  with  mortar 
or  clay.  The  population  was  a  colorful  mixture  of  hunters  and  trappers, 
merchants  and  voyagers,  French  and  Spanish  soldiers,  who  had  now 
settled  down  for  life.  Then  there  were  Canadian  and  Creole  farmers 
from  Fort  Chartres,  St.  Phillip,  from  Kaskaskia  and  Prairie  de  Rocher, 
and  especially  from  Cahokia,  just  beyond  the  river.  All  were  of  the 
Catholic  faith,  not  too  learned  in  ecclesiastical  lore,  but  honest,  up- 
right and  contented  people.  Some  of  the  late  comers  were  men  of 
distinction  and  culture,  even  members  of  the  haute  noblesse  of  the  French 
court.  The  town  enjoyed  two  inexhaustible  sources  of  wealth :  first,  the 
trade  with  the  Indians  along  the  Missouri  and  the  upper  reaches  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  second,  the  rich  soil  of  the  prairies  put  under  cul- 
tivation. 

Every  French  village  in  the  Illinois  country  had  Commonfields 
and  a  Commons.1  The  first  designation  was  applied  to  the  lands 
that  were  assigned  to  the  various  inhabitants,  all  fronting  on  the  borders 
of  the  village  and  running  in  a  narrow  strip  of  an  acre,  more  or  less, 
to  a  depth  of  say  forty  or  fifty  or  more  acres.  Thus  each  tiller  of  the  soil 
had  access  to  his  land  from  his  house  and  barn  in  the  village.     The 


i     Cf.  Breese,  "Early  History  of  Illinois,"  p.   173.     Also,  Billon,  "Annals   of 
St.  Louis,"  French  and  Spanish,  21  and  22  and  91. 

(140) 


:v-t 


•HJQgff^/ 


•,*, 


ftflVKAb  I 


Mfl»- 


THE  SPANISH  CHURCH 
(Called    Church   of  the   Palisades) 
Erected  while  St.  Louis  was  under  Spanish  Government.     Ded- 
icated   in    Summer  of  1776.     Served   as   Cathedral   for    Bishop 
Du   Bourg  until   new   building   was   erected. 


si.  Louis  as  a  Canonical  Finish  111 

first  conimonfields  of  St.  Louis  were  situated  on  the  prairie  stretching 
from  the  end  of  Rue  Bonhomrae  (Market  St.)  to  the  Great  Mound  in 
the  north,  the  land  lying  southwest  of  the  village,  being  well  watered 
and  covered  with  timber,  was  set  aside  for  a  Commons  in  which  the  cattle 
and  other  stock  of  the  habitants  were  kept  for  safety  and  convenience. 
These  two  tracts  were  fenced  in  by  the  people  in  1764,  the  eastern 
fence  forming  the  western  boundary  of  the  village. 

The  tillers  of  the  soil  living  in  the  village  of  St.  Louis  were  not  as 
numerous  or  not  as  industrious  as  the  progress  of  its  business  seemed 
to  require :  for  this  reason  the  nickname  Pain  Courte  was  attached 
to  it  in  an  unofficial  way,  a  name  that  is  sometimes  found  even  in  public 
documents.  The  Annalist  of  St.  Louis2  goes  so  far  as  to  state  that  the 
village  was  named  St.  Louis  a  long  time  after  its  foundation.  Yet 
this  is  palpably  false  and  Billon's  argumentation  in  support  of  his  con- 
tention is  equally  unsubstantial.  For  the  name  San  Luis  is  used  in  the 
Report  on  "Ulloa's  Instructions  to  erect  Forts  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Missouri,"  October  2nd,  1767.  only  two  and  one  half  years  after  the 
founding  of  village.  The  Frenchmen  were  not  aware  at  first  that  western 
Louisiana  had  been  placed  under  Spanish  rule;  in  fact  many  of  them 
had  come  to  settle  on  the  western  border  of  the  river  from  a  great 
desire  to  live  and  die  under  the  lily-banner  of  France. 

King  Louis  XV,  though  in  reality  one  of  the  most  contemptible 
monarchs,  was  known  to  the  colonists  more  as  one  surrounded  by  a 
blaze  of  glory,  than  as  the  moral  weakling  he  really  was.  Besides  this, 
he  was  the  outward  representation  of  their  own  country  and  nation, 
La  Belle  France.  In  naming  St.  Louis  in  honor  of  the  King  then  hold- 
ing sway,  Laclede  chose  as  the  future  city's  patron  and  protector  the 
bright  spotless  Crusader  King,  St.  Louis  IX.  We  have  the  best  of 
authority  on  this  matter  and  the  testimony  of  August  Chouteau,  the  main 
actor  in  the  event  after  Laclede :  ' '  Laclede,  on  his  arrival,  named  the 
town  St.  Louis,  in  honor  of  the  King  of  France. '  '3 

Now  in  May  1776  this  little  political  unit  of  French  Catholics  under 
Spanish  rule  received  its  spiritual  complement  in  being  raised  to  the 
dignity  of  a  Canonical  parish,  the  first  one  in  all  Upper  Louisiana, 
except  St.  Genevieve.  The  man  who  was  named  as  its  first  pastor  was  a 
German  by  birth  and  education,  a  Capuchin  Monk,  whose  title  was 
"P.  F.  Bernard  de  Limpach,  0.  M.  Cap.  Cure  de  Paroisse  St.  Louis 


2     Billon,  op.  cit.,  p.  22. 

s  Both  St.  Louis  IX  and  Louis  XV  were  Kings  of  France.  As  in  Baptism,  the 
name  of  the  godfather 's  patron  saint  is  given  to  the  child,  in  order  to  honor  the 
godfather  as  well  as  his  patron  saint,  so  Laclede  imposed  the  name  of  St.  Louis,  ' '  the 
good  King  St.  Louis, ' '  on  his  village  in  honor  of  King  Louis  XV,  the  reigning 
sovereign.    Whether  Louis  XV  deserved  the  honor  or  not  is  not  to  the  point. 


142  History  of  tht    Archdiocest    of  St.  Louis 

des  Illinois."'  Arriving  in  St.  Louis  on  May  25th,  ITTii.  he  presented 
his  credentials  to  the  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Upper  Louisiana,  Don 
Francisco  Cruzat.  A  tVw  weeks  previous  the  Capuchin  Father  Hilaire 
de  Gent'vaux,  Pastor  of  St.  Genevieve  since  November  1773,  had  visited 
St.  Louis  and  brought  the  information  that  Father  Bernard  was  on  his 
way,  and,  at  the  same  time,  baptized  six  whites  and  solemnized  one 
marriage. 

As  the  appointment  and  installation  of  Father  Bernard  de  Limpach 
as  Canonical  Pastor  of  St.  Louis  are  matters  of  deep  interest  to  a  wide 
circle  of  American  Catholics,  we  would  here  record  them  in  an  Eng- 
lish translation  from  the  French  and  Spanish  originals,  as  preserved  in 
the  Spanish  Archives.  Both  official  acts  throw  a  number  of  welcome 
side  lights  on  the  condition  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  at  that  far  off  time: 
The  Letter  of  Appointment  reads:  "Being  well  and  sufficiently  advised 
of  your  good  morals  and  capacity,  wishing  besides,  to  conform  ourselves 
in  all  things  to  the  orders  of  his  most  Christian  Majesty  who  has  directed 
us  by  his  letters  patent,  registered  in  the  records  of  the  Superior  Council 
of  this  colony,  to  issue  in  good  and  due  form  titles  and  commissions  as 
curates  to  our  missionaries  who  have  been  attending  to  the  parishes 
and  posts  of  which  the  mission  has  heretofore  been  in  charge,  merely 
by  way  of  performing  the  functions  of  the  Cure,  and  to  put  them  in 
legal  possession  of  the  same ;  the  collation,  provision  and  all  other  dis- 
position being  reserved  to  us  in  our  quality  of  Superior  until  such  time 
as  his  Christian  Majesty  may  otherwise  order ;  we  have  heretofore  given 
and  conferred  and  to  give  and  confer  to  you  by  these  presents  the  Cure 
of  the  parochial  church  of  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois,  post  of  Paincourt, 
with  all  its  rights  and  dependencies  whatsoever,  upon  the  charge  of 
actual  and  personal  residence  there  and  not  otherwise,  until  a  change 
or  revocation  shall  be  made  by  ourselves  or  our  successors.  We  there- 
fore require  the  ministers  of  the  substitute  of  the  King's  representative 
to  see  that  you  be  put  in  real  and  actual  possession  of  said  Cure  or 
parish  of  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois,  as  is  of  usage  in  observing  the  ordinary 
solemnities. 

Given  at  our  Curial  Mansion,  under  our  official  seal,  the  eighteenth 
day  of  February  of  the  year  of  Grace  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-six. 

(signed)  F.  Dagobert. 

Grand  Vicar.6 


*     The    Father's    name    was    spelled    de    Limpach,    not    de    Limbaeh,    as    public 
documents  show.     The  P.  F.  means  Professus  Frater,  a  professed  Friar, 
s     Eeprinted  in  Scharf,  "History  of  St.  Louis,"  p.  1639. 


St.  Louis  as  a  Canonical  Parish  143 

No  time  was  lost  in  the  installation  of  the  new  priest  in  his  Cure, 
for  on  the  very  day  that  the  Lieutenant  Governor  certified  to  his  cre- 
dentials, a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  was  called,  and  these  proceedings 
were  had:  "In  the  town  of  St.  Louis,  at  nine  o'clock  of  the  morning  of 
Sunday,  the  nineteenth  day  of  the  month  of  May,  in  the  year  one  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  seventy-six,  before  me,  Don  Francisco  Cruzat, 
Captain  of  Infantry  and  Lieutenant  Governor  of  these  settlements  of 
the  Illinois,  and  the  most  distinguished  parishioners  of  the  parish  of 
said  town,  all  assembled  together  in  the  church ;  the  Reverend  P.  Friar 
Bernardo  de  Limpach,  Capuchin  priest,  in  virtue  of  the  dispatch  which 
he  had  brought  and  delivered  from  the  Most  Reverend  Father  Dagobert 
de  Longwy,  Capuchin  Priest,  Superior  and  Vicar  General  of  the  Mis- 
sion of  this  Province  of  Louisiana,  bearing  date  the  eighteenth  of 
February  last  passed,  and  the  letter  of  direction  which  I,  the  said  Lieu- 
tenant Governor,  have  received  from  the  Senor  Don  Luis  de  Unzaga  y 
Ameraga,  Brigadier  of  the  royal  armies  and  Governor  General  of  this 
Province,  bearing  date  the  twenty-eight  of  February  of  the  current  year, 
in  which  he  commands  me  to  recognizo  the  above  named  P.  Friar  Bern- 
ardo de  Limpach  as  the  curate  of  the  said  town  of  St.  Louis ;  after  hav- 
ing performed  all  the  ceremonies  that  are  usual  and  prescribed  by  his 
said  Superior,  the  Most  Reverend  Father  Dagobert,  he  has  entered  into 
and  taken  legal  and  formal  possession  of  the  Cure  of  this  parish  of 
St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois;  and  I,  the  said  Lieutenant  Governor,  have 
caused  him  to  be  recognized  publicly,  as  he  is  recognized,  by  all  the 
parishioners  of  the  said  parish  and  in  order  that  the  same  may  more 
fully  appear  and  that  no  obstacle  may,  at  any  time  hereafter,  be  inter- 
terposed  to  the  exercise  of  his  ministry,  there  shall  be  deposited  in 
the  archives  of  this  government  under  my  charge,  the  copy  of  this 
dispatch  together  with  this  act,  which  the  said  P.  Friar  Bernardo  de 
Limpach  has  signed  with  me,  the  said  Lieutenant  Governor,  and  the 
most  distinguished  persons  of  this  town,  who  by  my  command  were 
assembled  for  this  purpose,  the  same  day,  month  and  year  above  men- 
tioned. P.  F.  Bernard;  Perrault;  Du  Breuil;  Benito  Basques;  Hubert; 
Sarpy ;  Laclede-Lignest ;  A.  Bernard ;  Erne  Barre  ;  Labuxiere  ;  Chauvin  ; 
Conde;  Jh.  Conand;  Franco  Cruzat."" 

After  this  rather  formal  transaction  Highmass  was  sung  by  Father 
Bernard,  at  which  the  little  dilapidated  church  was  filled  to  overflow 
ing.  Thus  began  the  happy,  though  not  uneventful,  period  of  the  good 
Capuchin's  spiritual  regime  of  twelve  long. years.  The  letter  of  Father 
Bernard's  Superior  and  Vicar  General  is  worthy  of  special  study  on 
account  of  the  sidelights  it  throws  upon  the  Church  history  of  that  early. 


e     Scharf,  op.  cit.,  p.  1640. 


144  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

day.  First,  as  to  Father  Dagobert's  jurisdiction,  it  becomes  plain  thai 
the  authorities  in  New  Orleans  are  not  quite  convinced  of  the  Spanish 
claims.  Father  Cyrillo  de  Baerelona  as  representative  of  the  Bishop  of 
Santiago  de  Cuba,  James  Joseph  Echevaria,  is  really  the  supreme  author- 
ity iu  Louisiana,  but  he  permits  the  old  French  Vicar  General  of 
Quebec  to  continue  in  office  and  make  the  appointments.  Why?  Be- 
cause, the  Superior  of  the  Capuchin's  still  held  the  power  given  to  him 
by  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  the  Vicar  Generalship,  that  was  still  the 
only  valid  one  at  least  in  spiritual  matters,  and  therefore,  his  jurisdic- 
tion was  certainly  valid  ;  whilst  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  Santiago 
de  Cuba,  and  of  Father  Cyrillo  was  to  say  the  least,  very  doubtful. 
The  Spanish  jurisdiction  was  finally  established  by  Rome  in  1777,  the 
year  after  Father  Bernard's  appointment. 

Father  Cyrillo  de  Barcelona  brought  along  from  Cuba  a  band  of 
seven  Spanish  Capuchins  among  them  the  new  Pastor  of  St.  Louis. 
Though  his  name  is  not  mentioned  his  personality  is  but  slightly  hidden 
under  the  designation  Padre  Aleman,  the  German  Father,  as  Father 
Bernard  was  a  native  of  one  of  the  German  principalities  on  the  Bhine 
and  very  probable  born  in  the  town  of  Limpach  in  Luxemburg.  The 
unmeaning  phrase,  "de  dix  par"  appearing  in  the  original  document 
would  indicate  his  place  of  birth,  but  must  have  been  muddled  by  the 
transcriber.  It  may  stand  for  "de  Limpach"  or  for  "de  deux  ponts," 
which  would  designate  the  city  of  Zweibruecken  as  the  Father's  place 
of  birth.  The  word  ' '  letters  patent ' '  signifies  a  royal  decree  on  a  single 
sheet  of  parchment,  not  folded  but  open  (patent)  with  a  heavy  seal 
attached  at  the  bottom.  The  letters  patent  were  issued  as  Father 
Dagobert  says,  by  His  Most  Christian  Majesty,  that  is,  the  King  of 
France ;  and  he  claims  that  they  are  in  force,  until  His  Catholic  Majesty, 
that  is  the  King  of  Spain,  shall  revoke  them.  This  circumstance  would 
prove  that  the  Spanish  ecclesiastical  authorities  in  New  Orleans  still  con- 
sidered themselves  as  holding  from  Quebec. 

The  use  of  "Paincourt"  as  a  second  name  for  St.  Louis,  seems 
rather  strange  in  a  public  document.  Don  Francisco  Cruzat  ignores 
it  in  his  report  on  the  subsequent  proceedings.  No  doubt,  at  that  time 
the  nickname  "Paincourt"  was  used  more  frequently  than  the  city's 
proper  designation,  St.  Louis.  And  what  a  poor  little  establishment  this 
Parish  of  St.  Louis  was  in  regard  to  living  conditions  and  the  Church 
services.  The  Church  built  of  logs,  and  the  Parish  residence  were  equal- 
ly dilapidated.  The  presbytere  was  a  mere  shell  and  empty  at  that. 
The  Church  had  a  tower  in  form  of  a  St.  Andrews  Cross,  and  a  little 
bell  rang  out  the  angelus,  morning,  noon,  and  nightfall.  The  necessary 
utensils  for  divine  service  were  there,  even  a  Monstrance  for  Benediction 
and   the   Corpus   Christi   procession.     A   complete   inventory   of   these 


St.   Louis  as  a   Canonical   Parish  14.") 

things  was  handed  to  Father  Bernard,  and  he  attested  its  correctness. 
But  the  priest's  dwelling,  the  presbytere,  nobody  could  live  in  that.  The 
people's  heart  went  out  to  their  good  Father  in  true  Catholic  loyalty. 
They  determined  to  build  a  new  presbytere.  On  September  1st,  1776, 
after  the  Highmass,  the  entire  parish  assembled  in  the  vacant  parlor  of 
the  old  residence  with  the  Lieutenant  Governor  Cruzal  as  presiding 
officer,  to  deliberate  on  the  plan  of  a  new  parish-house.  It  was  decided 
to  build  it  of  stone  45x27  feet,  front  and  depth,  and  two  stories  high. 
The  work  was  to  begin  in  the  coming  Spring,  and  to  continue  until 
all  was  completed,  in  order  to  animate  the  good  people  in  their  generous 
resolution,  Father  Bernard  obliged  himself  to  contribute  the  sum  of 
four  hundred  and  thirty-seven  livres  in  peltry.  Hard  cash  was  very 
scarce,  paper-money  was  tabooed  since  the  failure  of  John  Law's  flood 
of  paper  money;  hence  the  use  of  peltry,  deer-skins  and  lead  as  the 
currency  of  the  land.  A  livre  was  about  twenty  cents  of  our  money. 
But  Father  Bernard  did  not  have  the  money  nor  the  peltry.  All  his 
savings  had  been  spent  for  the  journey  of  ninety  days  up  the  river.  The 
Parish,  however,  had  agreed  to  reimburse  the  priest  for  this  heavy  out- 
lay in  their  cause.  So  Father  Bernard  turned  the  parishioners'  promise 
to  pay  into  the  building  fund  of  the  Parish,  and  all  were  satisfied.  But 
the  parishioners  too,  had  to  lay  hands  on  their  supplies  of  shaved 
deer-skin,  each  one  according  to  his  financial  ability.  As  appraisers  and 
superintendents  they  chose  Jean  Cambas  and  Jean  Ortez.  The  assess- 
ment was  made  in  form  of  a  per  capita  tax ;  every  inhabitant  over  the 
age  of  fourteen  was  laid  under  contribution.  Whatever  materials  of  the 
old  structure  were  serviceable,  should  be  used  on  the  building.  The 
bids  for  labor  and  material  were  opened  on  June  29th,  1777.  Benito 
Basques  was  the  successful  bidder  for  the  stone-work  at  fourteen  hun- 
dred livres  in  peltry ;  the  carpenter  work  was  assigned  to  Francois 
Delaise,  at  five  hundred  and  fifty  livres ;  a  certain  Mr.  Vardon  under- 
took the  building  of  the  roof  for  two  hundred  and  ninety-nine  livres 
suspecting,  probably  that  his  competitior  would  bid  for  the  round  sum 
of  three  hundred.7 

We  devoted  somewhat  more  space  to  the  building  operations,  than 
our  readers  may  think  proper.  Yet,  we  surmise  even  here,  that  this  solid 
stone  parish-house  will  eventually  serve  as  the  palace  of  His  Grace, 
Bishop  Louis  William  Valentine  Du  Bourg,  in  1818.  Old  illustrations 
show  it  on  the  south  side  of  the  porch-girt  Church,  on  the  Rue  de 
L'eglise,  now  Second  Street,  between  Market  and  Walnut.  The  cem- 
etery occupied  the  north  side   of  the   Church  block  between   Rue   de 


f     Wilson  Primm's  "History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  St.  Louis,"  read  before 
Missouri's  Historical  Society,  September  7,  18G7. 


146  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

L'eglise,  and  Rue  des  Granges,  all  in  the  very  heart  of  the  town  of  St. 
Louis. 

Father  Bernard's  modi  of  life  was  very  simple.  An  old  negro- 
slave,  Melanie,  kept  house  for  him.  Besides  their  Pastor,  the  Parish 
employed  several  other  officers,  all  of  the  laity.  A  chanter  or  two,  a 
sacristan,  a  verger  with  pike  and  halberd  like  the  Swiss  in  foreign 
Cathedrals;  all  these  petty  officers  received  a  share  of  the  usual  fees 
paid  to  the  Pastor.  From  a  Table  of  Fees  for  Funerals  made  by 
Father  Gibault,  whilst  Pastor  of  New  Madrid,  it  appears  that,  of  the 
total  fee  of  nine  pesos  (about  nine  dollars)  four  pesos  went  to  the  pastor, 
one  peso  to  the.  assistant  priest,  one  peso  to  the  sacristan,  one  peso  for 
digging  the  grave,  and  one  peso  for  placing  the  wooden  cross,  making 
nine  pesos  in  all.8 

The  villagers  had  been  accustomed  to  pay  tithes,  yet,  according  to 
Canadian  rules,  not  one  tenth,  but  only  one  twenty-sixth  part  of  the 
corn  and  wheat  raised  by  the  farmer.  But  even  this  small  emolument 
was  claimed  by  the  State  under  Spanish  rule,  in  view  of  the  annual 
salary  of  four  hundred  to  six  hundred  pesos  paid  by  the  government 
to  each  priest.  There  were  no  fees  for  Baptisms  and  Marriages,  but 
a  more  or  less  generous  honorarium  was  usually  offered.  At  marriages 
the  witnesses  and  more  prominent  guests,  would  repair  to  the  Sacristy 
after  the  mass,  in  company  of  the  bridal  pair,  to  sign  their  names,  or 
make  their  mark,  and  to  lay  down  on  the  table  an  offering  to  the  priest. 
Hence  all  the  Marriage  Records  of  our  old  French  parishes  are  filled  with 
the  signatures  of  the  men  of  importance  in  their  day  and  even  of 
historical  characters. 

Of  the  mild  and  gentle  Capuchin's  priestly  labors  during  thirteen 
and  a  half  years  of  his  stay  at  St.  Louis,  the  Church  Records  give  us  some 
interesting  information. 

From  May,  1776  to  November  1789,  Father  Bernard  baptized  410 
whites,  106  negroes,  and  92  Indians;  he  solemnized  the  marriages  of 
115  whites,  1  negro,  2  Indians  and  1  mixed  white  and  Indian;  and  he 
buried  222  whites,  60  negroes  and  44  Indians. 

Two  years  after  Father  Bernard's  arrival  in  St.  Louis,  on  June 
20th,  1778,  Pierre  Laclede  Liguest  died  near  the  Post  of  Arkansas,  on 
his  homeward  voyage  from  New  Orleans,  where  he  had  gone  on  business 
in  the  fall  of  1776.  As  Ovid  said  of  his  great  predecessor:  "Virgilium 
vidi  tantum,"  Father  Bernard  might  have  said  of  the  Founder  of  St. 
Louis  "Laclede  I  only  saw."a 


s     A  similar  list  of  fees  in  Father  Bernard's  handwriting  is  in  my  collection  of 
MS. 

fl     His  name  occurs  among  the  witnesses  of  the  installation  of  Father  Bernard. 


St.  Louis  as  a  Canonical  Parish  147 

In  the  fourth  year  of  Father  Bernard's  gentle  sway  over  the  peo- 
ple of  St.  Louis,  May  26,  1780,  a  serious  attempt  was  made  by  the  British 
to  sweep  both  the  American  and  the  Spanish  powers  out  of  the  Miss- 
issippi Valley.  Simultaneous  attacks  were  to  be  made  on  New  Orleans 
from  the  South,  on  the  Ohio  River  country  and  the  Illinois  settlements 
on  both  sides  of  the  river  from  the  northeast.  For  this  latter  bloody 
business  the  warlike  tribes  of  the  North  were  engaged  with  liberal  gifts. 
Governor  de  Leyba  gained  some  information  in  regard  to  the  proposed 
assault,  but  he  seems  to  have  disregarded  the  signs  of  the  coming 
storm  until  it  was  almost  ready  to  burst  over  his  little  town.  But 
he  did  rouse  himself  at  last  and  sent  for  all  the  reenforcements  he 
could  reach.  It  was  the  afternoon  of  the  26th  of  May,  that  saw  the 
approach  of  a  flotilla  of  canoes  and  pirogues  crossing  the  river  to  the 
north  of  the  town.  The  citizens  of  St.  Louis  defended  their  homes 
with  spirit  and  bravery ;  and  the  Indians  who  had  depended  on  a 
surprise  attack,  quickly  withdrew  before  the  unfailing  fire  of  these 
dauntless  woodrangers  and  boatmen.  The  Spanish  garrison  consisting 
of  fifty  men  and  five  cannons  under  Captain  de  Leyba  did  valiant  work. 
Some  of  the  Indian  bands  scattered  about  the  country  found  several 
farmers  and  their  slaves  in  the  fields,  whom  they  tomahawked.1" 

Governor  de  Leyba  has  been  stigmatized  by  some  as  a  traitor,  by 
others  as  a  coward.  We  believe  he  was  neither  the  one  nor  the  other, 
but  only  one  of  the  many  that  trust  too  much  in  themselves.  Mis- 
fortune, however,  was  now  following  in  his  tracks ;  on  December  6th. 
1779,  his  wife  was  buried,  and  he  himself  in  1780  followed  her  into 
eternity. 

The  following  entry  in  the  Book  of  Sepulchres  was  made  by  Father 
Bernard :  "In  the  year  1780,  the  28th  of  June,  I,  a  priest  and  Capuchin 
Missionary,  Pastor  of  St.  Louis,  country  of  the  Illinois,  province  of 
Louisiana,  Bishopric  of  Cuba,  have  interred  in  this  Church  in  front 
of  the  balustrade  on  the  right,  the  body  of  Don  Ferdinand  Leyba.  Cap- 
tain of  Infantry  in  the  battalion  of  Louisiana,  actual  Commandant  of 
this  post,  having  received  all  the  sacraments  of  our  mother,  holy  Church. 
In  faith  whereof,  I  have  signed,  the  day  and  year  as  above. 

F.  Bernard,  Miss. 

Shortly  before  the  Governor's  premature  death  Father  Bernard 
solemnly  blessed  the  "first  stone  of  the  fort  on  the  hill  back  of  the 
church,  it  was  named  Fort  St.  Charles,  in  honor  of  Charles  III,  King 
of  Spain."  This  is  the  stone  Martello  fort  which  was  yet  standing  as 
late  as  1820,  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Walnut  and  Fourth  Streets, 
where  the  Southern  Hotel  now  sleeps  in  its  decay.     The  barracks  for 


i°     For  documents  ef.  "Spanish  Regime  in  Missouri,"  Houck,  vol.  I,  pp.  167 -182. 


148  Histoni  of  I  In    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  Spanish  troops  was  a  long,  low  stone  building  on  the  north  side  of 
Walnul  street,  and  immediately  opposite  the  hotel.  Alter  the  change 
of  government  from  Spain  to  the  United  States,  the  old  fori  was  for  a 
long  time  used  as  a  common  jail. 

Every  Sunday  ami  Holy  day  of  obligation  Highmass  was  sung 
with  all  the  joyful  accompaniment,  to  which  the  French  Catholics  are 
accustomed  by  nature  and  early  training.  With  the  usual  sermon  the 
service  generally  lasted  until  noon.  As  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
were  Catholics,  all  of  them,  with  the  exception  of  the  sick,  would  attend 
the  Highmass.  After  the  mass  the  Governor's  announcements  were  made 
at  the  church-door.  Even  business  transactions  were  concluded  then  and 
there.  In  the  afternoon  the  young  people  enjoyed  themselves  on  the 
river  bank  or  at  the  home  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  village  patriarchs. 
singing  and  dancing  to  their  hearts  content. 


Chaptek  7 
FATHER  BERNARD'S  CONGREGATION 


It  was  a  gay,  cheerful,  and  lighthearted  congregation  over  which 
Father  Bernard  presided,  fond  of  song  and  witty  anecdote,  yet  simple 
in  their  manners,  and  dress  and  the  pleasures  of  the  table.  They  still 
lived  in  the  style  of  the  peasantry  of  old  France  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago.  Their  language  was  not  the  pure  French  of  France,  but 
a  synthesis  of  the  antiquated  dialect  of  the  Provinces,  from  which  they 
originally  came.  As  St.  Louis  had  never  been  an  Indian  mission,  the 
mingling  of  races  was  less  observable  here  than  in  the  towns  beyond  the 
river.  Now  and  then  there  was  a  regular  marriage  between  a  white 
man  and  an  Indian  woman,  with  one  or  two  instances  of  white  women 
marrying  leading  Indian  chiefs  or  warriors.  But  such  marriages  were 
not  encouraged  by  public  sentiment.  The  people  loved  France  and  the 
customs  of  their  old  homes  in  France.  "Notwithstanding  that  they  had 
been  so  long  separated  by  an  immense  Avilderness  from  civilized  society, 
they  still  retained  all  the  suavity  and  politeness  of  their  race"  as  even 
the  severest  critics  admit:1  "they  were  naturally  of  a  peaceful  disposi- 
tion, educated  to  obey,  kept  in  hand  by  the  Church,  and  acutely  sensi- 
tive to  the  disgrace  of  punishment.  They  were  docile  and  respectful  to 
their  superiors,  helpful  and  kindly  to  their  equals,  civil  and  complaisant 
to  all.  They  liked  to  call  one  another  "brother"  or  "cousin,"  and  to 
be  mutually  obliging."2 

The  people's  honesty  in  business  dealings  was  proverbial  among 
friends  and  foes.  Only  one  example  from  the  address  of  Judge  Primm. 
"Real  estate  frequently  passed  from  hand  to  hand,  without  deed  or 
writing  of  any  kind,  and  for  trifling  considerations."  When  the  popu- 
lation began  to  increase  by  immigration,  and  to  become  heterogeneous 
in  its  character,  many  of  these  lands  became  valuable ;  and  if,  upon 
examining  the  records,  the  chain  of  title  to  them  was  found  defective, 
by  lack  of  deed  from  the  original  owner,  his  children  never  hesitated  to 
affirm  the  act  of  their  ancestor ;  and  whenever  applied  to  for  that  pur- 
pose, the  answer  was,  "I  will  make  good  what  my  father  has  done." 
And  no  remuneration  was  asked  for  or  expected.3 


i      Ford,  Gov.  Thomas,  "History  of  Illinois,"  p.  36. 

2  Scharf,  "History  of  St.  Louis,"  p.  273. 

3  Primm,  Wilson,  in  "New  Year's  Day  in  St.  Louis,"  in  Missouri  Historical 
Society  Collections,  vol.  II,  p.  17. 

(149) 


150  History  of  th(   Archdiocesi   of  si.  Louis 

Their  dress  w;is  as  simple  as  their  mode  of  life.  Monette.  describes 
the  winter  dress  of  the  men  as  "a  eoarse  capote  drawn  over  the  shirt." 
The  women,  were  remarkable  for  the  sprightliness  of  their  conversa- 
tion and  the  grace  and  elegance  of  their  manners.  And  the  whole 
population  lived  lives  of  alternate  toil,  pleasure,  innocent  amusement, 
and  gayety.  Filial  piety  also  was  one  of  the  beautiful  traits  of  char- 
acter in  these  people.  To  quote  once  more  from  the  delightful  pages  of 
Judge  Primm:  "Before  day,  New  Year's  morning,  the  whole  popula- 
tion attended  mass,.  When  that  duty  had  been  performed,  the  next  was 
to  receive  the  parental  blessing  and  then  could  be  seen  the  children, 
jrrandchildren,  and  the  great  grandchildren,  each  on  their  bended  knees, 
imploring  a  blessing  from  the  authors  of  their  being,  and  that  blessing 
was  given,  even  coupled  with  a  heartfelt  prayer,  that  God,  the  Father 
of  all,  would  ratify  it  in  heaven  and  so  guide  and  protect  them,  amidst 
the  joys  and  sorrows,  the  snares  and  perils  of  this  life,  as  to  fit  them  for 
another  and  better  existence."4 

This  touching  ceremony,  repeated  at  the  commencement  of  each 
year,  gave  tone  to  the  whole  current  of  their  thoughts  and  acts.  Filial 
piety,  was  their  guiding  star.  The  young  never  dreamed  of  forming 
matrimonial  alliance  with  each  other,  without  the  full  and  unqualified 
assent,  not  only  of  the  immediate  parents,  but  of  the  family  relatives,  and 
even  grown  men  settled  in  life,  scarcely  ever  entered  into  any  important 
business  contract,  without  the  assent  or  advice  of  the  parents;  and 
never  even  when  it  might  otherwise  have  been  to  his  advantage,  has 
a  child  been  known  to  repudiate  the  acts  of  his  parents. 

When  the  consent  of  the  parents  had  been  obtained  to  a  marriage, 
the  affianced  pair  would  together  visit  the  relatives,  saying :  ' '  Nous 
sommes  venue  demander  votre  consentement  a  notre  marriage : "  "  We 
have  come  to  ask  your  consent  to  our  marriage. '  '5 

Marriage  was  held  in  high  esteem,  though  the  marriage  bond  was 
not  unfrequently  broken.  Yet,  a  bigamist  could  find  no  sympathy  or 
toleration.  "When  it  was  discovered  the  Bonaventure  Collell,  who 
married  Dr.  Conde's  daughter,  had  another  wife  in  Spain,  the  marriage 
was  forthwith  annulled.  Collell  imprisoned,  and  all  his  property  seized 
and  confiscated."6 

"In  food  and  drink  they  are  temperate,"  says  another  witness, 
"they  mostly  limit  their  desires  to  vegetables,  soups,  and  coffee.  They 
are  great  smokers  of  tobacco.  Ardent  spirits  are  seldom  used,  except 
by  the  most  laborious  classes  of  society.     They  even  dislike  white  wines 


*     Primm,   Wilson,   "New    Year's    Day    in    St.   Louis,"    in    Missouri    Historical 
Society  Collections,  vol.  II,  p.  lfl 
•">     Primm,  1.  c.  p. 
o     Scharf,  "History  of   St.   Louis,   p.  306. 


Father  Bernard's    Congregation  151 

because  they  possess  too  much  spirit  ....  Clarets  and  other  light 
red  wines  are  common  among  them ;  and  those  who  can  afford  it  are 
not  sparing  of  this  beverage.  The  fathers  of  St.  Louis  were  the  very 
soul  of  hospitality.  The  master  of  the  house,  out  of  respect  for  his 
guests,  frequently  waited  on  them  himself."7 

Sober,  frugal,  not  too  industrious  to  lose  the  joy  of  life,  but  plodding 
enough  to  keep  themselves  and  their  loved  ones  from  want,  these  spir- 
itual children  of  Father  Bernard,  grew  into  one  family  of  many  chil- 
dren, whom,  with  all  their  faults,  we  cannot  but  love  and  honor.  ' '  The 
Church  was  not  only  the  place  of  worship,  but  also  the  center  of  their 
daily  lives,  the  place  of  joyful  resort  on  Sundays  and  Holy  Days,  of 
which  there  were  many  more  than  today,  and  Father  Bernard,  their 
gentle  pastor  was  also  their  trusted  advisor,  director  and  companion 
of  young  and  old.  "The  people  looked  up  to  him  with  affection 
and  reverence,  and  he  upon  them  with  compassion  and  tenderness.  He 
was  ever  ready  to  sympathize  with  them  in  all  their  sorrows,  enter  into 
all  their  joys,  and  counsel  them  in  all  their  perplexities."8 

We  may  well  picture  to  ourselves  the  tall  dignified  figure  of  the 
Capuchin  Monk,  in  his  habit  of  brown  with  a  heavy  beaded  rosary  dang- 
ling from  his  girdle,  and  a  kindly  smile  on  his  large  open  countenance, 
walking  along  one  of  the  streets  of  the  village,  now  stopping  at  a  shop 
to  speak  a  word  of  cheer  to  the  master,  who  has  just  lost  his  wife,  then 
passing  on  to  one  of  the  block-houses  to  visit  some  sick  person,  then 
coming  out  of  the  door,  and  making  a  profound  bow  to  one  of  the 
aristocrats  of  the  village,  we  see  him  suddenly  surrounded  by  a  noisy 
band  of  children,  who  insistently  plead  with  their  "Father"  that  he 
come  and  play  with  them.  Now  from  the  next  house  comes  a  silvery 
voice  of  greeting.  It  is  the  chanter's  daughter  and  one  of  the  singers 
too.  And  so  his  morning  walk  continues  until  it  is  time  for  the  usual 
Catechism  class.  What  a  quiet,  happy  life  he  leads  in  this  homely 
village  full  of  blessed  peace?  There  is  no  fear  in  the  hearts  of  his 
people :  there  is  only  reverence  and  childlike  affection.  There  are  some 
among  them  that  cause  him  anxious  care ;  but  they,  too,  will  at  last 
return  to  God.  Many  of  those  that  now  are  faithful  and  true,  were  at 
one  time  forgetful  of  the  religious  practices  their  religion  enjoined. 
During  the  journeys  and  voyages,  their  marriages  may  not  have  received 
the  sanction  of  the  Church,  their  children  may  have  remained  unbap- 
tized.  But  they  always  retained  the  feeling,  that  they  must  be  reconciled 
to  the  Church,  and  have  their  marriages  solemnized  with  the  sacred 


'     Stoddart,  Amos,  "Sketches,  Historical  and  Descriptive  of  Louisiana,"   1812. 
pp.  325-326. 

s     Ford,  op.  cit.,  pp.  35  and  36. 


L52  History  of  Hn    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

rites  and  ceremonies,  and  their  children  must  be  baptized  and  instruct- 
ed in  the  Catechism  and  admitted  by  the  priest  to  their  First  Holy  Com- 
munion. They  considered  it  a  religious  duty  to  make  their  will,  in 
which  the  firsl  clause  is  sure  to  read  somewhat  like  the  following;  though 
not  always  in  such  beautiful  terms.  "First  as  a  Christian  and  a  Cath- 
olic I  commend  my  soul  to  God  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost, 
beseeching  His  divine  bounty,  by  the  merits  of  His  passion,  and  by  the 
intercession  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  of  Holy  St.  John,  my  guardian  angel 
and  of  all  the  spirits  of  the  celestial  court,  to  receive  it  among  the  bless- 
ed."0 

The  greatest  delight  of  these  people  was  the  round  of  feasts  and 
festivals  of  the  Catholic  year.  Christmas  with  its  midnight  mass  in 
the  brightly  ornamented  Church,  the  glad  New  Year,  the  Epiphany,  the 
Feast  of  Three  Kings  whom  the  star  led  to  Bethlehem,  the  solemn  func- 
tions of  Holy  Week,  the  Commemoration  of  Christ's  Resurrection  from 
the  Tomb,  the  Feast  of  the  Ascension,  Pentecost,  the  coming  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;  and  then,  scattered  throughout  the  year,  like  fragrant  flowers, 
the  Feasts  of  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God.  But  the  most  glorious  celebra- 
tion was  that  of  Corpus  Christi  day  with  its  sacramental  procession 
through  the  streets  of  the  town,  with  its  music  and  song  triumphant, 
and  its  salutes  of  all  the  cannon,  to  Christ  their  King  and  Lord. 

All  felt  secure  and  contented  under  the  truly  paternal  government 
of  Catholic  Spain  and  the  heavenly  ministrations  of  the  Church. 

We  have  drawn  this  picture  of  the  patriarchal  age  of  our  city 
from  the  various  accounts  made  at  the  time  or  shortly  after  by  dis- 
interested observers. 

Father  Bernard  not  only  saw  the  rapid  growth  of  his  own  village 
and  parish,  but  also  lived  to  see  it  the  proud  mother  of  four  gracious 
daughters,  Carondelet,  St.  Ferdinand  or  Florissant,  St.  Charles,  and 
Portage  des  Sioux.  Carondelet,  the  oldest  of  these  villages,  grew  out 
of  a  trading  post  established  by  Clement  Delor  de  Treget,  a  native  of 
Quercy,  in  the  south  of  France.  It  was  a  small  stone  house  on  the 
River  des  Peres  near  its  mouth,  about  ten  miles  below  St.  Louis,  prob- 
ably on  the  very  site  of  the  Jesuit  missionary  establishment  for  the 
Kaskaskia  Indians  and  the  French  traders  of  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
under  Fathers  Marest,  Pinet  and  Mermet,  and  the  Great  Chief  Rouensa. 
Coming  up  from  his  home  in  St.  Genevieve,  Delor  was  charmed  with  the 
diversified  landscape  of  hill  and  prairie  and  woodland,  and  obtained  a 
grant  of  land  from  St.  Ange.  At  first  the  settlement  that  grew  up 
around  the  founder's  house,  was  called  Delor 's  Village,  then  Catalan's 
Prairie,  then  Louishurg  and  finally,  Carondelet,  in  honor  of  one  of  the 


s     First  clause  of  the  Will  of  .John  B.  Vatican,  dated  November  23.  1708. 


Father   Bernard's    Congregation  153 

governors  of  Louisiana,  Baron  Carondelet.  Among'  the  jovial  wood- 
rangers  and  boatmen  it  was  known  as  "Vide  Poche"  (Empty  Pocket.) 

The  village  grew  but  slowly,  and  had,  at  Father  Bernard's  time, 
about  twenty  families,  all  Catholics.  The  largest  settlement  of  that  time, 
in  neighborhood  of  St.  Louis,  was  St.  Ferdiand  or  Florissant.  Francois 
Dunegant  is  named  as  its  founder,  and  1786  as  the  date  of  its  founda- 
tion. The  place  is  mentioned  previous  to  the  date  given,  Francois 
Dunegant  being  described  as  "Civil  and  Military  Commandant  at  Floris- 
sant," as  early  as  1785.  Yet  this  may  refer  to  the  Florissant  Valley 
as  such  and  the  plantations  therein  without  any  reference  to  a  special 
village.  St.  Ferdinand  de  Florissant  is  situated,  as  Edward  Flagg  wrote 
in  1836,  "  in  a  highly  romantic  valley  upon  the  banks  of  a  creek  of 
the  same  name,  and  is  the  heart  of  one  of  the  most  fertile  and  luxuriant 
valleys  ever  subjected  to  cultivation."10  In  1798  long  before  Flagg 's 
visit,  Zenon  Trudeau,  Spanish  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Upper  Louisiana, 
had  this  to  say  in  regard  to  St.  Ferdinand;  "It  is  about  eleven  years 
since  the  village  of  San  Fernando  and  Carondelet  have  been  settled  by 
the  people  of  San  Louis,  who  at  the  present  time,  get  a  great  part  of 
their  provisions  from  these  two  towns."11  Stoddart  calls  the  valley  "the 
granary  of  St.  Louis."  Marais  des  Liards,  Cottonwood  Swamp,  is  men- 
tioned in  Trudean's  report  as  a  home  of  hunters  and  of  a  few  planters. 
There  was  no  Church  building  nor  priest  in  the  Florissant  Valley,  when 
Trudeau  wrote,  and  he  advises  his  government  "to  send  them  a  priest 
of  the  Irish  nation,"  who  might  "also  serve  the  small  village  of  Marais 
des  Liards."12 

The  population  was  almost  exclusively  French  and  Catholic  in 
Father  Bernard's  time.  The  reason  for  asking,  that  an  Irish  priest 
be  sent  to  St.  Ferdinand  in  1798  will  appear,  if  we  consider  that  many 
English-Americans  were  coming  to  the  country,  some  of  them  Cath- 
olics, others  heretics,  and  all  in  need  of  instruction.  There  was  St. 
Andrew  on  the  Missouri,  where  the  Commandant,  James  Mackay,  a 
native  of  Scotland,  complained  that  his  settlement  could  not  thrive,  if 
only  Catholics  were  admitted.  The  Spanish  government  was  not  desir- 
ous of  excluding  English-Americans,  even  if  they  were  non-catholics. 
The  remedy  to  be  introduced  was  the  conversion  of  the  heretics  by 
Irish  priests.  Whether  Father  Bernard  spoke  English,  we  do  not  know : 
we  do  know,  however,  that  he  spoke  French  and  Spanish  and  his  mother 
tongue,  the  German. 

St.  Charles,  the  third  one  of  the  dependencies  intrusted  to  Father 
Bernard,  as  pastor  of  St.  Louis,  Avas  the  earliest  white  settlement  north 


io     Flagg,  E.  "The  Far  West,"  p.  261. 

11     Houck,  L.,  "The  Spanish  Kegime  in  Missouri,"  p.  249. 

is     Hoiu-k,  op.  fit.,  p.  250. 


L54  History  of  llu   Archdiocesi   of  St.  Louis 

of  the  Missouri  Kiver.  Founded  in  1769,  it  was  known  at  first  as  "Les 
Petites  Cotes,  the  Little  Hills,"  as  the  village  was  situated  at  the  foot 
of  a  range  of  hills.  The  first  settler  was  Louis  Blanchette,  a  native  of 
the  dioeese  of  Quebec  in  Canada.  The  town  grew  rapidly.  The  in- 
habitants divided  their  time  and  energy  between  the  fur  trade  and  the 
cultivation  of  their  lands  in  the  two  commonfields  adjacent  to  the  town. 
In  1797  the  village  had  about  eighty  families. 

The  fourth  dependency  or  mission  of  Father  Bernard  was  Portage 
des  Sioux,  a  village  located  on  the  Mississippi  River  on  the  tongue  of 
land  that  runs  to  a  point  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri.  A  portage  means 
a  strip  of  land  between  two  rivers  where  the  canoes,  after  having  carried 
the  Indian  or  voyageur,  are  now  carried  by  them  from  one  river  to  an- 
other. Such  a  portage  gave  the  name  of  the  village,  "des  Sioux"  was 
added  in  memory  of  the  Sioux  Indians,  who  had  used  the  portage  there, 
Francois  Saucier  in  1765  established  himself  at  the  portage  and  quietly 
induced  a  number  of  the  Creoles  on  the  American  side  to  join  him.  He 
laid  out  the  village  in  1799  and  acted  as  Commandant  of  the  post 
until  the  end  of  the  Spanish  regime. 

All  these  French  settlements,  villages  and  towns  were  under  the 
spiritual  power  of  Father  Bernard.  His  visits  for  the  purpose  of  hold- 
ing services  and  of  comforting  the  sick  and  dying  must  have  been 
frequent.  No  doubt,  he  was  the  owner  of  some  kind  of  conveyance.  No 
doubt  also,  these  visits  were  a  source  of  consolation  and  joy  to  the 
good  pastor :  yet  in  the  end  they  were  bound  to  tell  on  the  health  and 
buoyancy  of  spirit. 

Of  all  these  dependencies  not  one  had  a  church  building  up  to 
1789.  It  was  after  Highmass  on  the  13th  day  of  October  1788,  that 
the  entire  congregation  consisting  of  thirty-two  families,  of  Les  Petites 
Cotes  was  assembled  at  the  house  of  Louis  Blanchet,  founder  of  the 
village,  in  presence  of  Manuel  de  Perez,  Governor  and  Commander  in 
Chief  of  the  Western  District  of  the  Illinois,  and  of  Reverend  Father 
Bernard,  Missionary  and  Pastor  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Louis,  and  of  the 
Sieur  Louis  Blanchet,  founder,  who  wish  to  have  a  Church  for  said 
place,  and  did  unanimously  determine,  consent  and  agree  amongst 
themselves  to  build  a  Church  of  logs,  on  ground  40  feet  long  by  30 
feet  wide.  This  resolution  was  signed  by  all,  either  by  name  or  mark, 
Maturin  Bouvet  was  appointed  syndic.  The  building  was  to  be  com- 
pleted in  the  Spring  of  1789.  The  place  was  then  called  "Les  Petites 
Cotes." 

There  were  good  roads  leading  from  St.  Louis  to  St.  Ferdinand, 
St.  Charles,  and  Carondelet.  Portage  de  Sioux  was  easily  accessible  by 
boat.  On  the  way  to  Carondelet,  there  were  several  habitations,  as 
the  Soulard  Place,  the  Bent  Place  and  several   others,  in  Father  Ber- 


Father  Bernard's   Congregation  155 

nard's  time,  of  course,  they  bore  other  names.  The  Bent  Place  was 
well  known  to  the  people  of  Cahokia  as  the  best  landing  for  canoes. 
Then  there  was  immediately  South  of  this  a  little  Indian  village  oc- 
cupied by  remnants  of  the  Shawnee  and  Delaware  tribes  united  in  one 
band.     This  site  is  now  occupied  by  the  Arsenal. 

We  possess  only  one  literary  monument  from  the  hand  of  Father 
Bernard  de  Limpach :  It  is  a  pathetic  plea  to  his  Superior  in  New 
Orleans  to  be  recalled  from  the  place  he  had  served  so  long,  and  we 
may  add,  so  well.  The  letter  was  written  in  1787.  Eleven  years  had 
passed  since  he  departed  from  his  countrymen  of  the  German  Coast 
for  the  wilderness  of  the  North.  Broken  with  afflictions  of  body  and 
mind,  he  begs  to  be  allowed  to  return  to  them.  As  a  further  reason 
for  his  request  Father  Bernard  says:  "The  Parish  which  is  very  num- 
erous, has  four  villages  depending  on  it,  and  these  increase  daily  by 
the  emigration  of  French  families  that  establish  themselves  here,  to  be 
free  from  the  vexatious  of  the  Americans,  who  are  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  river.  If  I  insist  on  a  removal,  I  am  guided  by  the  hope  of 
finding  somewhere  else  an  alleviation  to  my  bodily  and  to  mental  trouble. 
Everything  else  is  of  no  consideration  to  me."13  Father  Bernard's14 
petition  was  not  granted  until  the  autumn  of  1789. 


is     Original  in  Catholic  Archives  of  America,  Notre  Dame  University. 

14  On  February  24th,  1790,  after  a  voyage  of  about  ninety  days,  Father 
Bernard  established  himself  as  Pastor  of  St.  Gabriel,  Iberville.  In  the  next  year 
he  became  Pastor  of  Point  Coupee,  where  he  died  on  March  27th,  1796. 


Chapter  8 
DISCORD  i\  CHURCH   AND  STATE 


<  »nc  of  the  great  historians  of  Rome  has  said  "Concordia  parvae 
res  crescunt,  discordia  maximae  dilabunter."1  How  applicable  this 
sentence  is  to  the  religious  conditions  obtaining  on  both  sides  of  the 

.Mississippi  during  the  next,  ten  years  after  Father  Bernard  de  Limpach's 
arrival  in  St.  Louis  is  quite  apparent.  <  >u  the  Missouri  side  the  .spirit  of 
concord  was  prevalent,  as  we  have  seen;  on  the  Illinois  side  the  spirit 
of  discord  helped  to  destroy  what  was  left  of  the  greatness  of  former 
days.  Not  that  there  were  no  good  and  true  men  among  the  priesls 
of  the  eastern  shore;  but  the  unfortunate  clash  of  authority  between 
Baltimore  and  Quebec  was  certainly  not  conducive  to  harmony  between 
the  priests.  Father  Gibault  had  been  appointed  by  Bishop  Briand,  not 
only  as  missionary  and  parish  priest,  but  also  as  Vicar  General  in  all 
the  former  Illinois  country  east  of  the  .Mississippi  River.  In  1785  when 
he  took  up  his  abode  in  Yincennes  he  considered  himself  as  still  in- 
vested with  all  these  powers,  as  they  had  never  Ween  withdrawn.  On  the 
other  hand  Dr.  John  Carroll  of  Baltimore,  the  Superior  of  the  Missions 
in  the  United  States,  held  that,  as  all  the  territory  as  far  as  the  Miss- 
issippi was  now  part  and  parcel  of  the  United  States,  it  was  also  placed 
under  his  spiritual  authority.  Hence  he  sent  several  priests  to  these  for- 
lorn regions.  They  were  not  of  his  own  clergy,  but  men  who  had  come  to 
him  with  special  recommendations  for  the  West.  The  first  one  of  these 
was  the  Carmelite  Paul  de  St.  Pierre,  who  had  been  one  of  the  chap- 
lains of  Rochambeau's  army  during  the  revolution  and  whom  the  French 
envoy  had  requested  to  remain  in  America,  among  the  French  Cath- 
olics on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  As  early  as  July  19,  1783  Father 
Farmer,  the  Vicar-General  of  Dr.  Carroll  of  Baltimore,  wrote  to  his 
Superior  in  regard  to  Father  Paul:  "At  present  I  know  of  no  com- 
munication with  the  Illinois,  nor  can  I  think  there  is  any  proper  mis- 
sionary there.  With  regard  to  the  Carmelite  Friar  all  that  I  can  say 
of  him  is  this; — No  sooner  did  he  arrive  in  Virginia  with  the  French 
troops  than  he  wrote  a  letter  to  me  desiring  to  stay  in  the  mission,  and 
therefore  inquired  where  to  obtain  faculties  for  that  purpose.  When  I 
pressed  him  last  fall  to  stay  with  the  French  Consul  in  Virginia,  (he, 
having  a  yearly  pension  from  the  Queen  of  France,  is  under  obliga- 
tion to  take  up  his  abode  where  some  French  are)   he  excused  himself 


i     Sallust,   Jugurtha,    10.6. 

(156) 


Discord  in   Church   and   State  157 

by  saying  he,  being  immediately  under  the  Consul,  would  not  be  so 
free  to  serve  the  people,  but  oblige  them  to  attend  him  and  his  hours. 
The  Capuchin  of  New  York  has  contracted  a  friendship  with  him  hist 
Fall  in  the  West  Indies,  and  speaks  highly  of  him."2 

When  Father  Paul  de  St.  Pierre  approached  Father  Farmer  with 
the  request  for  Faculties,  the  Vicar-General  wrote  to  Dr.  Carroll,  the 
Prefect  Apostolic:  " — The  Bearer  being  already  known  to  your  Rever- 
ence, needs  not  my  commendation.  When  he  arrived  during  the  war, 
he  immediately  by  letter  signified  to  me  his  desire,  to  be  a  missionary 
in  these  parts.  He  designed  to  fix  himself  at  the  Illinois.  I  see  no 
reason  Avhy  I  should  not  be  glad  of  his  zeal  nor  why  Your  Reverence 
should  not  grant  him  necessary  faculties,  servatis  servandis.  You  may 
be  assured  that  nothing  happened  this  long  time  so  agreeable  to  me  as 
your  appointment  to  the  office  of  Prefect  Apostolic."3 

In  the  meantime  Father  de  St.  Pierre  had  departed  for  the  West. 
Shortly  after  his  arrival  at  Vincennes  he  sent  another  application  for 
faculties  through  Father  Farmer,  which  was  transmitted  to  Dr.  Carrol, 
August  1785.  By  this  time  Father  Gibault  had  established  his  residence 
in  Vincennes.  Presenting  his  credentials  from  Vicar  General  Farmer  of 
Baltimore,  Father  de  St.  Pierre  asked  for  a  temporary  assignment,  until 
Dr.  Carroll  should  make  other  dispositions.  But  as  Father  Gibault  did 
not  wish  to  act  in  this  conflict  of  authority,  he  advised  the  Carmelite  to 
accept  the  Parish  of  Ste.  Genevieve  from  the  Spanish  authorities,  May 
18,  1785.  Here  he  continued  to  labor  for  the  cause  of  Christ  until  July 
10,  1786,  as  the  Records  of  that  ancient  Parish  witness.  But  as  Kaskas- 
kia  became  orphaned  by  the  departure  of  Father  Louis  Payet,  Father 
Paul  came  to  the  assistance  of  this  parish  also,  no  doubt  with  the  ap- 
proval of  Father  Gibault,  as  representative  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec. 
Whilst  attending  Kaskaskia,  de  Saint  Pierre  received  from  Baltimore 
a  notification  in  regard  to  the  Jubilee,  a  recognition  of  his  good  stand- 
ing in  the  Diocese. 

Ever  since  Father  de  St.  Pierre's  departure  for  the  Illinois  country 
Monsignor  Carroll  was  in  a  state  of  unrest  in  regard  to  the  Carmelite 
Father.  To  Cardinal  Antonelli,  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda  at  Rome,  he 
wrote  on  February  27,  1785  ; 

"As  to  the  Catholics  who  are  in  the  territory,  bordering  on  the 
River  called  the  Mississippi  and  in  all  that  region,  which  following  that 
river,  extends  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  from  it  extends  to  the  limits 
of  Carolina,  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania — this  tract  of  country  contains, 


-'     Farmer  to   Carroll    in   "American   Catholic   Historical   Researches,"    vol.    V. 
No.  1,  p.  28. 

3      Farmer  to  Carroll,   Researches,  vol.  XXIII,  3. 


158  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

I  hear,  many  Catholics  formerly  Canadians,  who  speak  French,  and 
I  fear  that  they  are  destitute  of  priests.  Before  I  received  Your  Em- 
inence's letters  there  went  to  them  a  priest,  German  by  hirth,  but  who 
came  last  from  France:  he  professes  to  belong  to  the  Carmelite  Order: 
he  was  furnished  with  no  sufficient  testimonials  from  his  lawful  Super- 
ior. What  he  is  doing  and  what  is  the  condition  of  the  church  in 
those  parts,  I  expect  soon  to  learn.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of 
Quebec  formerly  extended  to  some  parts  of  that  region:  but  I  do  not 
know  whether  he  wishes  to  exercise  any  authority  there,  now  that  all 
these  parts  are  subject  to  the  United  States."4  Of  course,  the  Prefect 
Apostolic  was  mistaken  as  to  the  former  extent  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec's 
jurisdiction,  and  of  his  present  claim.  In  reality  Quebec  had  neither 
lost  nor  relinquished  its  former  rights  on  the  eastern  borders  of  the 
Mississippi.  Consequently  Father  Gibault,  the  Vicar-General  of  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec  in  the  missions  of  the  Illinois  country,  wrote  from 
Vincennes,  where  he  was  then  stationed,  to  his  Superior,  Bishop  Hubert, 
June  6,  1786:  "A  barefooted  German  Carmelite,  thirty-four  years  old, 
with  his  priest's  orders,  a  certificate  from  the  colonel  of  the  regiment, 
in  which  he  served  as  chaplain  until  peace  was  made,  and  some  letters 
from  the  Grand  Vicar  (Farmer)  granting  him  the  privilege  of  min- 
istering on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  without  mention  of  any  place 
in  particular,  whose  name  is  Father  de  St.  Pierre,  came  here  a  year  ago 
in  the  name  of  M.  Carroll,  bishop-elect  of  America,  from  whom  came  his 
orders.  I  did  not  dare  to  say  anything  to  him  without  your  orders, 
and  I  did  not  write  to  you  about  it  sooner,  for  he  kept  saying  that  he 
was  going  to  return  to  France  by  way  of  New  Orleans.  However  he  is 
still  in  the  Illinois.  He  seemed  to  me  very  zealous,  but  with  a  zeal  quite 
unmanageable  for  these  regions  without  justice."5 

Now,  although  Bishop  Hubert  was  not  very  favorably  disposed  to 
Father  Gibault,  on  account  of  their  differences  in  the  matter  of  the 
American  Revolution,  he  did  not  disavow  his  action  in  regard  to  Father 
de  St.  Pierre.  On  the  contrary  he  was  glad  of  it,  and  subsequently  urged 
Bishop  Carrol  "to  continue  for  the  present  to  provide  for  these  missions, 
as  it  would  be  difficult  for  me,  (the  Bishop  of  Quebec)  to  supply  them 
myself  without  perhaps  some  offence  to  the  British  government."6 

Father  Paul  do  Saint  Pierre  was  therefore,  in  good  standing,  in  as 
far  as  he  had  lawful  powers  from  the  Diocese  of  Quebec;  consequently 
his  adminstration  of  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia  was  without  a  legal  flaw,  no 
matter  what  Dr.  Carroll's  intentions  had  been.  Yet  even  after  this  ex- 
planation, Dr.  Carroll's  doubts  and  fears  in  regard  to  the  Carmelite's 


*     Shea,  J.  G.,  "Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll,"  p.  257. 

5  "Illinois  Historical  Collections,"  Virginia  S.,  vol.  I,  p.  547. 

6  "Illinois  Historical  Collections,"  Virginia  S.,  vol.  I,  p.  588. 


Discord  in  Church  and  State  159 

legal  status  did  not  cease.  As  late  as  January  20,  1790  he  states  in  a 
letter  to  Father  Gibault : 

"I  am  also  worried  in  regard  to  M.  de  Saint  Pierre.  He  left  here 
without  any  power  to  administer  the  sacraments,  for  at  that  time  I  pos- 
sessed no  right  to  grant  it  to  him;  and  since  his  departure  I  have  been 
unable  to  make  up  my  mind  to  send  him  that  power,  because  I  am  in  no 
wise  assured  that  he  came  to  America  with  the  consent  of  the  superiors 
of  the  Order  or  with  such  approbation  as  the  usages  of  ecclesiastical  dis- 
cipline require,"7 

Bishop  Carroll's  main  difficulty  sprang  from  an  unfortunate  mis- 
understanding. The  decree  of  the  Propaganda  appointing  Dr.  Carroll 
Superior  of  the  Mission  in  the  Thirteen  United  States  of  America,  dated 
November  26,  1784,  contained  the  restrictive  clause  that  he  was  to  give 
faculties  to  no  priest  coming  into  the  country,  except  those  sent  and 
approved  by  the  Sacred  Congregation.  P.  Paul  de  Saint  Pierre  did  not 
have  this  approbation,  having  come  here  long  before  that  restriction  was 
made ;  but  for  the  same  reason  he  did  not  require  that  approbation,  as 
the  letter  of  Cardinal  Antonelli,  which  accompanied  the  decree,  informs 
Dr.  Carroll  that,"  the  f acidities  which  His  Holiness  communicates  to  him. 
the  Superior  of  the  Mission,  are  also  communicated  to  the  other  priests  of 
the  same  states,  except  the  administration  of  Confirmation,  which  is  re- 
served for  him  alone."8 

Msgr.  Carroll,  in  the  course  of  time,  also  inclined  to  this  view  and 
entertained  a  more  favorable  opinion  of  de  Saint  Pierre's  ecclesiastical 
status.  At  least  he  permitted  him  to  continue  his  ministry  under  whatever 
authority  he  may  have  claimed  to  act,  a  course  that  was  certainly  the 
most  sensible  and  just  one,  in  view  of  the  immense  distance  of  these 
missions  from  the  See  of  Baltimore  and  the  absolute  dearth  of  Mission- 
aries in  the  west.  De  Saint  Pierre's  readiness  to  accept  responsibility 
when  matters  were  so  urgent,  deserved  recognition.  The  Recommend- 
ation given  to  de  Saint  Pierre  by  the  French  minister  was  a  good  sijrn. 
and,  if  the  worst  should  come  to  the  worst,  no  one  could  blame  the 
authorities  at  Baltimore  if  they  tolerated  something  which  they  could  in 
no  wise  prevent. 

As  we  now  understand  the  whole  matter,  we  feel  that  the  coming  of 
the  Carmelite  Father  to  the  Illinois  country  was  a  real  God-send,  a  boon 
that  enabled  hundreds  and  hundreds  to  save  their  souls,  and  greatly 
helped  to  tide  over  the  Church,  during  its  stormiest  period,  unto  a  more 
gracious  time. 

It  was  not  a  pleasant  place  to  live  in,  the  Kaskaskia  of  1786.  Law 
and  order  seem  to  have  vanished  from  the  land.   The  French  authorities 


7     "Illinois  Historical  Collections,"  Virginia  S.,  vol.  I,  p.  592. 
s     Shea,  op.  cit.,  pp.  243,  244,  246. 


160  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

were  superseded  by  the  British.  These  were  driven  out  by  the  Virginians, 
and  they  iii  turn  had  departed,  Leaving  the  poor  Creoles  to  the  mercy 
of  marauding  Indians  and  upstarl  politicians  whose  sole  endeavor  it  was 
to  deprive  trustful  people  of  their  homes  and  their  honor.  When  the 
stalwart  Carmelite  arrived.  Ids  honest  blood  began  to  boil,  and  he  did  not 
mince  words  in  Ins  attack  upon  these  birds  of  prey.  Of  course  lie  was 
sued  by  two  of  the  main  sinners  before  a  renegade  magistrate.  Father 
Paul  refused  to  appear  before  a  tribunal  that  was  "  incompetent  to  judge 
ecclesiastical  persons."  As  to  his  accusers,  he  told  them  to  carry  the  case 
before  "the  Honorable  Congress  and  the  Bishop."  The  aggrieved 
persons  took  the  hint  for  lack  of  something  more  effective:  they  brought 
their  complaint  before  the  authorities  at  Baltimore  saying:  "We  are 
doubtful  whether  you  have  sent  us  a  priest  to  look  after  our  spiritual 
interests,  as  he  is  more  concerned  with  temporal  affairs  and  acts  as  a 
lawyer  in  this  country.  He  endeavors  to  ruin  us  in  our  commerce,  and  to 
take  away  our  credit ....  I  do  not  think,  my  Lord  after  the  letter  that  I 
have  seen,  that  a  pastor  ought  to  meddle  with  temporal  matters."9  This 
seems  to  have  been  the  end  of  the  case  against  Paul  de  Saint  Pierre,  whom 
the  complainants  called  Heiligenstein,  which  very  probably  was  his 
name  before  taking  the  garb  and  style  of  a  Carmelite. 

Father  de  Saint  Pierre  remained  Pastor  of  Ste.  Genevieve  and 
administrator  of  the  neighboring  parish  of  Kaskaskia  until  the  arrival 
of  the  new  pastor,  Father  Guignes  in  1786.  Father  Gibault,  who  had 
been  repeatedly  asked  by  the  good  people  of  Cahokia  to  take  charge  of 
this  forsaken  and  almost  ruined  parish  and  Indian  Mission,  requested 
Father  de  Saint  Pierre  to  undertake  the  laborious  task,  sending  him  at 
the  same  time  the  power  of  attorney  he  himself  had  received  from  the 
Superior  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec  by  authority  of  the  Bishop  concern- 
ing the  mission  of  Cahokia.  The  last  letter  of  Father  de  Saint  Pierre 
from  Kaskaskia,  a  latin  letter  to  Father  Louis  Payet  at  Detroit,  is  dated, 
Parochia  Immaculatae  Conceptionis,  die  18  Februarii,  A.  D.  1786.  From 
this  date  on  to  1789  de  Saint  Pierre  was  pastor  of  the  Parish  of  the  Holy 
Family  and  the  Tamarois  Mission  at  Cahokia,  just  across  the  river  from 
the  rising  city  of  St.  Louis. 

It  is  a  remarkable  coincidence,  that  in  these  critical  years  two 
German  priests,  P.  Bernard  de  Limpach  and  P.  Paul  de  St.  Pierre,  the  one 
at  St.  Louis,  the  other  at  Cahokia,  separated  by  the  great  river  but  united 
by  the  bond  of  a  magnanimous  friendship,  should  unfold  their  blessed 
missionary  activities  fn  spite  of  all  attacks  and  misunderstandings.  Prior 
to  de  Saint  Pierre's  coming,  Father  Bernard  had,  at  Father  Gibault 's 
invitation,  attended  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  church  at  Cahokia, 
and  Father  de  Saint  Pierre  was  ready  to  return  the  favor  in  St.  Louis, 


9     "Illinois  Historical  Collections,"  Virginia  S.,  vol.  I,  p.  521. 


Discord  in  Church  and  State  161 

if  Father  Bernard  should  be  called  away.  On  April  25,  1787  Father 
Bernard  writes  to  his  Superior  in  New  Orleans  "The  parish  of  St. 
Louis  is  no  more  than  half  a  league  from  that  of  Kahos  (Cahokia)  which 
at  present  has  a  priest,  who  was  chaplain  to  the  army  of  the  King 
of  France ;  and  therefore  it  can  more  easily  remain  for  a  time  without 
a  priest,  than  other  parishes  farther  down  in  the  colony,  as,  for  instance, 
that  of  St.  Charles,  whose  subjects  no  doubt  are  no  less  dear  to  God 
and  to  the  King  that  those  of  Illinois."10 

In  those  primitive  days  of  pathless  forest  and  trackless  prairie  the 
rivers  appeared  more  as  avenues  of  approach  than  as  a  dividing  line, 
a  circumstance  that  may  explain,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  strange  wander- 
ings to  and  fro  of  our  early  priests,  especially  as  the  population  on  both 
sides  of  the  Mississippi  was  really  one  people  of  Catholic  French. 

On  the  6th  day  of  June  1786,  Father  Gibault  sent  a  message  to 
Quebec  concerning  the  zealous  or  rather  over-zealous,  Carmelite,  "with 
the  privilege  of  ministering  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi."  On  the 
17th  day  of  October  of  the  same  year,  Dr.  Carroll's  Vicar-General,  de 
La  Valiniere,  writes  concerning  a  meeting  he  had  held  with  P,  Bernard 
de  Limpach  and  another  priest  in  St.  Louis,  in  which  several  charges 
against  P.  de  St.  Pierre  had  been  discussed  and  proved  to  be  without 
foundation,  and  he  ordains  that  the  good  people  of  Cahokia  give  him, 
as  their  lawful  pastor,  all  the  satisfaction  in  their  power.  The  letter 
was  ordered  to  be  read  on  Sunday,  after  the  sermon  of  the  parochial 
Mass,  and  afterward  affixed  to  the  door  of  the  church.11  But  ere  six 
months  had  elapsed,  a  remarkable  change  had  come  over  de  La  Valin- 
iere's  position  in  regard  to  the  one  time  "Lawful  pastor,"  now  only 
"acting  in  the  capacity  of  Parson  of  Cahokia."  The  change  is  ex- 
plained in  the  document  entitled  ' '  Letter  from  M.  Huet  de  La  Valiniere, 
Vicar  General  in  all  the  districts  north  of  the  Ohio,  called  Belle  Riviere, 
along  the  Mississippi,  Wabash,  Miami  etc.,  to  the  gentlemen  of  Cahokia, 
greeting  and  blessing  in  our  Lord."12  It  is  not  very  pleasant  read- 
ing, this  letter  of  the  Vicar-General  and  whatever  may  have  been  the 
merits  of  the  case,  it  should  not  have  been  laid  before  the  people  for 
adjudication.  To  rehearse  these  charges  against  one  of  his  priests  before 
a  gathering  of  laymen  was  sufficiently  imprudent ;  but  here  to  add  to 
each  charge  the  matter-of-fact  answers  of  the  accused  priest,  and  to 


10  "American  Catholic  Researches,"  January  1898.  The  Church  of  St.  Charles 
on  the  German  Coast,  Cote  des  Allemands,  a  few  miles  above  the  city  of  New  Orleans, 
was  founded  by  the  German  settlers  returning  from  Arkansas  after  the  failure  of 
John  Law,  the  proprietor  of  the  seigniory  on  the  Arkansas  River. 

ii     "Illinois  Historical  Collections,"  Virginia  S.,  vol.  I,  pp.  548  and  549. 

12     "Illinois  Historical  Collections,"  Virginia  S.,  vol.  I,  p.  551. 

Vol.   1-6 


162  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

season  the  whole  proceeding  with  diverse  slurs  and  insinuations,  was 
certainly  not  calculated  to  win  the  parishioners  to  the  side  of  authority. 

But  hefore  we  enter  upon  this  unfortunate  quarrel  let  us  see  who 
and  what  Father  de  La  Valiniere  really  was.  Born  at  Varade  in  France. 
January  10,  1732  Pierre  Iluet  de  La  Valiniere  went  to  Paris  and  enter- 
ing the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  became  a  member  of  that  community. 
He  felt  t ho  attraction  of  the  American  mission  fields,  which  at  last  drew 
him  to  Montreal.  Here  he  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Pontbriand,  June 
15,  17T)5.  Serving  at  first  as  a  professor  in  the  Seminary,  he  was  suc- 
cessively transferred  to  five  parishes  within  twenty  years.  In  177!) 
Canada  was  invaded  by  an  American  army.  Bishop  Hriand  was  ab- 
solutely loyal  to  the  British  interests  all  through  the  years  of  the  Revolu- 
tion: only  a  few  of  the  clergy  sympathized  with  the  American  Cause, 
among  them  Father  de  La  Valiniere.  This  circumstance  brought  about 
his  exile  from  Canada.13  Governor  Haldimand  writes  as  follows  in  ex- 
tenuation of  the  drastic  manner  employed  in  deporting  the  refractory 
priest : 

"Fiery,  Factious  and  turbulent,  no  ways  deficient  in  point  of  wit 
and  parts,  he  was  too  dangerous  at  this  present  crisis  to  be  allowed  to 
remain  here,  and  accordingly,  taking  advantage  of  his  disagreement 
with  the  Seminary  of  Montreal  and  with  the  Bishop,  he  is  now,  with 
the  consent  of  the  latter,  sent  home ;  as  it  rather  appears  that  the 
blow  proceeds  from  his  ecclesiastical  superiors,  any  noise  or  disturbance 
about  it  here  is  avoided,  and  at  the  same  time  may  oblige  the  clergy, 
especially  the  French  part  of  them,  to  be  careful  and  circumspect ;  the 
French  alliance  with  the  Colonies  in  rebellion  has  certainly  operated 
a  great  change  upon  their  minds,  and  it  too  generally  runs  through  the 
whole  body  of  Canadians.  However  disagreeable  it  may  be,  it  is  im- 
proper he  should  be  permitted  to  return  to  his  native  country.  I  think 
he  must  either  be  confined,  though  well  treated,  or  sent  prisoner  at 
large  to  a  remote  part,  where  some  inspection  may  be  had  over  his 
conduct.  In  short,  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that,  while  these  troubles 
last,  he  will  seek  every  opportunity  of  serving  France,  and  of  being  of 
Disservice  to  the  British  interests."14 


is  American  Catholic  Historical  Researches,"  vol.  XXIII,  pp.  203-255.  Also 
vol.  XI,  pp.  98-101. 

14  "American  Catholic  Historical  Researches, "  vol.  XXIII,  p.  203.  It  was 
during  that  time,  (1758)  that  he  succeeded  in  rescuing  from  the  hands  of  the  Indians, 
a  little  Irish  girl  named  O 'Flaherty,  at  the  very  moment  when  these  barbarians 
were  about  to  make  her  perish  by  fire.  "They  had  already  tied  her  to  the  stake  with 
Mrs.  O 'Flaherty,  her  mother,  and  were  preparing  to  burn  them  both,  when  that 
ecclesiastic,  by  his  prayers,  his  entreaties  and  promises,  succeeded  in  delivering  them 
from  death."  This  child,  whom  Madam  d  'Youville  received  under  her  roof,  devoted 
herself  to  her  benefactress  and  became  a  Sister  of  Charity. 


Discord  in  Church  and  State  163 

Lord  George  Germain  disapproved  Haldeman's  act.  Father  de  la 
Valiniere  was  set  at  liberty  and,  after  many  hardships  and  dangers 
surmounted,  he  directed  his  course  to  New  York.15  Dr.  Carroll  would 
not  or  could  not  give  him  employment.  Father  Farmer,  his  Vicar-Gen- 
eral, in  February  1786  transmitted  to  the  exiled  priest  the  "power  to 
perform  parochial  work,  without  restriction,  to  the  French."  At  Father 
de  la  Valiniere 's  request,  Dr.  Carroll  gave  him  permission  to  go  west, 
and  on  the  day  of  his  departure  made  him  his  Vicar-General  with  full 
faculties.16 

Father  de  la  Valiniere  paid  a  brief  visit  to  Father  Farmer  at 
Philadelphia,  thence  he  journeyed  on  foot  to  Pittsburg,  and  by  batteau 
down  the  Ohio  to  Kaskaskia,  where  he  arrived  in  the  summer  of  1786. 
At  first  his  fiery  zeal  for  justice  and  righteousness,  in  open  opposition 
to  the  self-appointed  governor,  John  Dodge  and  his  harpy  crew,  won 
him  the  love  and  admiration  of  the  habitants.  And  when  through  his 
appeal  to  Congress,  the  turbulent  robber  faction  was  overthrown,  Father 
de  la  Valiniere  felt  himself  safe  in  the  hearts  of  his  people. 

Yet  fiery  and  self-willed  as  he  was,  he  was  led  by  an  insignificant 
circumstance  to  kindle  a  new  and  dangerous  fire  of  opposition,  a  con- 
flagration which  eventually  drove  him  out  of  the  Illinois.  The  only 
priests  over  whom  the  new  Vicar-General  had  jurisdiction,  were  the 
veteran  Pierre  Gibault  at  Vincennes  and  the  Carmelite  Paul  de  Saint 
Pierre  at  Cahokia.  Both  were  honorable  men  and  faithful  ministers  of 
God,  doing  their  duty  according  to  their  best  knowledge  of  the  situa- 
tion in  which  they  found  themselves :  But  Father  de  la  Valiniere, 
with  practically  no  experience  of  missionary  life  in  the  wild  west,  felt 
the  urge  within  himself  to  let  them  feel  his  superiority  in  ecclesiastical 
knowledge,  as  well  as  in  canonical  power.  The  questions  he  raised 
in  his  letter  to  Father  de  Saint  Pierre  were  either  trivial  or  did  not 
concern  him.17  Father  Paid  answered  the  letter,  justifying  his  con- 
duct, in  a  straightforward  manner,  but  as  de  la  Valiniere  had  indulged 
in  a  rather  paternal  tone  of  reproof,  Father  de  Saint  Pierre  injected 
some  insinuations  regarding  Father  de  la  Valiniere 's  former  trouble. 
The  good  Vicar-General  thought  his  position  in  jeopardy  and  addressed 
a  public  letter  to  the  people  of  Cahokia,  in  which  he  made  some  caustic 
remarks  and  undignified  charges  against  their  pastor,  whom  he  had 
praised  a  short  time  before,  and  even  called  in  question  his  ordination 
to  the  priesthood.     Father  de  Saint  Pierre's  parishioners,  who  loved 


15     "American  Catholic  Historical  Researches,"  vol.  XXIII,  p.  212. 
ig     "American  Catholic  Historical  Researches,"  1.  c,  pp.  218  and  219. 
17     Priated  in  Researches,  vol.  XXIII,  pp.   221-223.'    Father  de  Saint  Pierre's 
answer,  ibidem,  p.  225. 


1 6-i  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

and  respected  him,  returned  a  lengthy  reply,  from  which  we  cull  the 
following  strong  passage: 

"We  answer  the  same  (your  letter)  by  declaring  to  yon,  all  of 
us,  with  an  unanimous  voice,  that  Mr.  de  St.  Pierre  our  Parson,  pastor 
and  missionary,  has  all  our  confidence,  and  that  we  have  only  to  praise 
and  applaud  him  and  the  spiritual  zeal  with  which  he  instructs  us 
as  well  as  our  children.  It  is  in  vain  that  you  expect  to  rob  us  of  the 
confidence  we  repose  in  him.  His  attachment  to  us  and  his  disinterest- 
edness is  known  to  us.  Therefore,  sir,  dispense  writing  us  anything  more 
disadvantageous  to  the  conduct  of  a  Priest  as  worthy  of  respect  as  M. 
de  St.  Pierre  whom  we  all  reverence  .     .     .     .  "ls 

Having  thus  caused  a  division  among  the  Catholics  of  the  Illinois 
country,  Father  de  la  Valiniere  soon  found  that  his  old  enemies  were 
not  completely  shorn  of  power,.  Even  in  his  own  parish  of  Kaskaskia, 
the  majority  of  the  French  turned  against  him.  On  September  21,  1787 
a  petition  to  Congress  against  him  was  signed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Kaskaskia,  in  which  his  moral  character  is  not  touched,  but  a  number 
of  grievances  are  set  forth,  as  the  fury  of  his  disposition,  the  theo- 
cratic despotism,  the  violence  of  his  passions.10  Father  de  la  Valiniere 
saw  that  he  could  no  longer  accomplish  any  good;  he  therefore  asked 
the  Bishop  of  Quebec  that  Canada  might  be  opened  to  him  once  more 
and  receive  the  last  fruits  of  his  priesthood,  as  it  had  received  the 
first."20  This  pathetic  appeal  remained  unanswered.  In  1789  Father 
de  la  Valiniere  left  the  Illinois  country  going  to  New  Orleans.  In 
1790  he  was  at  St.  Sulpice  in  Montreal,  but  the  Bishop  would  not  ap- 
point him  to  any  position  and  even  refused  him  permission  to  celebrate 
mass. 

The  first  and  partly  successful  undertaking  of  P.  de  Saint  Pierre 
at  Cahokia  was  the  attempt  at  recovering  the  property  once  held  by 
the  Seminary  of  Quebec  for  the  Tamarois  Mission,  and  for  the  Parish 
of  the  Holy  Family,  but  sold  or  disposed  of  by  the  last  Vicar-General 
under  the  French  regime,  Father  Forget  du  Verger.  The  sales  were 
null  and  void,  as  Father  Forget  had  not  been  authorized  by  the  right- 
ful owners;  in  fact,  Father  Forget 's  conduct  in  leaving  the  Illinois 
country  as  he  did  was  condemned  by  Bishop  Briand  of  Quebec,  as 
"shameful,  even  criminal." 

All  that  remained  to  the  ancient  parish  were  "four  walls  of  a  stone 
house,  with  ground  three  hundred  feet  wide  by  nine  hundred  feet  long, 
and  also  a  Held,  three  arpents  wide  with  a  length  the  same  as  the  fields 
belonging  to  the  inhabitants,"  and  even  these  remnants  of  the  parish- 
property,  like  that  of  the  mission  seigniory,  were  in  danger  of  being  lost. 

is     "Illinois  Historical, Collections, "  Virginia  S.,  vol.  I,  pp.  560  ss. 

is     "American  Catholic  Historical  Researches,"  vol.  XXIII,  pp.  228-231. 

20     "American  Catholic  Historical   Researches,"  vol.   XXIII,  pp.   235  and  236. 


Discord  in    Church    and  State  165 

Here  Father  de  Saint  Pierre's  aggressiveness  served  him  and  his 
people  to  a  good  purpose.    The  story  of  the  proceedings  for  the  recovery 
of  the  mission  property  and  the  material  upbuilding  of  the  parish  of 
the  Holy  Family  is  vividly  described  in  a  Report  made  by  the  people 
and  the  trustees  of  the  Parish  and  Mission  of  Cahokia  to  the  gentle- 
men of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec.     After  telling  them  the  particulars  of 
a  recent  sale  of  the  remnants  of  the  mission  property  the  inhabitants 
of  Cahokia  say:    "We  made  no  opposition,  since  we  had  no  knowledge 
at   the   time   of   the    power    of   attorney,    which   the    Superiors    of   the 
Chapter,  by  the  authority  of  the  Bishop  had  sent  to  Father  Gibault, 
and  of  which  Father  Gibault  had  made  no  use."    They  continue:  "This 
has  been  communicated  to  us  about  the  month  of  April  1786,  by  M. 
de  Saint  Pierre,  the  priest  serving  our  mission  .     .     .  We  have  learned 
from  this  power  of  attorney,  that  all  the  sales  made  by  Father  Forget, 
Grand  Vicar  of  Monseigneur,  were  null  and  void,  since  they  had  never 
been  authorized  by  the  Chapter  ....  Consequently,  we  have  judici- 
ally set  aside  and  annulled  all  the  sales  made  by  Father  Forget  and 
others  who  have   succeeded   him,   and  have   annulled   the   instruments 
which  the  attorney  of  M.  Jutard  has  had  made  and  which  concerned 
the  sale  by  auction  .     .     .  We  have  reestablished  you  in  the  possession 
of  these  goods.     For  the  purpose  of  lodging  our  pastor  we  have  built 
a  priest's  house,  which  has  cost  us  almost  five  thousand  livres  .     .  (We 
were  obliged  to  do  this)   because  the  house  had  been  entirely  ruined 
by  the  English  and  American  troops  who  have  lodged  there.       .     The 
defacements  and  injuries  it  had  suffered  during  the  time  it  was  abandon- 
ed were  such  that  there  remain  standing  only  the   four  walls,  whicb 
could  be  repaired  only  with  much  labor;  for  they  are  without  a  roof- 
covering,  ceiling,  flooring,  and  the  chimneys  have  tumbled  down ;  there 
are  some  fences  on  the  land;  the  orchard  has  been  so  devastated  that 
there  is  left  no  vestige  of  it ;  all  the  other  buildings  have  been   de- 
stroyed, even  to  the  wells  which  have  been  filled  in. 

"We  have  decided  to  build  a  church  of  the  ruins  of  this  house,  for 
our  former  wooden  church  has  fallen,  and  we  are  obliged  to  have 
Mass  in  a  rented  house.  We  have  commenced  to  work  on  our  projected 
church,  which  will  cost  us  more  than  fifteen  or  sixteen  thousand  livres. 
Since  the  Mission  has  no  longer  any  slaves,  M.  Forget  having  pocketed 
and  carried  away  the  money  which  he  was  able  to  collect  for  them, 
and  since  the  three  arpents  of  land  will  become  a  charge  against 
the  Mission,  on  account  of  the  expense  for  fences  and  maintenance,  we 
consulted  with  M.  de  St.  Pierre  and  decided  to  rent  it  .  .  .  As  to  the 
other  property,  such  as  slaves,  mills  and  animals,  all  these  "have  been 
entirely  dispersed  and  made  unusable  at  the  departure  of  M.  Forget, 
either  by  sales,  the  granting  of  liberty  to  the  slaves,  or  by  donation 


Iiiii  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

of  the  animals,  so  that   none  of  these  things  arc  to  be   round  at  the 

.Mission.  There  are  still  some  families  of  Negroes  on  the  Spanish  side, 
who  arc  of  considerable  value.  They  are  living  either  at  St.  Louis  of 
the  Illinois  or  at  New  Orleans,  and  were  either  given  their  liberty  or 
were  sold  by  M.  Forget  without  authority.  There  are  some  even  here 
in  the  village  of  Cahokia.  We  have  made  a  demand  for  those  living 
on  the  Spanish  side;  but  the  major  Commandant  of  the  Illinois  dis- 
trict has  refused  to  do  anything  .  .  .  Before  we  saw  the  contents 
of  the  power  of  attorney  addressed  to  M.  Gibault,  we  were  uncertain, 
whether  the  sales  by  M.  Forget  were  legal  or  not,  and  were  fear- 
ful of  taking  false  steps  and  of  putting  ourselves  to  useless  expenses  .  . 
This  power  of  attorney,  which  has  been  sent  us,  has  reassured  us  and 
opened  our  eyes;  and  we  shall  work  now  for  the  rccslablishment  of 
our  Mission,  as  far  as  it  shall  be  in  our  power."-1 

Up  to  this  time  Father  Gibault's  headquarters  had  been  Kaskas- 
kia.  But  in  1785  he  removed  to  Vincennes.  Here  he  pursued  the  same 
pastoral  plan  he  had  inaugurated  years  before  in  Kaskaskia.  Writing 
to  Mgr.  Briand  from  Vincennes  in  1786  he  says:  "I  give  the  boys  and 
girls  an  instruction  twice  a  day :  after  mass,  and  in  the  evening  be- 
fore sunset.  After  each  instruction  1  send  the  girls  home  and  make 
the  boys  repeat  the  responses  of  the  mass  and  the  ceremonies  of  the 
Church  for  Sundays  and  Holydays.  1  preach  too,  on  these  days  as 
often  as  I  can."22 

Here  also,  he  found  more  leisure  to  devote  to  his  books,  a  con- 
siderable collection  of  which  he  had  accumulated,  mostly  on  theological 
subjects,  as  he  writes  in  1786  to  Bishop  D  'Esglis.23  It  also  occurred  to 
him  in  his  solitude,  that  he  had  certain  claims  against  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  if  not  for  services  rendered,  at  least  for  expenses 
incurred.  What  Father  Gibault  did  in  this  direction  is  best  describ- 
ed in  his  letter  to  Governor  Arthur  St.  Clair — "The  undersigned  mem- 
orialist has  the  honor  to  represent  to  your  excellency  from  Cahokia,  May 
16,  1790:  that,  from  the  moment  of  the  conquest  of  the  Illinois  country 
by  Colonel  George  Rogers  Clark,  he  has  not  been  backward  in  ventur- 
ing his  life  on  many  occasions  in  which  he  found  that  his  presence  was 
useful,  and  at  all  times  sacrificing  his  property,  which  he  gave  for  the 
support  of  the  troops."24 

In  the  St.  Clair  papers  this  letter  is  marked, 

"Paper  No.  24,  and  endorsed  by  St.  Clair,  the  request  of  a  Mr. 
Gibault  for  a  small  piece  of  land  that  has  been  in  the  occupation  of 


^i  "Illinois  Eistorical  Collections,"  Virginia  S.,  vol.  I,  pp.  560  ss. 

22  "Illinois  Historical  Collections,"  Virginia  S.,  vol.  II,  p.  535. 

M  "Illinois  Historical  Collection,"   Virginia   S.,  vol.   11,  p.   545. 

24  "The  St.  ('lair  Papers,"  vol.  II,  p.  14«,  quoted  in  Researches,  vol.  V,  p.  .">i>. 


Discord  in   Church   and  State  167 

the  priests  at  Cahokia  for  a  long  time,  having  been  assigned  to  them 
by  the  French ;  but  he  wishes  to  possess  it  in  propriety.  It  is  true  that 
he  was  very  useful  to  Gen.  Clarke,  upon  many  occasions,  and  has  suffer- 
ed very  considerable  losses;  I  believe  no  injury  would  be  done  to  any 
one  by  his  request  being  granted,  but  it  was  not  for  me  to  give  away  the 
lands  of  the  United  States."23 

Republics  are  proverbially  ungrateful.  Father  Gibault  had  ex- 
perienced that.  Disappointment  followed  disappointment.  His  own 
people  of  Vincennes  were  not  as  responsive  to  his  word  as  of  olcL  Weary 
of  constant  struggle  the  missionary  thought  that  he  had  earned  a  rest 
from  his  labors.  Bishop  Carroll  does  not  seem  to  be  pleased  with  his 
presence  in  what  is  now  a  part  of  the  diocese  of  Baltimore.  Canada 
is  after  all  his  home. 

"Monseigneur",  thus  we  read,  "I  pray  you  to  consider  that  for 
the  last  twenty  years  I  have  served  these  missions,  without  ceasing, 
without,  so  to  speak,  a  fixed  abode,  almost  always  journeying  in  all  sea- 
sons of  the  year,  always  exposed  to  being  massacred  by  the  savages.  My 
age  of  fifty-one  years,  the  need  I  have  of  being  more  recollected  after  so 
much  exterior  work,  which  entailed  so  many  and  such  long  journeys, 
the  repugnance  that  I  have  to  serve  under  another  Bishop,  be  it  in  Spain 
or  in  Republican  America,  and  a  thousand  other  reasons,  lead  me  to 
expect  you  to  grant  my  request  and  to  recall  me,  which  I  earnestly 
ask,  believing  that  I  follow  in  this  the  will  of  God  who  inspires  me 
with  it  for  my  salvation.  As  to  the  spiritual  aid  of  the  people  in  these 
parts,  I  can  assure  you  that  it  will  not  be  wanting  to  them,  even  less  than 
formerly,  since  they  have  a  priest  at  the  Kaskaskias,  another  at  the 
Cahokias,  and  that  they  will  not  be  long  without  having  one  at  Vin- 
cennes, if  I  leave  it,  for  it  is  the  favorite  post  of  the  American  Congress. 
This  all  conspires  to  make  me  hope  for  my  recall. '  '26 

But  the  recall  did  not  come,  and  in  September  1789  he  took  over 
from  Father  de  Saint  Pierre  the  Parish  of  the  Holy  Family  at  Cahokia 
to  which  he  had  been  assigned  long  years  ago  by  Bishop  Briand  of 
Quebec.  Father  Paul  de  Saint  Pierre  had  been  kindly  received  by 
the  Spanish  authorities ;  Father  Gibault  was  now  to  follow  him.  Bishop 
Carroll  was  glad  to  give  them  both  his  fervent  blessing  on  entering 
their  new  field  of  labor.  We  shall  meet  them  again,  the  one  in  Ste. 
Genevieve,  the  other  in  New  Madrid  and  the  Post  of  Arkansas,  both 
doing  valiant  and  efficient  service  for  the  cause  of  God  and  His  church. 


25     St.  Clair  Papers,  vol.  II,  p.  148.     Researches,  vol.  V,  p.  53. 
-<>     Alvord,   C.   W.,   "Knskaskia  Reeorrls"   in   "Illinois   Historical    Collections, 
Virginia  S.,  vol.  II,  pp.  583  and  584. 


Chapter  i» 
RESULTS  OF  THE  DISCORD 


But  we  must  return  to  the  closing  years  of  the  Spanish  regime 
in  Louisiana  to  mark  the  advent  on  Missouri  soil  of  two  priests  faithful 
unto  death:  Father  Pierre  (iibault  as  Pastor  of  New  Madrid  and  the 
Post  of  Arkansas,  and  Father  Paul  de  Saint  Pierre  as  Pastor  of  Sic 
Genevieve  and  of  Point  Couppee  in  the  South. 

How  these  two  faithful  priests  came  to  serve  the  Church  under 
the   Spanish  regime  must  now  be  explained   in   proper  detail. 

During  Father  Paid  de  Saint  Pierre's  incumbency  of  Cahokia,  the 
people  had  requested  that  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  should  ratify  appoint- 
ment of  their  present  pastor  as  a  missionary  also  for  the  Tamarois 
Indians. 

The  Bishop's  response  is  not  known,  yet  the  request  did  not  seem 
to  be  out  of  harmony  with  the  views  of  Bishop  Hubert,  who,  October 
1788,  declares  that  the  Seminary  had  "resigned  its  prerogative  of  nom- 
inating a  superior  among  the  Tamarois  only  in  favor  of  the  Bishop  of 
Quebec,"  a  right  which  seems  to  have  been  exercised  for  the  last  tim° 
when  the  saintly  Father  Francis  Savine  came  to  Cahokia  in  1812. 

Father  de  Saint  Pierre  remained  at  Cahokia  until  September  1789, 
as  pastor  and  missionary,  and  the  parish  began  to  revive  and  flourish 
under  his  fostering  care. 

Good  order  and  decency  in  all  things  pertaining  to  the  religious 
life  were  always  the  object  of  his  vigilant  care,  and  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  employ  force,  even  to  the  extent  of  calling  on  the  civil  power,  when- 
ever it  seemed  necessary.  In  the  minutes  of  the  Court  of  Cahokia  we 
find  a  number  of  instances. 

On  December  10,  1786,  M.  de  Saint  Pierre,  the  parish  priest,  present- 
ed the  petition,  requesting  the  prohibition  of  giving  strong  drink  to  the 
savages.  The  Court  decreed  that  "the  ordinance  passed  heretofore  shall 
be  published  next  Sunday  and  that  offenders  shall  be  punished  accord- 
ing to  said  ordinance." 

In  March  of  the  following  year  the  pastor,  de  Saint  Pierre,  re- 
quired an  oath  from  every  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  assembled 
in  the  presence  of  the  court,  that  none  of  them  had  taken  and  hidden 
certain  valuable  papers  entrusted  to  them  by  M.  Du  Buque.  All  took 
the  oath  and  were  declared  free  from  suspicion. 

In  all  the  French  settlements  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  the  so-called 
coutumes  de  Paris   (the  customs  of  Paris)   were  regarded  as  the  com- 

(168) 


Results  of  the  Discord  169 

mon  law  of  the  land,  even  in  what  was  afterward  called  Spanish 
Louisiana.  According  to  these  customs  the  parish  priest  had  a  right 
to  the  tithes,  originally  one-tenth  part  of  the  harvest,  but  now,  accord- 
ing to  Canadian  modification,  only  one  twenty-sixth  part,  or  about  4, 
instead  of  10  per  cent  of  the  wheat  and  corn.  Besides  this,  every 
family  in  its  turn  was  required  to  furnish  the  pain  benit,  the  blessed 
bread,  of  which  every  one  attending  the  solemn  service  received  a  small 
piece. 

This  custom  of  the  pain  benit  was  probably  introduced  by  St.  Greg- 
ory of  Tours  and  prevailed  in  Canada  and  several  dioceses  of  Prance 
as  late  as  thirty  years  ago,  but  seems  now  to  be  passing  in  desuetudinem 
everywhere. 

On  January  2.  1789,  de  Saint  Pierre  entered  suit  against  some  in- 
habitants of  Cahokia  on  account  of  their  refusal  to  furnish  the  pain  benit. 
They  in  turn  claimed  there  was  no  obligation.  The  court,  however,  was 
impressed  by  the  pastor's  arguments,  and  declared  that  the  obligation 
held,  and  ordered  these  refractory  inhabitants  to  give  the  blessed  bread, 
each  in  his  turn,  on  the  days  of  obligation;  in  default  whereof  they  were 
to  pay  ten  livres  to  the  church  to  make  up  the  deficiency.1 

P.  de  Saint  Pierre  was  certainly  a  valiant  defender  of  the  rights 
of  the  Church,  and  as  such  we  shall  see  him  again  in  his  new  field  of 
labor  beyond  the  great  river,  in  Ste.  Genevieve.  Cahokia  had,  indeed, 
grown  dear  to  his  heart ;  but  he  felt,  at  the  same  time,  that  there  were 
other  places  that  offered  a  far  better  field  for  his  priestly  labors.  The 
Spanish  side,  with  its  great  possibilities  under  Catholic  rule,  seemed  to 
say :  Come,.  And  then,  there  was  another  reason  that  weighed  heavy 
in  the  balance,  the  spirit  of  restlessness  that  had  taken  possession  of 
his  own  people. 

Although  Father  Gibault  did  openly  take  a  prominent  part  in 
effecting  the  bloodless  conquest  of  the  Illinois  country  by  the  Amer- 
icans under  Clark,  and  although  the  Creole  inhabitants  considered  a 
ready  submission  to  the  new  regime  not  only  a  matter  of  necessity,  but 
also  of  advantage,  they  did  not  have  a  very  deep  love  for  the  new- 
comers :  nor  could  it  be  justly  expected  of  them.  Sudden  changes  in 
the  administration  of  a  country  are  always  bound  to  bring  certain  hard- 
ships. So  it  was  in  the  frontier-towns  of  the  American  Bottom.  The 
Virginia  troops  had  withdrawn ;  no  authority  had  been  established ;  dis- 
order and  lawlessness  was  in  full  sway,  Cahokia  alone  making  an  ex- 
ception to  this  by  establishing  a  court  of  justice.  The  Creoles  were 
offended  by  the  overbearing  ways  and  rude  manners  of  many  of  the 


i  Cf.  the  article  on  "Bread,  Its  Liturgical  Use,"  in  the  "Catholic  Encyclo- 
pedia." Also  the  article  on  "Blessed  Bread  in  Detroit,"  in  "The  American  Cath- 
olic Historical  Researches,"  vol.  XII,  p.  176. 


170  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

adventurers  from  the  East,  and  in  their  native  candour  and  honesty 
found  themselves  exposed  on  all  sides  to  fraud,  injustice  and  even  vi- 
olence. In  consequence  many  of  the  most  important  Creole  families 
left  their  old  homes  for  Ste.  Genevieve  or  St.  Louis  The  government 
beyond  the  river  was,  indeed,  Spanish ;  but  the  people,  the  laws  and 
customs,  and  even  the  officers  were  French.  Besides,  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment was  making  strong  efforts  to  draw  the  remnants  of  the  Catholic 
population  to  the  western  shore.  Land  grants  were  offered  to  all  new- 
comers. For  this  purpose  of  attracting  the  people  other  enticing  offers 
were  made  to  the  missionaries  of  the  east  side,  and  they  found  a  ready 
acceptance. 

On  May  1,  1787,  Father  de  Saint  Pierre  had  addressed  the  follow- 
ing petition  to  Bishop  Cyrillo,  asking  for  the  appointment  to  some  parish 
on  the  Spanish  side. 
My  Lord: 

Three  years  ago,  Mr.  Cruzat  asked  you  to  give  me  the  parish  of 
Ste.  Genevieve,  but  as  he  told  me,  his  letters  reached  you  too  late,  and 
Rev.  Father  Louis  (Guignes)   had  obtained  the  parish. 

Knowing  that  this  same  parish  is  vacant  since  Fall,  I  ask  you 
humbly  for  the  favor.  Already  some  of  my  parishioners,  for  good 
reasons,  have  established  themselves  on  your  side  of  the  river,  and  I 
hope  that  the  others  will  soon  follow  them;  therefore  I  beg  you  to  allow 
me  to  follow  them  also. 

A  new  establishment  (New  Madrid)  has  been  begun  a  little  below 
the  entrance  of  the  Beautiful  River.  They  will  need  a  priest  who  knows 
English  and  German.  I  offer  myself  also  for  this  place.  You  may  dispose 
of  me  according  to  your  pleasure  and  good  will. 

I  take  the  liberty  to  send  you  a  copy  of  my  papers,  legalized  by  the 
Commandant  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  to  convince  you  of  the  falsehoods  that 
have  been  spread  about  me,  and  of  which  Mr.  Cruzat  has  already  in- 
formed you. 

Finally,  I  will  try  to  act  in  such  a  manner  that  you  will  never 
regret  to  have  granted  me  the  favor  which  I  humbly  beg  of  you. 

During  my  whole  life  I  shall  be  with  profoundest  respect,  Monsignor, 
your  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

Paul  De  St.  Pierre, 
Discalced  Carmelite  of  Germany,  Missionary. 
Kaokias,  May  1,  1787.2 

This  request  was  now  granted  by  Bishop  Cirillo,  and  Father  de 
Saint  Pierre  entered  upon  his  duties  of  pastor  of  St.  Genevieve  in  1789. 
Father  Le  Dm  of  Kaskaskia   had  preceded  him  in  becoming  Pastor  of 


-     The   original    is   in    French    and    can   be   found    in    the   Catholic    Archive*   of 
America,  Notre  Dame,  Indiana. 


Results  of  the  Discord  171 

St.  Louis  as  successor  to  P.  Bernard  de  Limpach,  and  Father  Gibault 
followed  soon  after,  accepting  a  call  to  New  Madrid  in  1792,  where  he 
built  the  first  church  and  dedicated  it  to  St.  Isidore. 

Ste.  Genevieve  remained  the  home  of  Father  de  Saint  Pierre  until 
February  27,  1797,  a  period  of  about  seven  years. 

As  a  further  cause  of  this  change  of  allegiance  the  circumstance  is 
given  that  the  Creoles  of  the  American  Bottom  no  longer  showed  a 
willingness  to  render  the  usual  tithes  for  the  support  of  the  Church. 
Under  American  rule  there  was,  of  course,  no  law  to  enforce  the  pay- 
ment of  the  tithes. 

On  the  Spanish  side  the  legal  obligation  was,  indeed,  cancelled 
by  decree  of  April  22,  1787,  but  the  practice  was  still  in  force  among 
the  people  and  tolerated  by  the  authorities.  This  source  of  income  was 
an  important  matter  to  a  parish  priest,  though  the  proceeds  varied  ac- 
cording to  time  and  place.  Father  Gibault  in  1769  received  from  the 
people  of  Ste.  Genevieve  about  300  bushels  of  wheat  and  500  to  600 
bushels  of  corn;  P.  Bernard,  however,  reports  that  the  tithes  received 
at  St.  Louis  never  amounted  to  more  than  $80.00  a  year.  Yet,  important 
as  the  tithes  were,  there  was  a  still  more  important  source  of  income, 
granted  by  the  Spanish  and  denied  by  the  American  authorities — a 
regular  salary  of  $600.00.  With  this  assured  income  and  the  usual 
perquisites,  a  parish  priest  under  the  Spanish  regime  need  not  trouble 
himself  about  his  temporal  support. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  September  1789,  that  Father  de  Saint  Pierre 
returned  to  Ste.  Genevieve.  On  the  13th  day  of  September  he  perfor-med 
his  first  official  function,  the  baptism  of  a  child,  and  he  remained  as 
pastor  until  1797. 

He  established  his  home  with  a  few  slaves,  who  kept  house  and 
managed  the  farm  for  hiim  In  1790  the  negro  woman  Fanchonette, 
whom  he  had  obtained  out  of  the  estate  of  Pierre  Langlois  at  Kaskaskia, 
was  sold  by  him  to  Tropez  Richard  for  $275.00 ;  and  on  his  departure 
from  Ste.  Genevieve  in  1797  two  other  slaves  were  sold  by  him.  All 
this  may  seem  strange  to  us,  yet  slavery  was  then  a  universal  institu- 
tion in  these  regions. 

Ever  since  the  great  flood  in  1785,  Old  Ste.  Genevieve,  with  its 
church  of  St.  Joachim,  declined ;  its  very  site  rapidly  disappearing  in 
the  river.  For  a  time,  divine  service  was  held  in  a  temporary  structure 
in  the  new  settlement,  whilst  preparations  were  under  way  for  the 
removal  or  reconstruction  of  the  church. 

In  1793,  September  7,  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  Zenon  Trudeau, 
came  to  Ste.  Genevieve  at  the  request  of  Father  de  Saint  Pierre  and 
assembled  the  inhabitants  for  the  purpose  of  submitting  the  project  of 
erecting  a  new  church  in  the  place  "where  they  had  sought  refuge  from 


17-J  History  of  Hn    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  flood."1  The  plan  was  heartily  approved  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  new  village,  Petite  Cote,  as  it  was  called;  but  the  people  of  the 
neighboring  village  of  New  Bourbon  also  asked  for  the  erection  of  a 
ehapel.    The  parish  meeting  decided  thai  both  villages,  although  only 

three  miles  apart,  should  have  churches  of  their  own.  Messrs.  Lachance, 
Pratte  and  Bol&UC  were  appointed  syndics  to  apportion  the  burdens 
of  the  building  costs  according  to  the  financial  abilities  of  the  inhab- 
itants, and  the  same  gentlemen  were  approved  as  supervisors  of  the 
building  operations.4 

It  was  ordered  that  the  material  of  the  old  building  should  be  used. 
as  far  as  possible,  for  the  new  church  in  Ste.  Genevieve. 

On  August  31,  1794,  Zenon  Trudeau  made  definite  choice  of  the 
spot  for  placing  the  church  in  the  new  village  and  gave  orders  that  it 
be  built,  pledging  the  government's  share  of  the  costs. 

The  new  church  of  Ste.  Genevieve  was  a  wooden  structure,  similar 
to  the  old  church  at  Cahokia,  and  remained  standing,  though  for  a  time 
disused,  until  1831,  when  it  was  torn  down  to  make  room  for  other  pur- 
poses. 

Prom  the  Memoranda  of  Benedict  Roux,  we  gather  that  P.  Paul 
de  Saint  Pierre  on  two  occasions  attended  to  the  spiritual  needs  of 
desolate  Kaskaskia  (May  1785-June  1786;  and  February  1792-December 
1796).    Ste.  Genevieve,  however,  remained  his  home  and  regular  charge.'' 

A  number  of  very  interesting  reminiscences  of  the  days  of  Father 
de  Saint  Pierre  are  given  in  Henry  Brackenridge's  Recollections  of  the 
West.  Brackenridge  had,  as  a  boy.  been  sent  to  Ste.  Genevieve  for  his 
education  at  the  parish  school  and  had  found  a  new,  most  pleasant  home 
with  the  family  of  Vital  Beauvais.  It  is  a  graphic  account  that  the 
grateful  author  gives  of  the  peaceful,  joyous  and  sincerely  religious 
family  life  in  the  days  before  the  coming  of  the  Americans.  Madame 
Beauvais,  especially,  is  a  most  admirable  Catholic  woman.  She  loved 
the  little  Brackenridge  as  if  he  had  been  her  own ;  but  she  could  not 
bear  the  thought,  that  he,  an  unbaptized  child,  should  share  the  bed 
with  her  own  children.  She  therefore  had  him  baptized  by  Father  de 
Saint  Pierre  to  make  her  happiness  complete. 


3     Original  documents  in  the  Air-hives  of  the   Missouri   Historical   Society. 

*  Ste.  Genevieve  Archives.  From  a  letter  of  P.  de  Saint  Pierre,  Ave  learn  that 
the  proposed  chapel  in  New  Bourbon  had  not  been  started  in  January  1796,  when 
Father  de  Saint  Pierre  wrote:  "The  three  hundred  dollars  the  governor  does  not 
wish  to  have  delivered  until  the  chapel  at  New  Bourbon  is  built.  This  chapel,  in 
my  opinion,  will  do  more  harm  and  cause  more  disorder  than  the  amount  is  worth; 
but  let  the  inhabitants  decide." 

s     Ste.  Genevieve  Archives,  at  Jefferson  Memorial,  St.  Louis. 


Results  of  the  Discord  173 

The  little  English  boy,  te  petit  anglais,  as  they  called  him,  was  now 
admitted  to  the  dignity  of  an  altar-boy,  and  as  such  he  received  a  larger 
portion  of  the  pain  benit,  the  blessed  bread,  which  however,  he  did  not 
eat,  but  brought  as  a  choice  morsel  to  his  favorite,  the  baby  of  the  family. 
Many  years  afterwards,  on  a  chance  visit  to  Ste.  Genevieve,  he  came 
just  in  time  to  witness  the  marriage  of  this  early  friend  of  his  child- 
hood. Brackenridge  also  speaks  of  the  many  religious  festivals  and 
processions,  of  the  Sunday  High  Mass  and  Vespers,  by  which  the  spir- 
itual life  of  the  people  was  constantly  renewed,  and  he  dwells  with  deep 
feeling  on  the  innocent  pleasures  and  simple  pastimes  of  the  dreamy 
village,  in  the  good  old  days  of  Father  de  Saint  Pierre.'1 

The  cure  enjoyed  the  love  and  respect  of  all.  Of  course,  there 
were  exceptions.  Even  in  peaceful  Ste.  Genevieve  there  were  crooked 
ways  that  had  to  be  made  straight,  and  proud  wills  that  had  to  be 
broken.  The  Ste.  Genevieve  Archives,  now  in  charge  of  the  Missouri 
Historical  Society,  preserve  a  letter  of  de  Saint  Pierre,  parish  priest,  to 
Don  Francisco  Valle,  the  Commandant  of  the  district,  dated  August 
8,  1796,  in  which  he  expresses  his  deep  regret  that  one  of  his  parish- 
ioners, living  in  open  sin,  would  not  heed  his  voice,  and  now  he  calls 
up  the  Commandant  "for  a  judgment  and  punishment.  The  person  whom 
the  said  Louis  Coyteux  has  in  his  house,  pretends  throughout  the  parish 
that  she  is  his  wife  and  he  calls  her  so.  I  implore  your  aid  in  order  that 
you  may,  by  force,  make  her  leave  his  house ;  and  in  order  to  put  an 
end  to  the  scandal,  forbid  her  taking  up  her  residence  too  near  that  of 
the  said  Coyteux.  In  case  he  should  show  resistance,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  enforce  the  law  made  by  our  Monarch,  December  24th,  1787,  which 
may  be  found,  no  doubt,  in  your  record  office,  or  in  the  archives  of  St. 
Louis;  for  it  was  made  public  not  long  ago." 

The  decision  of  the  Commandant  was  given  on  the  31st.  of  August, 
1796:  "Don  Francois  Valle,  Captain  of  Militia  and  Civil  and  Military 
Commandant  of  the  Post  of  Ste.  Genevieve  of  the  Illinois  and  its 
dependencies. 

Upon  the  oft  repeated  petitions  made  to  us  by  the  Sieur  de  St.  Pierre, 
cure  of  this  parish,  asking  that  a  stop  be  put  to  the  public  scandal 
resulting  from  the  cohabitation  of  Mr.  Louis  Coyteux,  resident  of  this 
post,  with  an  English  woman,  whom  he  has  had  at  his  home,  for  a  long 
time,  which  is  contrary  to  good  morals,  also  to  the  ordinances  of  his 
Majesty. 

We,  the  aforesaid  Commandant,  do  order  Mr.  Louis  Coyteux  to 
eject  from  his  house  the  said  English  woman,  and  that  within  twenty- 


6     Brackeridge,  "Recollections  of  the  West,"  passim. 


174  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  Si.  Louis 

lour  hours  after  being  notified  of  the  order,  under  penalty  of  being 
prosecuted  to  t  lie  fullest  extent  of  the  law. 

Executed  at  Ste.  Genevieve.    August  31,  1796,  before  noon. 

(Signed  Fcois  Valle. "7) 

The  vexed  question  as  to  the  tithes  also  came  up  once  more  in  the 
same  year,  1796.  How  it  was  settled  we  cannot  say.  Here  is  the  letter 
of  P.  de  Saint  Pierre  to  one  of  his  confreres,  probably  Father  Bernard 
of  St.  Louis : 

"There  is  a  difficulty  between  the  Saeristan  of  this  parish  and  a 
married  soldier  who  keeps  his  home  separately  in  his  own  house.  The 
Saeristan  asks  39  litres  of  wheat  for  the  beadle  aecording  to  the  custom 
of  the  parish  and  again  as  much  for  himself  annually.  The  soldier 
refuses  to  pay.  I  believe  the  soldier  is  obliged  to  pay  since  he  has  his 
house  and  family  outside  military  quarters.  The  beadle  told  me  that  the 
commanding  officer  holds  a  different  opinion. 

I  wish  to  be  well  informed  before  I  speak  to  him  and  1  ask  you 
to  tell  me  what  is  customary  in  your  parish,  and  if  you  can,  inquire 
from  the  Lieutenant  Governor  himself.  If  the  officers  of  the  regiment 
who  reside  in  their  own  houses  in  the  capital  are  obliged  to  support 
public  works,  I  am  sure  that  the  soldiers  in  Illinois  or  any  other  garrison 
should  be  equally  obliged. 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

Paul  De  Saint  Pierre."8 

As  Father  de  Saint  Pierre,  by  his  long  and  faithful  service,  had 
firmly  established  himself  in  the  affection  of  his  people,  it  was  a  great 
shock  to  them  to  hear  that  their  good  pastor  had  been  recalled.  Gone 
from  Ste.  Genevieve  he  certainly  was,  since  December  1795,  and  no 
one  knew  whither  he  had  gone.  All  the  old  rumors,  so  long  asleep,  woke 
up  suddenly  and  set  about  their  ugly  business.  The  ancient  story  of 
the  conflict  with  Bishop  Carroll  and  his  long-departed  Vicar-General, 
De  La  Valiniere,  had  taken  on  a  new  lease  of  life.  The  truth  was  that 
Father  de  Saint  Pierre  had  quietly  undertaken  a  journey  to  Baltimore 
in  order  to  settle  this  very  matter  for  good,  as  we  learn  from  a  letter 
found  in  the  Archives  of  the  Missouri  Historical  Society.  In  accordance 
with  this  fact,  we  find  the  name  of  de  Saint  Pierre  is  wanting  in  the 
Records  of  Ste.  Genevieve  from  December  3,  1795,  to  May  22,  1796. 
In  its  stead  we  find  for  January  and  February,  1796,  the  name  of 
Pierre  Joseph  Didier,  Parish  Priest  of  Saint  Charles;  in  March,  Pierre 
Janin  of  St.  Louis ;  in  April  Didier  once  more,  and  in  May,  Jacques 
Maxwell,  the  new  Vicar-General.     On  the  27th  day  of  Ma  v.  1796.  P.  de 


7  Ste.  Genevieve  Archives. 

8  " American  Catholic  Historical  Researches,"  January  1898,  p.  It.     A  litre  is 
1.76  pints. 


Results  of  the  Discord  175 

Saint  Pierre  returned  to  Ste.  Genevieve.  The  journey  to  Baltimore 
had  occupied  about  six  months,  the  time  of  his  absence  from  the  parish. 
The  letter  we  referred  to  is  addressed  to  Don  Francois  Valle,  the  Com- 
mandant of  Ste.  Genevieve  under  date  of  New  Orleans,  January  20, 
1796: 

' '  My  Dear  Friend  : 

I  must  inform  you  of  the  atrocious  calumnies  that  are  being"  cir- 
culated in  regard  to  me : 

1.  That  the  Bishop  of  Baltimore  had  forbidden  me  all  sacerdotal 
functions  within  his  jurisdiction. 

2.  That  I  had  performed  them  during  an  entire  year  without  his 
orders. 

3.  That  he  had  finally  driven  me  from  the  American  Illinois  and 
ordered  that  his  parish  priests  should  have  all  my  jurisdictional  functions 
done  over  again. 

I  at  once  asked  that  I  be  informed  of  the  authors  of  these  calumnies ; 
but  they  are  being  hidden  from  me,  I  do  not  know  for  what  reason.  At 
the  same  time,  I  asked  permission  to  be  allowed  to  go  in  person  to  see 
the  Bishop  of  Baltimore  on  this  subject.  This  permission  was  given  me, 
with  the  very  highest  testimonial  regarding  my  conduct,  which,  it  said, 
was  altogether  above  reproach  during  the  time  that  I  officiated  as  parish 
priest  with  you,  and  an  appeal  to  the  Bishop  was  added  at  the  same 
time,  that  he  pronounce  judgment  on  the  above  mentioned  charges. 

According  to  these  false  reports  it  was  believed  that  I  had  abandoned 
my  duties  as  parish  priest  without  having  reported  to  my  superiors.  In 
this  belief,  before  my  arrival  here  (in  New  Orleans),  another  priest  was 
sent  in  my  place.  In  conformity  with  my  promises  made  to  the  inhabi- 
tants I  shall  not  accept  any  other  parish  than  that  of  Ste.  Genevieve. 
I  was  assured  that  it  would  be  reserved  for  me,  and  that  orders  would  be 
issued  to  the  afore-mentioned  priest  to  go  farther  on. 

Upon  my  return  to  your  town,  I,  on  my  part,  promised  to  clear  my- 
self, with  the  high  testimonal  of  the  Bishop  of  Baltimore,  of  the  calumnies 
made  against  me  and  to  show  the  falseness  of  the  alleged  articles.  This 
step  did  not  cost  me  anything,  as  I  had  been  engaged  to  take  the  trip  by 
sea  for  reasons  known  to  you. 

Be  kind  enough  to  present  my  respects  to  your  wife  and  give  my 
love  to  all  of  your  family  for  me.  Say  to  my  friends  and  all  the  parish- 
ioners that  I  appreciate  highly  their  affection,  and  that  I  am  absolutely 
unalterable  in  the  resolutions  and  promises  which  I  made,  of  not  accept- 
ing any  other  parish  than  theirs,  and  that  I  absent  myself  from  them,  only 
to  justify  myself  against  the  calumnies  of  wicked  tongues,  that  I  may 
remain  with  them  for  a  longer  and  more  peaceful  period.  Beg  them 
also  to  cherish,  assist  and  satisfy,  in  every  possible  way,  the  priest  who 


1/ii  History  of  lln    Archdiocesi   of  St.  Louis 

will  be  sent  in  my  place,  and  present  my  respect  to  him,  and  say  that 
whatever  I  have  is  at  Ids  service  and  at  Ids  disposal,  so  as  to  make  his 
stay  agreeable." 

But  the  days  of  Father  de  Saint  Pierre  as  Pastor  of  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve were  already  numbered.  Father  James  Maxwell,  an  Irish  priest, 
who  had  made  his  studies  at  Salamanca,  had  arrived  just  before  de  Saint 
Pierre's  return  from  Baltimore,  in  May  1796.  Father  Maxwell  came  as 
Grand  Vicar  of  the  Bishop  of  Santiago  de  Cuba  and  took  up  his  res- 
idence in  New  Bourbon,  whilst  de  Saint  Pierre  for  a  time  continued 
his  priestly  ministrations  at  Ste.  Genevieve.  Two  priests,  in  what  was 
practically  one  parish,  could  not  exist  and  would  not  subserve  the  best 
interests  of  religion.  Father  de  Saint  Pierre,  though  not  removed,  had 
to  leave.  The  old  militant  spirit  bowed  to  the  acknowledged  authority 
of  the  new-comer.  On  the  second  day  of  January  1797,  a  public  auction 
was  held,  at  which  the  former  pastor's  lot  of  ground  with  house  and 
barn,  and  all  pertaining  thereto,  two  slaves  included,  were  sold  to  the 
highest  bidders.  The  property  is  described  as  fronting  on  the  Kue  de 
l'Eglise,  and  bounded  on  the  one  side  by  the  home  of  John  B.  Valle, 
and  the  homes  of  Augustin  Aubuchon  and  John  B.  Lalumandiere  on 
the  other.  The  amount  realized  was  1600  pesetos  or  dollars,  payable 
either  in  money,  or  lead  and  peltry.  The  last  entry  of  Father  de  Saint 
Pierre  in  the  Baptismal  Record  of  Ste.  Genevieve  was  on  February 
27,  1797.  What  his  immediate  destination  was  we  could  not  discover ; 
probably  the  capital  of  the  Province,  New  Orleans.  Did  he  retire  for 
a  time  from  active  service,  or  did  he  perhaps  make  a  visit  to  the  old 
home  across  the  sea?  The  monasteries  in  France  were  abolished  long 
since.  In  his  native  land  he  was  forgotten.  America  had  become  his 
true  home.  But  what  was  his  later  course  ?  After  the  erection  of  the 
diocese  of  New  Orleans  in  1799,  with  Msgr.  Louis  Pehalver  y  Cardenas 
as  its  first  bishop,  we  catch  a  glimpse  once  more  of  Father  de  Saint  Pierre 
in  Natchez^  The  historian,  John  Gilmary  Shea,  in  one  of  his  letters  to 
Chancellor  Van  der  Sanden  speaks  of  a  voluminous-document  in  Spanish, 
preserved  in  the  diocesan  Archives  of  Baltimore ;  a  kind  of  record  of 
trial  under  Bishop  Pehalver  of  Father  de  Saint  Pierre  for  breaches  of 
discipline.  The  outcome  of  this  trial  must  not  have  been  unfavorable 
to  the  much  buffeted  missionary. 

In  any  case  he  was  one  of  the  four  priests  of  the  twenty-six  in 
all  Louisiana,  who,  according  to  the  statement  of  the  Administrator,  Rev. 
Thomas  Hassett,  December  23,  1803,  "agreed  to  remain  in  their  respective 
stations  under  the  French  government,"  and  in  consequence  he  received 
the  appointment  as  Pastor  of  St.  Gabriel's,  Iberville,  a  parish  on  both 
sides  of  the  Mississippi,  "rather  difficult  to  attend  but  also  very  lucra- 
tive," as  a  contemporary  writes.    Here  Father  de  Saint  Pierre  labored 


Results  of  the  Discord  177 

with  great,  no  longer  "unmanageable"  zeal  and  success,  and  until  his 
death,  October  15,  1826,  fully  twenty-two  years. 

Father  Laval,  in  his  notes  transmitted  to  John  Gilmary  Shea,  prais- 
es Father  de  Saint  Pierre  as  "one  of  the  most  remarkable  priests  that 
ever  administered  St.  Gabriel's  church."  "During  his  time,"  he  says, 
"the  church  was  removed  from  its  former  place  on  the  bank  of  the  Miss- 
issippi to  where  it  now  stands,  the  river  having  swept  away  the  bank  in 
front  of  it  in  1717." 

At  St.  Gabriel's  Father  de  Saint  Pierre,  the  last  representative  of 
the  old  regime,  received  the  visit  of  Father  Francis  Cellini,  one  of  the 
earliest  followers  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  who  in  his  letter  dated  September 
30,  1822,  styled  him  "le  brave  et  bon  de  Saint  Pierre."  Bishop  Rosati 
never  paid  the  old  lion  the  honor  of  a  visit. 

On  September  23,  Father  Anthony  Blanc  of  Baton  Rouge,  informed 
Bishop  Rosati  that  he  had  administered  the  last  sacraments  to  the  pastor 
of  Iberville.  De  Saint  Pierre,  whom  he  regularly  styles,  "the  Old  Man," 
being  in  his  eighty-first  year,  could  not,  in  all  probability,  survive  the 
illness.  The  parish  itself,  he  added,  was  in  a  flourishing  condition.  The 
older  people  attended  High  Mass  and  the  Sunday  Vespers  with  greatest 
regularity  and  devotion.  Because  the  parish  had  for  so  many  years  en- 
joyed a  well-ordered  pastoral  care,  it  would  be  advisable  to  appoint  a 
successor  immediately  after  the  death  of  de  Saint  Pierre,  or  even  during 
his  lifetime ;  in  the  latter  case,  the  successor  might  reside  at  Baton  Rouge. 
The  "Old  Man"  would  not  have  an  assistant.  The  bishop,  suggests  Father 
Blanc,  might  appoint  a  Lazarist,  or  Father  Michaud,  who  was  fatigue  et 
degoute  souverainement  du  service  a  la  paroisse  de  N.  Orleans.  There 
was  another  reason  for  this  undignified  haste.  The  "Old  Man"  himself 
had  provided  the  necessity  for  an  early  appointment.  There  was  a  clause 
in  the  good  Father's  Last  Will  bequeathing  all  his  property,  valued  by 
Father  Blanc  at  about  $6,000.00,  exclusive  of  two  slaves,  furniture, 
cattle,  etc.,  to  his  successor.  Another  clause  ordained  that  "the  priest 
who  should  officiate  at  his  burial  was  to  be  the  administrator  of  his  estate, 
two  laymen  to  assist  him."  Father  Michaud  received  the  appointment 
immediately  after  the  death  of  the  testator,  and  Father  Anthony  Blanc 
performed  the  last  rites  of  the  church  over  the  remains  of  his  friend  and 
neighbor.  P.  Paul  de  Saint  Pierre  had  found  rest  eternal.  Per  varios 
casus,  per  tot  discrimina  rerum,  his  memory  still  lives  as  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  of  our  early  western  days. 

For  Father  Pierre  Gilbault,  also,  there  was  no  place  any  longer 
in  Bishop  Carroll's  diocese,  of  which  Cahokia  now  formed  a  part. 

The  Spanish  authorities,  however  were  glad  to  secure  the  services  of 
such  a  distinguished  priest.  The  rising  town  of  New  Madrid,  together 
with  the  old  settlement  Arkansas  Post,  were  assigned  to  him,  and  they 


178  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

enjoy  the  honor  of  having  received  Father  Gilbaults'  last  ministra- 
tions. The  site  where  New  Madrid  was  now  in  process  of  building, 
L'Anse  a  la  Graise,  lay  on  the  great  Indian  trail  to  the  North  and 
West.  It  had  all  the  advantages  necessary  for  a  good  trading  post. 
Strange  to  say,  this  Catholic  town  with  a  proud  Spanish  name  owes  its 
origin  to  an  Anglo-American  and  a  Protestant  at  that,  Colonel  George 
Morgan,  a  native  of  New  Jersey  and  a  graduate  of  Princeton.  Trader, 
judge,  Indian  agent  and  soldier  of  distinction,  Colonel  Morgan  was  with 
O'Rielly's  fleet,  when  the  Spaniards  took  possession  of  Louisiana  (1769). 
In  a  memorial  addressed  to  the  Spanish  Ambassador  Don  Diego  Gar- 
doqui,  Morgan  proposed  to  establish  a  colony  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio, 
the  Beautiful  River,  as  it  was  then  called,  in  territory  then  belonging  to 
the  Spanish  crown,  in  which  he  promised  he  would  have  at  least  one 
hundred  thousand  souls  within  ten  years.  But  two  conditions  were  laid 
down  by  Morgan ;  the  settlers  should  have  the  right  of  self  government, 
and  should  be  exempt  from  taxation.  Gardoqui  granted  the  concession, 
subject,  however,  to  the  approval  of  the  King.  The  grant  embraced  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  million  acres  of  land  along  the  Mississippi  from  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Francis  River  in  Arkansas,  to  Cape  St.  Cosme  in  Perry 
County,  Missouri.  In  order  to  gain  settlers  for  his  principality,  Morgan 
made  extensive  trips  among  the  Germans  of  Pennsylvania,  of  whom  he 
wrote  to  Don  Diego,  that  these  people  have  been  a  valuable  acquisition 
"to  America.  .  .  A  greater  number  of  them  than  I  expected  to  find,  are 
Catholics."  Upon  his  new  followers  the  doughty  Colonel  impressed  the 
fact,  that  they  would  enjoy  perfect  freedom  in  religious  matters  .... 
and  would  make  converts  of  the  whole  country." 

On  the  14th  of  February,  1789,  Morgan  and  his  followers  reached 
the  Mississippi  River  and  landed  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  Leaving 
the  main  party  in  what  is  now  Mississippi  County,  Morgan,  with  a  few 
companions,  journeyed  by  land  to  St.  Louis,  and  on  his  return  he  selected 
the  site  for  the  future  city  of  New  Madrid,  the  capital  of  his  principality. 
In  a  letter  dated  New  Madrid,  April  14,  1789,  the  colonists  give  a  very 
interesting  account  of  the  virgin  land  to  which  they  have  come,  and  the 
grand  prospects  before  them. 

This  circular  letter  in  behalf  of  Morgan's  foundation  was  first  print- 
ed in  the  Virginia  Gazette  and  Weekly  Advertiser,  of  August  27,  1789. 
Morgan  caused  sufficient  land  for  350  farms  of  320  acres  each  to  be 
surveyed  and  to  be  divided  among  settlers,  who  should  come  on  or  before 
May  1,  1790,  the  settlers  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  King  of 
Spain,  and  to  pay  forty-eight  American  dollars  for  each  farm.  It  was 
expected  that  every  succeeding  year  would  add  at  least  a  thousand  fam- 
ilies to  the  colony.  As  Houck  tells  us  :  "  In  New  Madrid  lots  were  dedicated 
to  the  use  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  and  school,  Episcopal  church  and 


Results  of  the  Discord  179 

school,  Presbyterian  and  German  Lutheran  church  and  school,  and  Ger- 
man Catholic  church  and  school."9 

The  grand  plan  was  frustrated  in  a  very  large  measure  by  the 
machinations  of  Governor  Estevan  Miro,  who  succeeded  in  having  the 
concession  cancelled,  and  the  new  city  put  under  Spanish  administration. 
Colonel  Morgan  retired  to  his  Manor  Morganza  in  Pennsylvania.  Some 
of  the  settlers  moved  to  Little  Prairie  and  elsewhere.  Yet  a  steady  stream 
of  colonists,  from  the  states  beyond  the  Mississippi  set  in,  especially  from 
Vincennes  and  the  French  royalist  settlement  of  Gallipolis.  At  first  the 
new  settlement  was  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Henri  Peyroux,  Com- 
mandant of  Ste.  Genevieve.  In  July  1789,  Governor  Miro  dispatched 
Lieutenant  Pierre  Foucher  with  a  small  company  of  soldiers  to  build  a 
fort  at  New  Madrid  and  to  take  civil  and  military  command  of  the  place. 
New  colonists  came  pouring  in  day  by  day.  "All  our  Americans  of  Port 
Vincennes  will  go  to  Morgan,"  wrote  Major  Hamtramck,  in  1789,  and 
' '  within  twenty  days  not  less  than  a  hundred  souls  have  passed  daily  to 
the  colony."  Foucher  was  succeeded  as  Commandant  by  Thomas  Por- 
telle,  September  1791.  So  far  the  great  majority  of  the  settlers  were 
Creoles  and  French.10 

What  we  have  written  here,  concerns  more  the  rising  town  of  New 
Madrid  than  the  Catholic  church  established  there.  But  Governor  Estevan 
Miro,  whilst  antagonizing  the  founder  of  New  Madrid,  helped  to  found  the 
church  in  the  new  settlement.  A  Catholic  church  and  priest  were  consid- 
ered essential  to  the  well  being  of  any  Spanish  settlement.  But  first  a 
priest  must  be  had.  There  were  two  applicants  for  the  position :  Father 
Paul  de  Saint  Pierre,  the  German  Carmelite  Missionary,  wrote  from 
Cahokia  to  his  Bishop  in  New  Orleans  on  May  1,  1787.  "A  new  estab- 
lishment has  been  begun  a  little  below  the  entrance  of  the  Beautiful  River. 
They  will  need  a  priest  who  knows  English  and  German.  I  offer  myself 
for  this  place.  You  may  dispose  of  me  according  to  your  pleasure  and 
good  will."11  The  German  Carmelite  received  the  appointment,  not  to 
New  Madrid,  but  to  old  Ste.  Genevieve,  whilst  the  socalled  ' '  patriot  priest 
of  the  West,"  Pierre  Gibault,  was  called  to  New  Madrid,  where  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  as  pastor  of  the  Parish  church  of  Saint  Isidore 
in  1793.  But  Gibault 's  spiritual  labors  in  New  Madrid  began  much  sooner, 
probably  in  1789,  when  he  left  Cahokia.  This  Parish  of  New  Madrid, 
included  the  dependencies  of  Arkansas  Post  and  Little  Prairie,  which 
latter  village  was  founded  by  Francois  Le  Sieur,  in  1797,  whilst  Arkansas 


9  Houck,  Louis,  "The  Spanish  Regime  in  Missouri,"  gives  a  re-translation 
from  the  Spanish  version.  The  original  English  appeared  in  the  "Virginia  Gazette 
and  Weekly  Advertiser,"  August  27,  1789. 

>°     The  Catholic  Germans  who  had  been  expected  to  come  on  from   Pennsylvania 
did  not  respond  in  large  numbers, 
ii      Catholic  Archives,  Notre  Dame. 


180  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

Post  dates  back  lo  the  days  of  Saint  Cosine  and  his  companions.  Father 
Gibault  administered  the  sacraments  of  the  church  in  Arkansas  Post  as 
early  as  October  8,  1792,  and  signed  himself  as  "Cure  clu  de  la  Nouvelle 
.Madrid,"  parish  priest-elect  of  New  Madrid,  thai  is,  Ins  election  was  not 
as  yet  confirmed  by  episcopal  authority.  But  on  duly  11,  1793,  he  firsl 
signs  an  entry  of  marriage,  "  1*.  Gilbault  per  nous  Pretre,  Cure  de  la  Nou- 
velle Madrid.'"  From  this  it  follows  that  Father  Gibault  attended  New 
Madrid  and  its  dependencies  since  his  departure  from  Cahokia  in  1791. 
and  became  the  first  canonical  pastor  of  New  Madrid  in  17!).'5. 

The  immediate  reason  for  Father  Gibault 's  change  to  the  Spanish 
jurisdiction  and  civil  allegiance  is  to  be  sought  in  two  facts:  that  he  was 
no  longer  welcome  in  the  diocese  of  Bishop  Carroll  of  Baltimore,  whose 
claim  to  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States  was  now  acknowledged,  and 
that  he  was  not  allowed  to  return  to  his  home  in  Canada  on  account  of 
his  political  activities  in  Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes.  An  offer  from  Cath- 
olic Spain  was  therefore  most  acceptable,  especially,  as  he  knew  the 
various  older  French  settlements  on  the  Spanish  side  of  the  river.  It 
is  certain  that  Father  Gibault  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  His  Most 
Christian  Majesty12  and  that  he  attained  some  real  successes  in  his  new 
field  of  labor. 

Spiritually,  he  was  now  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of 
Louisiana  and  Florida,  represented  in  Upper  Louisiana  by  the  Vicar-Gen- 
eral James  Maxwell  residing  in  Ste.  Genevieve.  As  pastor  he  received  a 
salary  of  600  dollars  from  the  Government,  in  addition  to  the  perquisites 
which  were  fixed  by  royal  ordinance.  He  succeeded  in  1799  to  obtain  the 
consent  of  his  parishioners  as  well  as  of  the  Intendant  Morales  to  build  a 
church  in  New  Madrid,  dedicated  to  St.  Isidore.  .  The  church  was  an 
edifice  60  feet  long,  28  feet  wide  and  16  feet  high  between  ground  and 
ceiling.  "The  carpenter  work,"  says  the  report  of  the  commissioners, 
"is  constructed  of  cypress  timber,  covered  on  the  outside  with  planks  of 
the  same  wood.  It  has  a  partition  in  the  width  for  the  sacristy,  ten  open- 
ings with  their  windows  and  gratings,  an  altar  with  tabernacle  of  cherry- 
wood,  a  picture  of  the  Holy  Virgin  Mary  eight  feet  high  by  five  and 
one-half  feet  wide,  framed  in  wood,  a  belfry  with  a  metal  bell  weighing 
fifty  pounds,"  which  was  estimated  to  be  worth  1200  pesos.  The  parish 
residence  wras  a  building  21  feet  by  16  feet  wide,  rather  small  according 
to  modern  ideas  of  comfort.  It  was,  as  Houck  tells  us,  doubled  without 
and  within  with  cypress  planks,  the  floor  and  ceiling  and  a  partition 
wall  of  cypress  planks,  a  double  brick  chimney,  four  openings  with  their 
windows  and  doors  and  gratings,  a  gallery  in  front,  with  floors  and  ceil- 
ings, a  cellar  under  said  house  and  a  stairway  to  mount  the  garret.  In 
addition  to  this  parish  residence  was  a  kitchen  18  feet  long  by  15  feet  wide 


12     Houck,  "The  Spanish  Regime  in  Missouri,"  vol.  I,  p.  336. 


Results  of  the  Discord  181 

and  also  a  bake  house  15  feet  long  and  10  feet  wide  and  over  30  feet  in 
circumference,  with  frames  complete,  made  of  brick,  and  a  roof  of  car- 
penter work  and  this  bake  house  was  equipped  with  all  the  utensils 
necessary  for  baking,  all  valued  at  120  pesos.13 

In  this  parochial  residence,  surrounded  by  a  large  garden,  Father 
Gibault  lived  in  ease  and  comfort  with  his  colored  servants  well  able 
to  entertain  the  Vicar-General  of  Upper  Louisiana,  Father  Maxwell, 
who  would  occasionally  ride  down  from  Ste.  Genevieve  for  a  brief  visit, 
unless  he  himself  were  absent  on  a  more  or  less  laborious  journey  to  his 
stations  along  the  river  as  far  as  Arkansas  Post  to  the  South  and  Tywap- 
pity  Bottom  to  the  North.  As  Stoddard  in  his  Louisiana  informs  us,  the 
expense  of  building  and  furnishing  the  church  was  paid  by  the  Govern- 
ment, although  Father  Maxwell  insists  that  the  well-to-do  inhabitants  are 
obliged,  under  the  laws  of  the  Kingdom  to  contribute  to  the  construction 
of  the  church. 

It  was  a  subscription  sufficiently  meagre  as  we  can  judge  from 
Francisco  Miranda's  Report  on  the  church  furnishings  he  found  in  St. 
Isidore's  church  of  New  Madrid  in  1805,  as  recorded  by  Houck  in  his 
Spanish  Regime  in  Missouri. 

During  the  Spanish  regime  the  Catholic  religion  was  the  only  one 
tolerated  in  Louisiana :  yet  the  authorities  recognized  a  certain  liberty 
of  conscience.  On  March  29,  1797,  the  Governor  Don  Manuel  Gayoso  de 
Lemos  issued  a  Proclamation  from  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 
"The  misconstruction  of  what  is  meant  by  the  enjoyment  of  the  liberty 
of  conscience  is  hereby  removed  by  explaining  it  precisely  to  be,  that  no 
individual  of  this  government,  shall  be  molested  on  account  of  religious 
principles,  and  that  they  shall  not  be  hindered  in  their  private  meetings ; 
but  no  other  public  worship  shall  be  allowed,  but  that  generally  esta- 
blished in  all  His  Majestys  dominions  which  is  the  Catholic  religion."14 
The  occasion  for  the  proclamation  Avas  an  incident  that  happened  in  New 
Madrid  on  June  9,  1797.  An  itinerant  Baptist  minister  of  the  name  of 
Hannah,  had,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Andrew  Elliot,  the  U.  S.  Commissioner 
General  for  Determining  the  Boundary  of  the  Spanish  Possessions,  who 
was  then  the  Governor's  guest,  obtained  permission  to  preach  a  sermon 
in  Mr.  Elliot's  camp,  near  New  Madrid,  with  the  restriction  that  he  should 
not  touch  on  political  topics.  The  announcement  of  a  Protestant  sermon, 
being  a  new  thing  in  the  country,  drew  together  a  very  large  audience. 
"The  preacher  being  a  weak  man  was  extremely  puffed  up  with  the  at- 
tentions he  received  on  that  occasion,  which  were  more  from  the  novelty 
of  the  case  than  his  own  merit  and  talent,  and  paved  the  way  for  a 
commotion  which  took  place  a  few  days  after.  .  .  .  The  minister  had 


is     Houck,  op.  cit.,  vol.  II,  p.  351. 


182  History  of  the  Arckdvocest   of  St.  Louis 

with  enthusiastic  zeal,  which  was  a  little  heightened  by  liquor,  entered 
into  religious  controversy  in  a  disorderly  pari  of  the  town,  generally  in- 
habited at  that  time  by  Irish  Roman  Catholics,  who  took  offense  as  the 
manner  in  which  he  treated  the  tenets  of  their  ehurch  and  in  revenge 
gave  him  a  beating.  He  immediately  called  upon  the  Governor,  and  in 
a  presumptive  manner  demanded  justice  ;  threatening  at  the  same  time  to 
do  it  for  himself,  if  his  request  was  not  complied  with.  The  Governor, 
with  more  patience  and  good  temper  than  ordinary,  advised  him  to  re- 
flect a  few  minutes,  and  then  repeat  his  request,  which  the  Preacher  did 
in  the  same  words,  accompanied  with  a  threat.  Upon  which  the  Governor 
immediately  ordered  him  to  be  committed  to  the  prison,  which  was  with- 
in the  Fort,  and  his  legs  to  be  placed  in  the  stocks."14 

This  vivid  picture  from  the  Journal  of  Andrew  Elliot,  showing  that 
a  part  of  Father  Gibault  parishioners  were  of  the  militant  kind,  derives 
additional  interest  from  the  fact  that  at  that  very  time  Father  James 
Maxwell,  the  Vicar  General,  was  with  the  Spanish  Commandant  at  New 
Madrid,  being  described  by  Elliot  in  his  Journal,  as  "a  Clergyman  of 
Rome,  a  Native  of  Ireland,  of  the  name  of  Maxwell,  a  well  informed 
liberal  gentleman,  who  acted  as  interpreter." 

Mr.  Houck15  gives  the  substance  of  a  few  official  letters  written  by 
Maxwell  to  Gibault,  saying  that  it  appears  from  them  that  the  Parish 
Priest  of  New  Madrid  and  its  dependencies  was  altogether  too  lenient  in 
the  matter  of  demanding  the  usual  offerings  for  the  dispensations  granted, 
(•specially  from  the  proclamation  of  the  bans,  to  which  fees  the  Vicar 
General,  or  rather  his  Chancery,  was  entitled.  "In  one  letter,"  writes 
Houck,  "dated  October  1801,  which  has  been  preserved  in  the  New 
Madrid  Archives,  Father  Maxwell  severely  reprimanded  him  for  per- 
forming a  ceremony  between  a  Mr.  Randall  and  Miss  Sara  Waller,  the 
latter  being  a  minor,  without  the  consent  of  her  father  and  mother,  both 
being  residents  of  the  Cape  Girardeau  district,"  that  is  within  Father 
Maxwell's  own  parish  limits.  From  this  it  is  evident  that  Father  Gibault 
was  still  among  the  living  and,  at  that,  in  New  Madrid,  at  the  close  of 
1801,  although  not  in  very  excellent  standing  with  his  spiritual  superiors. 

It  appears  from  the  New  Madrid  Records  that  Father  Gibault  was 
not  at  New  Madrid  after  March  29,  1804,  for  during  a  period  of  eight 
months,  March  19,  1804 — Nov.  28,  1804,  the  Commandant  Juan  Lavalle 
assists  at  and  certifies  to  the  marriages  contracted  at  New  Madrid.  From 
Nov.  28,  1804  Father  Leander  Lusson,  the  Pastor  of  St.  Charles,  per- 
forms this  office  as  the  New  Madrid  Records  bear  witness,10  until  Decem- 
ber 9,  1804.  From  that  date  on  until  April  15,  180C>,  marriages  are 
contracted  before  the  civil  magistrate. 


"Elliot's  Journal,''   pp.   (15  and   6(5. 

Houck  's  "History  of  Missouri,"  vol.  II,  pp.  302. 

"New   Madrid   Archives,"  vol.   VIII,  p.  470-487. 


Results  of  the  Discord  183 

This  seems  to  be  the  last  documentary  trace  we  have  about  the 
storm-tossed  man  and  servant  of  Holy  Church.  John  Gilmary  Shea,  in 
his  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States,  says  that  both 
Fathers  John  Olivier  and  Gabriel  Richard  had  written  to  Bishop  Carroll 
of  Baltimore  that  Father  Pierre  Gibault,  one  time  Vicar  General  of  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec  in  the  Illinois  Country,  had  died  at  New  Madrid  in 
1804.  These  letters  are  said  to  be  in  the  archives  of  the  Archdiocese  of 
Baltimore.  There  are  some  who  say  that  Gibault  returned  to  Canada 
after  1801  or  1802,  and  died  there  probably  in  1804.  But  this  point 
remains  doubtful.  The  transfer  of  Louisiana  and  with  it  of  New  Madrid, 
to  the  United  States,  was  consummated  by  Laussat  in  behalf  of  France, 
on  December  29,  1803.  It  may  be  that  Father  Gibault  did  not  live  to  see 
the  great  change,  in  the  preparation  of  which  he  had  been  such  an 
important  actor  in  his  Kaskaskia  days  under  General  George  Rogers 
Clark.  It  is  even  doubtful  whether  he  would  have  welcomed  the  change 
to  American  sovereignty  of  what  had  once  been  the  proud  possession  of 
his  own  race.  In  any  case  it  must  be  remembered  that  Father  Gibault 
was  first  and  all  the  time  an  humble,  laborious  and  enthusiastic  servant 
of  God's  Kingdom,  the  Church,  and  that  his  chief  business  was  not 
empire  building,  but  the  salvation  of  souls.  Indeed,  he  had  in  himself  but 
little  of  the  warrior-patriot,  as  some  have  lovingly  described  him.  It 
was  through  circumstances  over  which  he  had  no  control,  but  whose 
control  he  readily  accepted,  that  this  simple  priest  and  missionary  was 
elevated  to  the  exalted  position  of  one  of  the  three  founders  of  the  Re- 
public in  the  West.17 

Father  Gibault  appears  as  the  connecting  link  between  the  old 
glorious  Jesuit  mission  period  in  Illinois  and  the  still  more  glorious 
development  of  the  church  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Touching  the  hand 
of  the  last  of  the  Jesuits,  Father  Sebastian  Meurin,  he  trained  for  the 
priesthood  that  noble  scion  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  Father  Henri  Pratte,  who 
was  to  welcome  to  the  wild  but  promising  West,  the  pioneer  bishop 
William  Du  Bourg  and  his  little  army  of  missionaries  in  1818. 


l?     Clark,     Vigo     and     Gibault,     ef.     Judge     Law's     "Colonial      History      of 
Vineennes, ' '    p.    55. 


Chapter  10 
THE  SULPICIANS  IX  THE  ILLINOIS  COUNTRY 


After  the  Diocese  of  Baltimore  had  been  officially  extended  to  the 
Mississippi  River,  the  duty  of  Bishop  Carroll  to  provide  priests  for  the 
long-  forsaken  Missions  and  Parishes,  Cahokia,  Kaskaskia,  Prairie  Du 
Rocher  and  Vincennes,  became  imperative.  He  was  fortunate  to  obtain 
from  Paris  a  number  of  very  excellent  members  of  the  Sulpieian  Con- 
gregation, some  for  his  new  seminary  at  Baltimore,  others  for  the  western 
missions.  Among-  the  latter  were,  besides  the  future  Bishops  of  Bardstown, 
Flaget  and  David,  the  Fathers  Michael  Levadoux,  Jean  Francois  Rivet 
and  Gabriel  Richard.  These  priests  were  assigned  as  follows:  Levadoux 
lo  Cahokia,  Rivet  to  Vincennes,  Richard  to  Prairie  du  Rocher,  and  the 
secular  priest,  Pierre  Janin,  to  Kaskaskia.  Only  Rivet  and  Janin  had 
Indian  Missions. 

The  first  Sulpieian  to  accept  the  position  of  a  shepherd  of  souls' 
in  the  old  Illinois  missionary  field,  and,  for  that  matter,  in  the  United 
States,  was  the  saintly  Benedict  Joseph  Flaget.  Born  December  7,  1763, 
at  Contournat,  in  the  Auvergne,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Congregation 
of  St.  Sulpice  in  November  1783,  and  pursued  his  theological  studies 
at  Issy,  near  Paris,  under  Father  Gabriel  Richard,  as  Superior.  The 
revolution,  that  swept  away  so  many  of  the  monuments  of  French  piety, 
learning  and  art,  drove  the  young  priest  away  from  home  to  America,  in 
company  of  the  Sulpieian  Fathers  Chicoisneau  and  David,  and  the  sub- 
deacon,  Stephen  Theodor  Badin. 

The  missionaries  reached  Philadelphia  on  March  29,  1792.  The 
youthful  Flaget  was  immediately  sent  as  pastor  to  the  old  French  settle- 
ment on  the  Wabash,  Vincennes,2  where  he  arrived  a  few  days  before 


i  The  Congregation  of  St.  Sulpice  was  intended  for  Seminary  work.  Mis 
sionary  activity  was  assigned  to  them  at  the  request  of  Bishop  Carroll. 

2  Since  the  days  of  the  early  Jesuits  the  Church  of  Vincennes  has  maintained 
intimate  relations  with  the  French  Catholics  along  the  Mississippi.  Father  Mermet, 
the  Jesuit  from  Kaskaskia,  was  its  first  priest.  Then  came  the  heroic  Father  Senat, 
the  martyr  of  duty  in  the  Chicasaw  war,  and  a  little  later  the  Jesuits  Vivier  and 
Meurin,  all  members  of  the  Illinois  Mission.  Father  Gibault  was  the  pastor,  until 
his  appointment  to  New  Madrid  on  the  Spanish  side.  On  Bishop  Du  Bourg  's  as- 
sumption of  the  charge  of  the  Illinois  Mission,  Vincennes  was  thrown  in  for  good 
measure,  and  two  of  his  best  priests,  Anthony  Blanc  and  Andrew  Ferrari,  were  sent 
there  to  revive  the  faith.  The  town  on  the  Wabash  was  named  for  the  Sieur  John 
Baptist  Vincennes  whom  the  Chicasaws  burned  to  death  with  his  friend  and  com- 
panion Father  Senat  in  173G. 

(184) 


The  Sulpicians  in  the  Illinois  Country  185 

Christmas.  What  ho  saw  and  experienced  there  among  the  Indians  who 
had  returned  to  an  almost  savage  life,  and  the  Creoles  who  had  inter- 
married with  the  Indians  and  had  adopted  many  of  their  ways  and 
manners,  was  enough  to  discourage  any  ordinary  man.  The  church  of 
Father  Gibault,  a  log  building,  still  remained,  but  in  a  dilapidated  con- 
dition; the  altar  was  a  primitive  construction  of  a  few  boards,  rudely 
put  together.  Yet,  the  poverty  and  bareness  of  his  surroundings  did  not 
dishearten  Father  Flaget,  though  it  touched  him  deeply,  reminding  him 
of  Bethlehem  and  its  manger.  What  hurt  him  much  more  was  the 
coldness  and  indifference  of  his  people,  of  whom  only  twelve  could  lie 
moved  to  approach  Holy  Communion  during  the  Christmas  festivities. 
Seeing  that  the  way  of  converting  the  old  was  through  the  plastic  hearts 
of  their  children,  he  established  a  school,  in  which  he  taught  the  rudi- 
ments of  learning  and  the  principles  and  practices  of  religion.  A  goodly 
number  of  the  parishioners,  Indian  and  French  Creoles,  were  won  over 
to  the  almost  forgotten  Christian  practices.  Hut  no  less  did  he  endeavor 
to  improve  the  social  condition  of  these  poor  neglected  and  persecuted 
people.  He  had  looms  made,  and  taught  the  women  the  art  of  weaving;  he 
encouraged  agriculture  and  sought  to  instill  habits  of  industry  in  the 
half -savage  hunters  and  trappers. 

During  Father  Flaget 's  stay  at  Vincennes,  the  smallpox  visited  the 
people  of  the  town,  and  the  Indians  in  the  neighboring  villages,  and 
continued  its  ravages,  though  intermittently,  for  a  whole  year.  With 
full  knowledge  of  the  dangers  he  incurred,  he  waited  on  the  afflicted, 
administered  the  sacraments  and  buried  the  dead.  Many  among  the 
Miamis  and  other  Indians  received  Baptism  on  their  death-bed. 

With  such  a  lonely  life  in  the  wilderness,  with  no  priestly  companion 
within  reach,  and  deprived  of  all  the  comforts  of  cultured  society  the 
young  missionary  bore  the  "burdens  of  the  day  and  the  heats  thereof" 
most  manfully.  When  he  fell  sick  in  October  1793,  his  vigorous  consti- 
tution and  his  never-failing  confidence  in  God  soon  restored  him.  But  he 
was  destined  for  higher  things,  and  at  the  call  of  his  Superiors,  he  left 
Vincennes  for  Baltimore  at  the  end  of  April  1795. 

The  disastrous  war  with  the  savages  at  last  brought  the  United 
States  government,  not  so  much  to  a  realization  of  its  duty  towards 
the  poor  children  of  forest  and  prairie,  but  rather  to  a  clearer  estimate 
of  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  bringing  them  under  religious  in- 
fluences. 

President  Washington  recommended  to  Congress  the  adoption  of 
a  more  helpful  treatment  of  the  Indians.  Bishop  Carroll  at  once  offered 
the  services  of  Father  Rivet,  and  the  offer  was  accepted.  A  commission 
was  issued  to  him  as  "Missionary  to  the  Indians,"  with  an  annual  allow- 


18(i  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

since  of  $200.00.  Father  Rivet  immediately  set  out  for  the  .Mission  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier  near  Vincennes,  and  arrived  there  June  12,  1795.3 

Father  Pierre  Janin  received  a  similar  commission,  and  came  to 
Kaskaskia  in  Octoher  of  the  same  year.  Both  found,  what  Father  Rivet 
had  expected  from  the  start,  "only  trouble,  privation  and  the  duty  of 
making  every  kind  of  sacrifice."  Through  the  disastrous  war  tiie  Indians 
had  become  savages  once  more,  with  the  vices  of  the  whites  added  to  their 
old  ones.  The  French  Catholics  were  apathetic,  and  the  government 
officials  neglected  to  pay  the  yearly  allowances.  Father  Janin  soon  re- 
signed Ids  commission  as  "Missionary  to  the  Indians"  and  Pastor  of 
Kaskaskia,  to  go  to  St.  Louis  on  the  Spanish  side.  Father  Gabriel  Richard 
attended  the  place  from  Prairie  du  Rocher.  Fever  attacked  the  new- 
comers to  the  American  Bottoms.  "So  far  I  have  had  only  three  attacks 
of  the  fever,  wrote  Father  Levadoux  from  Cahokia,  "but  they  have  left 
me  so  weak,  that  I  can  scarcely  keep  from  falling  at  every  step."  "Father 
Rivet  at  Vincennes  has  been  more  fortunate  in  tins  respect.  But  his 
Indians  were  all  in  winter  quarters,  and  will  not  be  back  for  a  few 
months."  "One  great  drawback,  is  that  I  am  still  without  means,  having 
no  interpreter  of  my  own,  not  knowing  the  language,  having  no  opportu- 
nity to  learn  it,  and  being  scarcely  able  to  vegetate  with  the  meagre 
salary  given  me  by  the  United  States.  We  have  not  even  received  a  cent 
of  the  first  quarter  of  that  salary,  now  that  the  fourth  quarter  is  due." 
"The  Governor  tells  us  that  we  have  been  forgotten."4 

Discouraging  as  the  care  of  the  Indians  was,  the  experiences  Father 
Rivet  had  with  the  French  were  still  more  heartrending:  "Notwith- 
standing all  my  care  in  a  village  composed  of  one  hundred  and  four 
Catholic  families,  which  number  about  three  hundred,  or  three  hundred 
and  fifty  communicants,  I  had  only  eighty-eight  persons  who  presented 
themselves  at  the  tribunal  of  Penance  and  forty  two  at  the  Holy  Table, 
although  my  indulgence  has  been  almost  excessive."3  The  good  Father 
begs  his  Bishop  to  send  his  people  a  pastoral  letter,  especially  in  regard  to 
"the  necessity  of  sending  the  children  to  Catechism,  and  not  to  leave 
them,  until  the  age  of  thirteen  or  fourteen,  in  almost  absolute  ignorance 
of  all  their  duties  of  religion,  to  take  them  out  of  the  hands  of  the  priests, 
as  soon  as  they  haw  made  their  First  Communion. "fi  Another  common 
vice,  the  Father  most  bitterly  condems,  is  "the  uncontrollable  passion 
for  nocturnal  dances."    The  population  of  our  villages  is  made  up  of 


3     "Rev.  John  Rivet,"  by  Camillus  1*.  Maes  in  "Ecclesiastical  Review."  vol.  V. 
July  and  August. 

•*     Ibidem,  p.  40. 

5     Ibidem,  p.    It. 
Ibidem,  p.  45. 


The  Sulpicians  in  the  Illinois  Country  187 

people  from  all  over  the  world, '  '7  adds  Father  Rivet  as  one  of  the  causes 
of  this  almost  universal  demoralization. 

Father  Rivet,  however  regarded  himself  as  primarily  a  missionary 
appointed  for  the  savages,  and  as  such  he  had  very  noteworthy  success. 
As  to  Father  Rivet's  zeal  for  the  salavation  of  his  poor  Indian  children, 
Bishop  Carroll  bears  ample  testimony:  "Father  Rivet  visits  the  neigh- 
boring- Indians  and  applies  himself  incessantly  in  fulfilling  the  object  of 
his  appointment,  and  disposing  them  to  maintain  a  friendly  temper  to- 
wards the  United  States.  He  is  indefatigable  in  instructing  them  in  the 
principles  of  Christianity,  and  not  without  success,  which  however,  would 
be  much  greater  if  the  traders  could  be  restrained  from  spoiling  the 
fruits  of  his  labors  by  the  introduction  and  sale  of  spirituous  liquors. 
In  the  discharge  of  his  useful  occupations,  M.  Rivet  has  undergone  much 
distress.  The  Indians  afford  nothing  for  his  subsistence ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  is  often  obliged  to  share  the  little  he  possesses  with  them."8 

"God  rewarded  his  zeal,"  says  Father  Rivet's  biographer,  "with 
abundant  spiritual  fruit."  The  Vincennes  Registers  of  Baptisms  and 
Marriages  record  the  wonderful  results  of  his  apostolic  labors  among 
the  Pottowatomies.  The  other  roaming  tribes  of  the  plains  of  the  Wabash 
were  not  overlooked :  Miamis,  Shawnees,  Charaguis,  Piankeshaws,  Ouias, 
Sioux  and  Kaskaskies,  all  contributed  their  share  to  the  harvest  of  souls. '  '9 
The  infidel  writer,  Volney,  on  his  tour  through  the  West,  visited  Father 
Rivet  at  Vincennes  and  expressed  himself  as  "well-pleased  with  the  per- 
sonality of  the  learned,  well-bred  and  very  kind  gentleman."  He  has 
special  praise  for  Father  Rivet's  "self-sacrificing  efforts  for  the  education 
of  his  flock." 

On  October  14,  1802,  Father  Rivet  alludes  to  the  changes  that  were 
going  on  beyond  the  Mississippi:  "Governor  Harrison  has  given  me  a 
hint,  that  the  Government  may  need  my  services  in  Louisiana,  whence 
most  of  the  priests  leave,  to  go  within  the  lines  of  the  domain  of  the 
Spanish  King  (Florida),  who  offers  to  continue  their  pension  to  all  who 
locate  there  .  .  .  During  my  last  journey  I  went  to  St.  Louis,  and 
everybody  expressed  a  desire  to  have  me  there.  It  is  probable  that  the 
two  shores  of  the  Mississippi  will  form  one  and  the  same  government 
with  the  region  where  I  reside,  and  in  that  case,  Governor  Harrison  will 
be  strongly  importuned  by  the  people  of  the  other  shore,  to  send  me  there. 
Alas,  if  they  knew  what  I  am  they  would  not  go  to  so  much  trouble."10 


7  Ibidem,  p.  47.  Among  Father  Kivet  's  many  other  accomplishments  we  may 
mention  his  skill  in  writing  Latin  verse.  He  often  exchanged  poetic  lucubrations 
with  Father  Stephen  Badin. 

8  Letter  to  Samuel  Dexter,  Secretary  of  War,  Sept.  15,  1800. 

9  "Rev.  John  Rivet,"  by  C.  P.  Maes,  p.  50.  We  preserve  Father  Rivet's 
spelling  of  these  Indian  names. 

lo     Ibidem,  p.  111. 


188  History  of  tin    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

But  Father  Rivet's  health  was  breaking  fast,  and  his  end  was,  no 
doubt,  accelerated  by  extraordinary  austerities,  as  "Sleeping  on  rough 
boards  covered  with  a  worn-out  cloak."  Shortly  after  New  Year's 
Day  of  1804  he  felt  that  death  was  nigh.  He  sent  word  to  his  nearest 
neighbor,  Father  Donatien  Olivier,  at  Prairie  du  Rocher,  to  come  and 
administer  to  him  the  last  rites  of  the  Church.  Anticipating  his  com- 
ing he  wrote  out  his  confession.  But  Father  Olivier  was  far  away,  and 
the  dying  man  sealed  his  written  confession  and  addressed  it  to  his 
brother  priest.  Father  Olivier  arrived  at  Vincennes  three  days  after 
Father  Rivet's  death.  "He  died  as  he  had  lived,  extremely  poor  and 
extremely  regretted  by  his  parishioners,"  wrote  Father  Gabriel  Richard, 
the  companion  of  former  days.11 

Father  Michael  Levadoux  was  one  of  the  companions  of  Father 
Nagot  on  the  journey  to  Baltimore  in  1791.  A  year  or  so  after  his 
arrival  he  and  Father  Gabriel  Richard  were  sent  by  Bishop  Carroll  to 
the  French  settlements  along  the  Mississippi.  Father  Flaget  on  his 
way  to  Vincennes  met  them  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  now,  Louisville,. 
Father  Levadoux  took  up  his  abode  at  Cahokia,  whilst  Richard  went 
to  Prairie  du  Rocher.  After  the  recall  of  Father  Flaget,  Father  Rivet 
was  sent  to  Vincennes,  and  a  secular  priest,  Pierre  Janin,  to  Kaskas- 
kia.  Father  Levadoux  was  appointed  Vicar  General  of  the  district. 
The  Sulpician,  John  Dilhet,  in  his  Memoir  "On  the  church  in  the  diocese 
of  the  United  States,"  says:  "M.  Levadoux  went  there  (Cahokia),  by 
order1  of  his  superiors,  the  Bishop  of  Baltimore  and  M.  Nagot,  Superior 
of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice  at  Baltimore.  He  built  a  splendid  church 
there,  in  the  vicinity,  I  do  not  know  where.  M.  Olivier  succeeded 
him."12  This  testimony  of  a  brother  in  religion  is  sufficiently  perplex- 
ing. Yet  it  contains  a  grain  of  certain  truth;  the  fact  that  the  church 
at  Cahokia  was  built,  at  least  in  part,  by  Vicar-General  Levadoux.  As 
Father  Dilhet  resided  at  Detroit  with  Fathers  Levadoux  and  Richard, 
he  must  have  had  his  information  from  the  best  sources.  What  Father 
Dilhet  probably  meant,  was  that  Father  Levadoux  had  been  sent  to  the 
district  of  Cahokia,  and  that  he  built  a  church  there,  at  a  point  un- 
known to  the  writer.  When  Father  Levadoux  was  changed  from  Caho- 
kia to  Detroit  in  1796,  to  be  succeeded,  after  an  interval  of  a  few  years, 
by  Father  John  Olivier,  Father  Gabriel  Richard  attended  to  the  wants 
of  the  people  of  Cahokia,  and  also  to  the  construction  of  the  church 
begun  by  Father  Levadoux.  Certain  it  is  that  the  edifice  was  blessed 
in  1799  by  Vicar-General   Rivet,   Pastor  of  Vincennes,   who  also  said 


ii     Ibidem,  p.  121. 

12  Jean  Dilhet  "Etat  De  L'Eglise  Catholique  ou  Diocese  Des  Etats-Unis  De 
L'Amerique  Septentrionale, "  Washington,  D.  C,  1922.  Translated  and  annotated  by 
the  Kev.  Patrick  William  Browne,  S.  T.  D. 


The  Sulpicians  in  the  Illinois  Country  189 

the  first  mass  within  its  walls.  This  building,  still  in  good  condition, 
though  no  longer  used  for  church  purposes,  is  the  noblest  memorial  of 
the  Sulpician  Fathers  in  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

The  first  Church  of  the  Holy  Family  at  Cahokia  built  by  Father 
St.  Cosme  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  probably 
consumed  by  fire  in  1735.  Soon  after  this  disaster  the  Seminary  of 
Quebec  sent  Father  Nicholas  Laurens  with  25,000  livres  for  the  purpose 
of  restoring  what  had  been  lost  or  damaged.  At  this  time,  no  doubt, 
the  second  church  was  erected,  which  served  the  parish  until  that  fate- 
ful day  in  November  1762,  when  Father  Forget  Du  Verger,  the  last  of 
the  Seminary  priests,  sold  all  of  the  mission  property,  and  returned  to 
France.  The  people  of  Cahokia  were  now  deprived  of  everything  per- 
taining to  divine  worship,  except  a  bell,  a  monstrance,  a  chalice  and 
paten  and  a  missal  printed  in  1668.  A  house  had  to  be  rented  in  the 
village  where  visiting  priests  might  say  mass.  Father  Paul  de  Saint 
Pierre,  the  Carmelite  representative  of  the  strenuous  life,  came  to  Ca- 
hokia in  1786.  The  people  were  delighted  with  their  pastor,  and  built 
for  him  a  parsonage  at  a  cost  of  5,000  livres  and  started  a  movement  to 
replace  the  church,  that  had  meanwhile  fallen  to  pieces.  In  1789,  how- 
ever. Father  de  Saint  Pierre  left  Cahokia  for  Ste.  Genevieve,  and  the 
building  project  lapsed  for  a  time.13  The  "splendid  church"  must 
have  been  begun  and  almost  brought  to  completion  by  Father  Levadoux, 
as  Father  Richard  also  departed  for  Detroit  in  May  1797.  Building 
operations  were  slow  and  expensive  in  those  days.  The  finishing  touches 
were  applied  under  Father  Donatien  Olivier 's  regime,  so  that  the  build- 
ing could  be  dedicated  to  divine  service  by  the  last  of  the  Sulpicians 
in  the  Illinois  country,  Father  John  Rivet  of  Vincennes. 

This  would  reconcile  the  apparent  discrepancy  in  the  statements, 
that  the  church  of  Cahokia  was  built  in  1789  and  in  1799.  The  first 
date  marks  the  inception  of  the  work,  the  second,  however,  its  com- 
pletion and  dedication.  Father  Paul  de  Saint  Pierre,  the  Carmelite, 
gave  the  first  impulse.  Father  Levadoux  set  the  work  in  motion,  and 
Father  Richard  brought  it  to  completion,  whilst  Father  Rivet  blessed 
the  splendid  structure  under  the  rectorship  of  Father  John  Olivier. 
As  a  pleasant  conclusion  to  this  tedious  account  of  early  building  opera- 
tions, we  would  subjoin  the  clear  and  accurate  description  of  the  Old 
Church  at  Cahokia  published  some  years  ago  by  one  of  its  former  pastors, 
the  Rev.  Robert  Hynes. 

"This  church  is  built  upon  a  stone  foundation,  31  x  74  feet.  The 
walls  are  hewn  walnut  logs  placed  upright  six  inches  apart  and  leaning 


is     On    Father   Paul   de    Saint    Pierre,    ef.    "The    Catholic    Historical    Review," 
vol.  V,  p.  195,  ss. 


190  History  of  the   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

in  from  the  perpendicular  about  eight  inches.  The  sides  oi!  the  logs 
facing  each  other  are  beveled  to  a  depth  of  two  inches  to  receive  and 
hold  the  mixture  of  stone  and  mortar  with  which  the  interstices  are 
filled.  The  logs  are  securely  mortised  into  heavy  timbers  below  and 
above,  and  braced  at  each  angle  of  the  building.  Not  a  nail  was  used 
in  the  entire  structure,  but  huge  wooden  pegs  were  employed  where 
needed.  The  roof  timbers  are  oak,  squared  to  the  dimensions  of  4x4 
inches  and  originally  were  covered  with  cypress  clapboards.  Wide 
sycamore  boards  cover  the  floor  which  slopes  gently  from  the  front  wall 
to  the  altar  rail  with  a  fall  of  six  inches.  Originally  the  church  had 
no  sacristy,  but  this  need  was  supplied  in  1833  in  the  form  of  a  small 
chapel  projecting  from  the  north  wall.  In  the  same  year  a  correspond- 
ing chapel  was  built  out  from  the  south  wall  to  accommodate  the  organ 
and  choir.  Later,  in  1840,  a  larger  sacristy  was  added  to  the  rear  of 
the  building,  and  a  confessional  was  placed  in  the  north  chapel.  The 
church  as  it  came  from  the  hands  of  the  builders  119  years  ago  is  sub- 
stantially intact  today.  Additions  have  been  made,  indeed,  but  prac- 
tically nothing  of  the  original  building  has  been  removed."14 

And  now  we  come  to  consider  the  most  remarkable  man  of  all  the 
Sulpicians  that  served  the  church  in  the  Illinois  country,  Father  Gabriel 
Richard.  'Tis  true,  this  truly  great  and  many-sided  man  spent  only 
six  years  of  a  long  and  eventful  career  in  the  Illinois  Missions.  Com- 
ing to  Baltimore  from  his  college  in  France  in  1792,  he  was  immediately 
sent  to  Kaskaskia,  which  post  he  held  until  May  1795,  when  Father 
Pierre  Janin,  the  Missionary  to  the  savages,  took  charge.  After  Janin's 
early  departure  for  a  new  field,  Father  Gabriel  returned  to  Kaskaskia, 
officiating  there  until  the  advent  of  Father  Donatien  Olivier  in  1799. 
In  Kaskaskia  he  lived  among  the  ruins  of  former  grandeur.  Many 
of  the  houses  were  without  roof  and  doors.  The  better  part  of  the 
Creoles  had  migrated  to  S%.  Louis.  Fort  Chartres  lay  deserted,  and 
its  mighty  ramparts  were  falling  piece  by  piece  into  the  Mississippi. 
St.  Anne's  Church  of  New  Chartres  was  no  more.  The  Illinois  Indians, 
that  had  formed  the  two  flourishing  missions  of  Kaskaskia,  were  re- 
duced to  a  pitiful  remnant.15     All  was  desolation  and  despair. 

"The  people  at  this  post  are  the  worst  in  all  Illinois;"  he  writes 
to  Bishop  Carroll  "there  is  no  religion  among  them,  scarcely  anyone 
attending  mass  even  on  Sunday;  intemperance,  debauchery  and  idle- 
ness are  supreme."     Elsewhere,  however,  he  received  better  encourage- 


i-i     "Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  I,  p.  459. 

15  In  consequence  of  the  murder  of  the  great  Chief  Pontiac  by  an  Illinois  Indian 
at  Cahokia,  the  greater  part  of  the  Illinois  tribes  were  exterminated.  There  was 
nothing  left  of  the  Tamarois  Mission  at  this  time,  and  very  little  of  that  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception  at  Kaskaskin. 


The  Sulpicians  in  the  Illinois  Country  191 

merit.  "I  am  tolerably  well  satisfied,"  he  writes,  "With  my  little  village 
of  Prairie  clu  Roeher,  although  grave  scandals  are  occasionally  witnessed 
there.  My  chief  consolation  are  from  five  or  six  English  families,  who 
live  ten  or  fifteen  miles  from  this  place.  They  are  surrounded  by  others 
who  are  Protestants  but  who  would  be  easily  led  into  the  Church  if 
I  could  speak  the  English  language  with  greater  facility."18 

Yet  Father  Richard  labored  and  prayed,  knowing  that  the  result 
was  in  the  hands  of  God.  The  Parishes  of  Kaskaskia  and  Prairie  du 
Roeher  remained  in  his  care  from  1793  to  1798.  On  August  1st,  1797  he 
inscribed  his  name  in  the  Baptismal  Record  of  Ste.  Genevieve  as  "Cure 
de  Prairie  du  Roeher."  In  September  1798,  however,  he  became  Vicar- 
General  and  Parish  priest  of  St.  Anne's,  Detroit,  in  succession  to  Father 
Levadoux,  who  was  recalled  to  Baltimore. 

Father  Gabriel  Richard  was  a  many-sided  genius.  Priest,  pro- 
fessor, founder  of  a  university,  editor,  publisher  of  the  first  Bible  print- 
ed in  the  Northwest,  French  and  English  scholar  with  a  good  knowledge 
of  Spanish,  German,  Italian  and  the  Algonquin  languages,  promoter  of 
trade,  and  introducer  of  wool-carding  and  spinning  in  the  Northwest, 
and  the  only  member  of  Congress,  that  was,  at  the  same  time,  a  priest 
in  good  standing.  Of  course,  the  missionary  in  the  Illinois  country  did 
not  have  the  opportunity  of  showing  all  the  facets  of  his  personality : 
the  wider  field  of  Detroit  was  necessary  for  their  development.  Yet, 
he  was  always  the  man  to  recognize  an  opportunity  when  it  presented 
itself,  and  to  realize  it  in  a  thorough  manner.  He  had  his  sorrows,  too, 
and  disappointments,  and  even  persecutions  to  bear ;  yet  he  met  them 
all  like  a  man  and  hero.  Father  Gabriel  Richard  is,  as  Dr.  Guilday 
justly  says,  "the  greatest  name  in  the  missionary  annals  of  the  Sulpi- 
cians." Lanman's  Directory  of  the  United  States  Congress  says  of  him: 
"He  was  a  Roman  Catholic  priest  and  a  man  of  learning  .... 
During  his  pastorate  of  St.  Ann's  Church  in  Detroit  it  became  his  duty, 
according  to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  to  excommunicate  one  of  his 
parishioners,  who  had  been  divorced  from  his  wife.  For  this  he  was 
prosecuted  for  defamation  of  character,  which  resulted  in  a  verdict 
being  given  against  him  for  one  thousand  dollars.  This  money  the 
priest  could  not  pay,  and  as  his  parishioners  were  poor  French  settlers 
they  could  not  pay  it  for  him,  and  he  was  thrown  into  prison.  While 
confined  in  the  common  jail,  with  little  hope  of  ever  being  liberated,  he 
was  elected  a  delegate  to  Congress,  and  went  from  his  prison  cell  in 
the  wilds  of  Michigan,  to  his  seat  on  the  floor  of  Congress." 


ie     Richard  to  Carrol],  January  24,  1796.     Girardin,  J.  A.,  "Life  and  Times  of 
Gabriel  Richard,"  in  "Michigan  Pioneer  Collections,"  vol.  I,  p.  482. 


192  History  of  th(    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

The  testimony  contained  in  the  Journal  of  Bishop  Joseph-Octave 
Plessis  of  Quebec,  1816,  mingles  generous  praise  with  a  Little  quiet  sar- 
casm :  "This  ecclesiastic  (M.  Gabriel  Richard)  is  moreover,  thoroughly 
estimable  on  account  of  his  regularity,  of  the  variety  of  his  knowledge, 
and  especially  of  an  activity,  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  form  an  idea. 
He  has  the  talent  of  doing,  almost  simultaneously,  ten  entirely  different 
tilings.  Provided  with  newspapers  (gazettes)  well  informed  on  all  polit- 
ical questions,  ever  ready  to  argue  on  religion,  when  the  occasion 
presents  itself,  and  thoroughly  learned  in  theology,  he  reaps  his  hay, 
gathers  the  fruit  of  his  garden,  manages  a  fishery  fronting  his  lot,  teaches 
mathematics  to  one  young  man,  reading  to  another,  devotes  time  to 
mental  prayer,  establishes  a  printing  press,  confesses  all  his  people, 
imports  carding  and  spinning  wheels  and  looms  to  teach  the  women 
of  his  parish  how  to  work,  leaves  not  a  single  act  of  his  parochial  reg- 
ister unwritten,  invents  an  electric  machine,  goes  on  sick  calls  at  a  very 
great  distance,  writes  letters  to  and  receives  others  from  all  parts, 
preaches  on  every  Sunday  and  holy-day  both  lengthily  and  learnedly, 
enriches  his  library,  spends  whole  nights  without  sleep,  walks  for  whole 
days,  loves  to  converse,  receives  company,  teaches  catechism  to  his  young 
parishioners,  supports  a  girls'  school,  under  the  management  of  a  few 
female  teachers  of  his  own  choosing,  whom  he  directs  like  a  religious 
community  whilst  he  gives  lessons  in  plain-song  to  young  boys  assembled 
in  a  school  he  has  founded,  leads  a  most  frugal  life,  and  is  in  good 
health,  as  fresh  and  able  at  the  age  of  fifty,  as  one  usually  is  at  thirty. 
Such  is  the  abridged  portrait  of  this  more  than  ordinary  man  ;  extreme- 
ly appreciated  by  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  and  his  traveling  companions, 
but  having  against  him  the  great  majority  of  his  parishioners;  entirely 
set  against  him  and  several  of  whom,  in  their  self-conceit  and  folly, 
would  prefer  remaining  without  a  priest  to  having  that  one."17 

Certainly  we  Catholics  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  have  every  rea- 
son to  hold  in  reverence  and  love  one  of  our  precious  heirlooms,  the 
memory  of  Father  Gabriel  Richard,  and  his  Sulpician  associates,  in 
Cahokia,  Kaskaskia,  Prairie  du  Rocher  and  Vincennes. 

From  1793  to  1798  the  names  of  Rivet,  Levadoux  and  Richard  occur 
in  the  church  records  of  each  of  the  four  parishes,  as  if  they  had  re- 
garded them  as  one  religious  establishment,  each  member  of  the  com- 
munity, however,  residing  in  his  own  proper  station.  As  a  beautiful 
trait  of  the  earnest  and  lovable  character  of  these  Sulpician  mission- 
aries, we  would  instance  their  daily  spiritual  reunion  at  the  altar.    When 


i"  "American  Catholic  Historical  Researches,"  vol.  XXII,  p.  224.  After  the 
burning  of  Detroit,  Father  Richard  was  greatly  instrumental  in  the  work  of  re- 
building the  city.  St.  Anne's  Church  was  removed  to  a  more  favorable  locality.  The 
troubles  with  the  people  of  St.  Anne's  culminated   in  an   interdict   by  Bishop   Flaget. 


The  Sulpicians  in  the  Illinois  Country  193 

entering-  on  their  widely  dispersed  missions  they  had  arranged  among 
themselves  that,  day  by  day,  they  would  devote  the  selfsame  hour  to 
prayer  and  meditation  in  common,  just  as  if  they  were  assembled  in 
their  far  away  community  chapel.  Separated  in  body,  yet  united  in 
spirit,  they  would  approach  the  throne  of  God  as  faithful  in  all  things, 
giving  thus  a  fine  illustration  of  the  scriptural  saying:  "0  quam  bonum 
et  quam  jucundum  est  fratres  habitare  in  unum. " 

After  Father  Rivet's  death,  Feb.  1804,  there  were  no  more  Sul- 
picians in  the  Illinois  missions,  until  Bishop  Flaget  of  Bardstown  began 
to  exercise  spiritual  jurisdiction  over  half  of  the  Illinois  country,  soon 
to  introduce  his  brother  Sulpician,  Louis  William  Valentine  Du  Bourg. 
to  the  other  half,  west  of  the  river,  as  their  Bishop,  and  immediately 
to  relinquish  to  his  dear  friend  the  care,  if  not  the  possession,  of  his 
own  half  forever.18 

The  secular  priests  that  were  chosen  to  fill  the  parishes  in  succes- 
sion to  the  Sulpicians,  were  the  brothers  Olivier,  John  and  Donatien, 
natives  of  Nantes,  France.  They  arrived  in  the  Illinois  country  in  Feb- 
ruary 1799,  John  going  to  Cahokia  and  Donatien  to  Kaskaskia  and 
Prairie  du  Rocher.  When  Father  Francis  Savine  journeyed  from 
Canada  down  the  Ohio  in  company  with  Bishop  Flaget  in  May,  1811, 
he  was  told  to  go  to  Cahokia,  as  Father  John  Olivier  had  retired  to 
New  Orleans  to  become  the  chaplain  of  the  Ursulines.  From  1817  to 
1827  Father  Donatien  is  resident  pastor  of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  attend- 
ing Kaskaskia  once  or  twdce  a  month.  This  noble  priest's  character  is 
beautifully  sketched  by  Bishop  Spalding  in  his  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget. 

"The  Rev.  Donatien  Olivier  was  one  among  the  most*  pious,  zealous 
and  efficient  priests  who  ever  labored  in  the  missions  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  He  was  universally  esteemed  and  beloved.  By  the  French 
Catholics  he  was  reverenced  as  a  saint.  His  name  is  still  held  in  benedic- 
tion among  them.  He  was  for  many  years  Vicar-General  of  the  Bishop 
of  Baltimore,  for  all  the  missions  extending  over  the  present  states  of 
Indiana  and  Illinois.  He  usually  resided,  it  appears,  at  Prairie  du 
Rocher;  but  he  visited  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  Vincemies  and  the  other 
Catholic  settlements.  He  was  admirable  for  his  child-like  simplicity 
and  unaffected  piety,  which  traits  he  continued  to  exhibit  in  the  midst 
of  his  apostolic  labors,  till  old  age  compelled  him  to  abandon  the  field 
and  seek  solace  and  prepare  for  death  in  retirement.     He  died  on  the 


i8  At  the  coming  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  St.  Louis,  Bishop  Flaget  requested  thai 
the  far  western  part  of  his  diocese,  Illinois  and  a  part  of  Indiana,  be  provided  for 
from  St.  Louis,  and  his  request  was  granted.  This  private  arrangement  was  made 
permanent,  at  least  in  regard  to  western  Illinois,  by  Roman  decree  in  1834,  to  remain 
a  part  of  St.  Louis  diocese  until  the  erection  of  the  diocese  of  Chicago  in  1843. 

Vol.  1-7 


194  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  SI.    Louis 

29th  of  January,  1S41,  at  the  Seminary  of  the  Barrens,  in  Missouri, 
at  the  advanced  age  <>f  ninety-five  years."19 

Father  Francis  Louis  Savine,  who  served  as  pastor  of  Cahokia  from 
1812  to  1817  and  incidentally  attended  the  forsaken  church  of  St.  Louis 
so  regularly  during  those  years,  that  he  was  considered  by  many  as  its 
pastor,  acted  in  Cahokia  under  the  ordinary,  and  in  St.  Louis,  under 
the  delegated  powers<  of  Bishop  Benedict  Flaget  of  Bardstown,  Ken- 
tucky. 

One  of  the  chroniclers  of  St.  Louis,  Judge  Wilson  Primm,  who 
seems  to  have  caught  the  inspiration  from  Bishop  Rosati's  historical 
interest,  gives  us  a  slight  pen-picture  of  Father  Francis  Savine,  the 
friend  of  his  early  days:  "Priest  Savine  was  the  last  of  the  Canadian 
Mission  sent  to  this  region  of  country  by  the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  There 
are  many  now  living  who  remember  "le  pcre  Savine"  with  perfect 
distinctness.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  presence,  of  amiable  disposition, 
zealous  in  the  performance  of  his  duties,  and  especially  kind  to  the 
poor  and  those  in  distress.  There  was  no  tearless  eye  in  his  congre- 
gation when  he  bade  them  adieu.  The  old  Creoles  of  today  still  hold 
him  in  pleasant  remembrance." 

The  good  Sulpician  missionaries  had  not  labored  in  vain.  There 
was  a  distinct  revival  of  religion  and  culture  in  the  old  French  vil- 
lages along  the  borders  of  the  Mississippi.  We  get  a  glimpse  of  the 
new  life  rising  from  the  old  in  many  a  passing  remark  of  friends  and 
foes. 

As  Father  Gabriel  Richard  found  spiritual  comfort  and  encourage- 
ment in  the  five  or  six  English  families  of  staunch  Catholic  faith  and 
practice,  so  Father  Levadoux  and,  after  him,  Father  Olivier  and  Savine 
were  upheld  and  cheered  in  their  ceaseless  struggle  with  infidelity  and 
supine  indifference  by  the  bright  example  of  Nicholas  Jarrot  of  the 
Mansion  House  at  Cahokia. 

Living  under  the  shadow  of  the  church — the  oldest  in  Illinois  that 
is  still  in  existence — Major  Jarrot 's  life  was  an  exemplary  in  church 
duties  and  devotion  as  that  of  the  priest.  He  and  Mme.  Jarrot  always 
preceded  the  family  procession  in  going  to  and  from  mass  on  the  Sab- 
bath. 


19  "Sketches  of  the  Life,  Times  and  Character  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Joseph 
Flaget,  First  Bishop  of  Louisville,"  by  M.  J.  Spalding,  D.  D.,  1852.  Governor 
Reynolds,  who  had  personal  knowledge  of  Father  Olivier,  said  of  him  in  his  "My  Own 
Times " :  "  One  of  the  ancient  pioneer  clergymen  was  the  celebrated  Mr.  Olivier  of 
Prairie  du  Rocher,  Randolph  County.  This  reverend  divine  was  a  high  dignitary  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  for  more  than  half  a  century,  lie  acquired  a  great 
reputation  for  his  sanctity  and  holiness,  and  sonic  believed  him  to  lie  possessed  of  the 
power  to  perform   small   miracles,  to  which   lie  made  no  pretensions." 


The  Sulpicians  in  the  Illinois  Country  195 

With  him,  as  with  most  of  the  Catholic  French  and  Creoles  of  that 
day,  religion  did  not  mean  a  soured  spirit  nor  a  saddened  heart.  The 
joy  of  life  still  had  an  attraction  for  them,  and  they  showed  their  good 
sense  in  countering  the  manifold  ills  of  existence  with  a  light  heart.  Not 
that  they  did  not  go  too  far  at  times;  not  that  they  were  all  perfect 
specimens  of  Christian  men  and  women.  Yet,  under  the  circumstances 
of  frontier  life,  it  was  good  for  them  to  be  cheerful,  and  it  may  be  called 
a  wonder,  that  they  did  not  sink  completely  under  the  burdens  of  op- 
pression and  contempt. 

"The  French  in  many  ways  were  lenient  masters  ....  Their 
wives  spun  linsey  for  the  negroes'  clothes,  and  they  were  taught  the 
Catechism.  One  day  the  Jarrot  family  heard  the  cook's  baby  crying 
down  in  the  basement.  Ortance  (the  eldest  daughter)  went  to  inves- 
tigate and  found  that  the  cook  had  run  away  and  abandoned  the  child. 
Ortance  named  him  Louis  and  took  charge  of  the  boy.  So  kind  was 
his  supervision,  that  when  the  slave  became  old  enough  to  obtain  his 
freedom,  he  did  not  want  to  go.  Later,  on  the  wedding  night  of  Maria 
Brackett,  daughter  of  Ortance,  in  1841,  Louis  took  a  vacation  from  his 
job  on  a  Mississippi  steamboat,  came  back  to  Cahokia  and  cooked  the 
wedding  breakfast.  After  performing  this  act  of  devotion,  he  returned 
to  his  work,  and  that  very  night  the  steamboat  blew  up."21 

It  seems  appropriate  here  to  give  a  summary  account  of  the  visit 
which  Bishop  Flaget,  the  saintly  Sulpician  and  friend  of  Levadoux, 
Richard,  Rivet,  the  Oliviers,  and  Savine,  in  1814,  paid  to  the  parishes 
and  missions  over  which  they  once  held  spiritual  sway.  Though  his 
jurisdiction  did  not  extend  beyond  the  Mississippi  River  he  gladly 
accepted  the  invitation  of  Dr.  Du  Bourg,  the  administrator  of  Lou- 
isiana, to  visit  the  parishes  and  missions  on  the  Missouri  side  as  well. 
On  May  25  he  started  on  horseback  for  Vincennes  and  reached  it  on 
the  third  day,  tired,  but  happy  at  seeing  his  old  flock,  headed  by  Father 
Olivier.  On  May  30  he  visited  the  grave  of  Father  Rivet  and  sang  the 
"Libera"  over  it.  Devoting  several  days  to  the  preparation  of  the 
Confirmandi  he  administered  the  sacrament  to  eighty-six  persons.  He 
preached  in  English  as  well  as  in  French  to  the  great  satisfaction  of 
the  Americans.  On  June  the  14th,  he  and  Father  Olivier  set  out  for 
the  Mississippi.  They  were  escorted  by  a  company  of  French  Rangers. 
On  the  18th  they  arrived  at  Cahokia,  where  they  found  Father  Savine, 
' '  holding  the  handle  of  a  skillet  to  make  an  omelet. ' '  The  bishop  found 
everything  in  good  order.  He  confirmed  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
persons.  The  good  people  of  Cahokia  conducted  their  bishop  to  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  which  he  crossed  in  a  canoe,  with  no  campanion 


-i      ' '  The  Mansion  House  at  Cahokia, ' '  passim 


196  History  of  the  Arckdiocesi   of  8t.  Louis 

l)iit  the  oarsman.  No  public  reception  awaited  him.  At  the  confirma- 
tion services  on  July  4th  he  was  attended  by  Father  Savine  and  the 
Father  Prior,  Joseph  Marie  Dunand.  The  ladies  of  the  city  presented 
the  prelate  with  a  fine  cross  and  mitre.  On  the  8th  of  July  he  departed 
for  Florissant,  where  the  entire  population  turned  out  to  receive  him; 
on  the  11th  he  crossed  the  Missouri  River,  sitting  in  an  armchair  placed 
in  a  canoe,  decorated  with  flowers.  On  the  other  side  he  visited  Dard- 
enne.  where  he  confirmed  one  hundred  persons,  one  of  whom  was  1015 
and  another  115  years  old.  He  arrived  at  St.  Charles  on  the  18th,  and 
on  the  21  st  went  to  Portage  de  Sioux,  confirming  fifty-four  persons. 
Then  he  returned  to  St.  Charles  and  found  a  parish  that  had  been  at 
war  with  its  pastor,  Father  Dunand,  for  two  years:  his  earnest  words 
brought  peace  and  joy  to  all.  He  confirmed  sixty-five  persons,  and  on 
August  3  retraced  his  steps  to  St.  Louis. 

"This  congregation  is  in  a  state  of  extreme  indifference,"  he  wrote, 
"yet  some  young  people  presented  themselves  for  confession  and  reval- 
idation of  their  marriages.  Seventy-two  persons  were  confirmed.  Gov- 
ernor William  Clark,  the  former  associate  of  Meriwether  Lewis  in  the 
discovery  of  the  Columbia  River,  asked  the  bishop  to  baptize  three  of 
his  children.  On  August  14th  the  bishop  crossed  the  river  to  Illinois, 
where  a  large  escort  of  horsemen  and  carriages  received  him  and  form- 
ed a  procession  to  Cahokia.  On  the  2nd  he  departed  for  Prairie  du 
Kocher  to  confirm  a  class  of  sixty-five.  Though  suffering  from  a  fever, 
the  prelate  visited  Kaskaskia  on  the  14th  of  September,  where  he  set 
down  the  following  words  of  praise:  "The  church  is  superb  for  the 
country;  its  length  is  eighty  feet,  its  width  forty  feet.  The  evening 
was  spent  in  blessing  the  good  people."  He  confirmed  one  hundred  and 
ten  persons.  On  the  21st  he  went  to  Ste.  Genevieve,  where  he  was 
received  with  the  usual  honors.  He  preached  strongly  against  balls, 
"to  the  great  astonishment  of  dancers,"  and  administered  confirma- 
tion to  three  hundred  and  sixty-one  persons.  On  October  5  he  visited 
the  Barrens,  an  American  Catholic  settlement,  attended  by  Father 
Dunand  from  Florissant,  and  there  confirmed  forty-five  persons.  On 
his  return  to  Ste.  Genevieve  he  preached  to  the  negroes,  of  whom  there 
were  about  five  hundred  in  the  town  and  vicinity.  Finding  that  mar- 
riage was  not  common  among  these  poor  slaves,  he  threatened  their 
masters  with  excommunication,  unless  they  afforded  their  servants  every 
facility  of  lawful  marriage.  On  the  27th  of  October  he  rejoined  Father 
Olivier  at  Prairie  du  Rocher,  spending  a  few  days  of  charming  solitude 
after  so  much  distraction.  November  3rd  he  returned  to  Kaskaskia, 
whence  lie  took  his  departure  for  home  by  way  of  Vincennes.  He  was 
escorted  by  sixteen  Creoles  on  horseback.  The  party  reached  Vincennes 
on   the   lL'th  of   November.     From  the   fulness  of  his  great    heart,  the 


The  Sulpicians  in  the  Illinois  Country  197 

Bishop  wrote  to  his  brother  in  France:  "I  have  just  returned  from  a 
mission  where  I  had  remained  for  seven  months.  It  is  situated  among 
the  French  living  along  the  banks  of  the  impetuous  Mississippi  and  the 
muddy  Missouri.  I  was  greatly  surprised  to  find  more  than  ten  thousand 
Catholics,  attended  by  two  priests  only,  one  of  whom  is  seventy  years 
old ;  the  other,  on  account  of  his  constitution,  unable  to  travel  on  horse- 
back. I  cannot  describe  to  you  the  pleasure  it  gave  to  these  old-time 
French  people  to  see  me  and  to  listen  to  me.  Many  irregularities  may 
be  found  among  them,  it  is  true,  but  their  faith  is  still  strong.  What 
sincere  feeling  they  testified,  and  how  many  conversions  were  wrought ! 
Although  I  could  visit  but  half  of  the  population,  and  only  confirmed 
those  who  had  made  their  first  communion,  I  had  the  consolation  of 
confirming  more  than  twelve  hundred,  An  episcopal  throne  was  made 
for  me  out  of  beaver  skins,  decorated  with  jewels  lent  by  the  women."22 
The  next  time  Bishop  Flaget  came  to  visit  St.  Louis,  he  brought 
the  newly  appointed  Bishop  Louis  William  Valentine  Du  Bourg,  a 
Sulpician  like  himself,  under  whose  self-sacrificing  devotion  the  Church 
was  destined  to  take  firm  root  in  the  soil  of  the  west  and  grow  into  a 
mighty  tree  of  perennial  vitality  and  grandeur. 


'*'*■     Spalding's  "Life  of  Bishop  Benedict  Flaget,"  pp.  129-142,  passim. 


Chapter  11 
VI CAR  GENERAL  JAMES  MAXWELL 


Six  years  had  elapsed  since  the  western  part  of  Louisiana  with  New 
Orleans  was  transferred  to  the  dominion  of  Spain,  ere  a  change  occurred 
in  the  spiritual  administration  of  the  country.  But  then  the  changes 
came  thick  and  fast. 

In  1722  the  jurisdiction  of  the  diocese  of  Santiago  de  Cuba  was 
established  over  this  region,  under  Bishop  Joseph  Echeveria,  with  Bishop 
Cyrillo  de  Barcelona  as  Vicar  General,  residing  in  New  Orleans.  In  1789 
the  diocese  was  divided,  and  the  northern  part,  including  Louisiana,  was 
placed  under  Bishop  Joseph  de  Trespalacios  of  St.  Christopher  de 
Havana  with  Bishop  Cyrillo  as  his  auxiliary.  But  the  latter  was  not 
long  after  recalled  to  his  monastery.  In  1793,  on  April  25th,  that  part  of 
the  diocese  of  Havana,  that  Avas  situated  on  the  continent,  Louisiana  and 
the  Ploridas,  was  erected  into  a  separate  diocese  under  that  name  and 
received  its  first  Bishop  in  the  person  of  Louis  Penalver  y  Cardenas,  a 
native  of  Havana. 

It  had  been  the  policy  of  the  Spaniards  from  the  coming  of  Count 
O'Reilly  to  send  over  Irish  soldiers  and  civillians  for  the  defense  and 
upbuilding  of  Louisiana.  Hence  Irish  priests  who  had  made  their  studies 
in  Spain,  especially  at  the  University  of  Salamanca,  were  in  great  favor 
with  the  authorities.  The  necessity  of  Irish  priests  became  even  more 
pronounced,  when  English  colonists  from  the  United  States  crossed  over 
to  Louisiana  in  greater  numbers.  They  were  welcome,  but  it  was  expected 
of  them,  that  they  would  become  Catholics,  if  they  were  not  Catholics 
before.  Irish  priests  with  Spanish  training  were  justly  considered  the 
proper  persons  for  this  wrork  of  conversion.  Fathers  Thomas  Hassett 
and  Patrick  Walsh,  the  future  Grand  Vicars  of  Bishop  Penalver,  were 
among  this  number.  They  also  received  a  larger  salary  from  the  King, 
than  the  other  Missionaries  and  parish  priests;  six  hundred  dollars  per 
annum,  whilst  the  Spanish  curates  could  claim  only  four  hundred. 

The  only  one  of  this  numerous  class  of  Irish  Priests  from  Salamanca 
to  find  his  way  to  Upper  Louisiana,  was  the  Rev.  James  Maxwell,  pastor 
of  Ste.  Genevieve,  and  Vicar-General  for  Upper  Louisiana,  who,  living 
under  three  successive  governments,  the  Spanish,  the  French  and  the 
United  States,  was  also  known  under  the  strange  designations  Don  Diego 
Maxwell  and  M.  Jacques  Maxwell. 

James  Maxwell  was  an  Irishman,  probably  born  in  Dublin,  about 
1742,  as  he  states  in  his  will  that  his  brothers  and  sisters  were  living  in 
Ireland,  and  particularly,  his  brother,  Robert  Maxwell,  in  Dublin.    But 

(198) 


/g0?ifasi^7^ 


/a 


£&ys  OZz^z^k 


-*C*— ?        ^ZS*-^??^^^ 


Cotfc* 


SIGNATURES   OF   PRIESTS   OF   STE.    GENEVIEVE 


Vicar  General  James  Maxwell  199 

whether  James  was  born  in  Ireland  or  of  Irish  immigrants  in  Spain,  he 
certainly  made  his  theological  studies  at  the  Irish  College  in  the  celebrat- 
ed University  of  Salamanca,  and  was  there  raised  to  the  holy  priesthood. 
Where  he  spent  the  first  years  of  his  ministry,  we  cannot  say,  probably,  in 
Spain,  in  order  to  make  himself  familiar  with  the  Spanish  language. 
Others  had  found  similar  employment.  A  friend  of  his,  Don  Thomas 
O  'Ryan,  was  chaplain  of  honor  to  the  king  of  Spain  and  Confessor  to  the 
Queen.  In  1794  however,  Maxwell  was  engaged  by  the  government  for 
the  American  Mission,1  and  received  the  appointment  as  Vicar  General 
of  the  Bishop  of  Louisiana,2  signed  by  Eugenio  de  Llaguno,  November  2, 
1794,  Bishop  Penalver  y  Cardenas  had  taken  possession  of  his  episcopal 
seat,  New  Orleans,  on  July  17th,  1795,  and  on  August  2nd  he  began  the 
discharge  of  his  episcopal  functions.  The  Bishop  appointed  Father  Max- 
well as  Parish  Priest  of  Ste.  Genevieve  in  Upper  Louisiana,  in  place  of 
Father  de  Saint  Pierre.  He  arrived  in  Ste.  Genevieve  in  April  1796. 
The  Pastor  de  Saint  Pierre  was  then  absent  from  home,  probably  in 
New  Orleans  on  his  return-trip  from  Baltimore.  Father  Maxwell, 
in  a  brief  letter,  expressed  his  regret  at  being  deprived  of  the 
honor  of  making  his  acquaintance.  Maxwell  calls  Ste.  Genevieve 
"my  Parish."  For  a  time  Father  Maxwell  may  have  resided 
in  the  neighboring  village  of  New  Bourbon,  until  the  old  pastor, 
Paul  de  Saint  Pierre,  could  effect  his  departure  for  the  South,  where  he 
wasi  destined  to  administer  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  ancient  parish  of 
Iberville  until  October  15th,  1826.  Father  James  Maxwell  must  have  been 
a  very  able  and  lovable  man.  "The  Bishop  of  Salamanca  had  great 
confidence  in  him  and  brought  him  to  the  notice  of  the  King  of  Spain. 
"Ellicot,  who  met  him  at  New  Madrid  on  his  way  down  the  Mississippi, 
says  that  he  was  "a  well-informed,  liberal  gentleman."3  In  the  French 
Life  of  Bishop  Flaget  he  is  described  as  "a  learned  and  practical  Irish 
Catholic  Priest. ' '  It  was  hoped  by  the  Spanish  authorities,  that  he  would 
convert  the  many  American  settlers  in  the  Spanish  Dominion  to  the 
Catholic  Religion.  This  of  course,  Father  Maxwell,  did  not  and  could 
not  accomplish ;  yet  our  sketch  of  his  life  will  show,  that  he  was  indeed, 
as  Houck  styles  him,  "a  very  active  and  enterprising  man,"  as  a  priest 
and  educator,  as  a  business  man,  and  as  a  real  force  in  political  life.   In 


1  The  University  of  Salamanca  was  under  the  immediate  control  of  the  Bishop 
who  also  bestowed  the  degrees  in  the  name  of  the  Pope  and  the  King.  The  Irish 
College  was  only  one  of  the  numerous  colleges  affiliated  with  the  University.  There 
is  a  picture  of  the  Courtyard  at  the  Irish  College  in  the  Catholic  Encyclopedia  Art. 
Salamanca. 

2  In  virtue  of  the  union  of  Church  and  State,  the  Spanish  King  claimed  the 
right  of  appointing  the  bishops  and  also  minor  clergymen,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  Church  authorities. 

3  Ellicots  Journal,  p.  32,  quoted  by  Houck,  "  Historv  of  Missouri,"  vol.  II, 
p.  305. 


200  History  of  the   Archdiocese  of  St.    Louis 

fact,  Father  James  Maxwell  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  founders  of 
our  statehood  in  Missouri. 

Father  Maxwell  was  above  all  things  a  true  priest,  and  for  that 
reason  the  difficulty  of  the  work  he  was  sent  out  to  do,  made  a  special 
appeal  to  his  courage  and  determination.  The  state  of  religion  in  the  vast 
district  now  placed  under  his  general  supervision  as  Vicar-General,  was 
deplorable  indeed.  In  1799  Bishop  Penalver  wrote:  "The  emigrants  from 
the  western  part  of  the  United  States  and  the  toleration  of  our  govern- 
ment have  introduced  into  this  colony  a  gang  of  adventurers  who  have  no 
religion  and  acknowledge  no  God,  and  they  have  made  the  morals  of  our 
people  much  worse,  by  intercourse  with  them  in  trade." 

"Such  too,  is  the  case  with  the  district  of  Illinois  and  the  adjacent 
territory  in  which  there  has  been  a  remarkable  introduction  of  those 
adventurers.  This  evil,  in  my  opinion,  can  be  remedied  only  by  not  per- 
mitting the  slightest  American  settlement  to  be  made  at  the  points  already 
designated,  nor  on  any  part  of  the  Red  River."4 

For  the  spiritual  and  moral  advancement  of  the  members  of  the 
Church  and  sanctification  of  their  spiritual  Fathers,  Bishop  Penalver  had 
on  December  21,  1795,  issued  an  "Instruction"  for  their  government  in 
which  he  decreed,  among  other  things,  that  "it  will  become  them  so  to 
walk,  that  neither  their  gravity  render  them  odious,  nor  undue  familiarity 
contemptible  :  let  them  visit  rarely  and  endeavor  that,  in  most  cases,  it  be 
for  the  discharge  of  their  ministry."  He  then  enjoined  on  them  the  duty 
of  residence  in  their  parishes,  promptness  in  administering  the  sacraments 
and  visiting  the  sick  to  prepare  them  for  death ;  to  use  brotherly  correc- 
tion in  the  case  of  scandals,  reporting  obstinate  cases  to  the  authorities 
and  the  Bishop;  to  maintain  friendly  relations  with  the  governors  and 
commandants;  to  be  watchful  that  the  royal  revenues  be  paid;  not  to 
exercise  the  ministry  beyond  the  limits  of  his  parish ;  to  report  those 
failing  to  fulfil  their  Easter  duties;  not  to  neglect  the  catechism  instruc- 
tion, on  the  ground  that  there  are  public  schools. 

The  Blessed  Sacrament  was  to  be  exposed  only  on  Corpus  Christi  and 
its  Octave,  on  Quinquagesima  Sunday  and  the  two  days  following,  and 
on  the  third  Sunday  of  every  month.  Twenty  wax  candles  were  to  be 
lighted  on  these  occasions.  Priests  carrying  Holy  Communion  to  sick 
persons  at  a  distance,  in  the  country  were  to  go  on  horseback,  with  sur- 
plice and  stole,  bareheaded,  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  a  reliquary,  in  a 
bag  hung  around  the  neck  by  a  cord,  two  attendants  with  lanterns  and  an 
umbrellino."5 


4     Cf.  Bishop  Penalver 's  long  letter  of  1799  as  quoted  by  Shea  in  his  "Life  and 
Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll,"  p.  579,  ss. 
•r>     Bishop  Pofialver 's  instruction. 


Vicar  General  James  Maxwell  201 

The  Bishop 's  zeal  did  not  rest  with  these  instructions,  but  moved  him 
to  make  a  number  of  episcopal  visitations  in  the  diocese.  He  found,  how- 
ever, that  the  three  parishes,  of  Upper  Louisiana,  New  Madrid,  Ste 
Genevieve  and  St.  Louis,  were  far  beyond  his  reach  and,  just  like  Bishop 
Cyrillo,  failed  to  pay  them  the  promised  visit. 

The  duty  of  carrying  out  Bishop  Pefialver's  regulations  in  Upper 
Louisiana,  therefore,  devolved  on  his  Vicar-General.  James  Maxwell.  The 
difficulty,  almost  hopelessness,  of  the  task  must  have  dawned  on  the 
consciousness  of  the  Bishop  when  he  learnt  of  the  great  extent  and  isola- 
tion of  the  Parishes  and  the  small  number  of  priests  attending  them. 

The  pastors  established  in  Vicar  General  Maxwell's  district  were,  as 
we  shall  see,  Father  Ledru  at  St.  Louis,  Father  Lusson  at  St.  Charles  and 
Father  Paul  de  Saint  Pierre  in  Ste.  Genevieve,  though  even  then  appoint- 
ed to  Iberville  in  the  South.  Father  Gibault  had  not,  as  yet  arrived  at 
New  Madrid,  but  was  expected  there. 

Beyond  the  river,  in  the  diocese  of  Bishop  Carroll  of  Baltimore,  there 
were,  at  Vincennes,  the  Reverend  Francis  Rivet,  successor  to  Gibault,  and 
since  February  1799,  the  brothers  John  and  Donatien  Olivier;  John 
attending  Cahokia  and  Donatien,  Kaskaskia  and  Prairie  du  Rocher. 
That  was  the  extent  of  priestly  help  and  comfort  Upper  Louisiana  enjoyed 
in  the  early  days  of  Father  Maxwell.  But  there  was  a  Ste.  Genevieve  boy 
at  his  studies  in  far  away  Montreal,  destined  to  succeed  Father  Maxwell  as 
Pastor  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  Henri  Pratte,  the  son  of  one  of  Ste.  Genevieve's 
most  worthy  citizens. 

Father  de  Saint  Pierre,  was  naturally  averse  to  his  transfer  to  the 
South.  He  had  found  a  real  home,  the  only  one  so  far,  among  the  people 
of  Ste.  Genevieve.  And  the  people  also,  were  devoted  to  their  good  old 
pastor.  But  all  came  off  agreeably  on  the  arrival  of  the  new  pastor. 
Father  Maxwell  had  under  his  immediate  jurisdiction  two  almost 
equally  important  villages,  Ste.  Genevieve,  and  that  settlement  of  French 
Royalists,  three  miles  below  on  the  river,  called  New  Bourbon.  New 
Bourbon  is  now  but  a  name,  whilst  Ste.  Genevieve  is  a  beautiful  little 
city,  full  of  the  memorials  of  the  past,  some  of  whose  quaint  houses 
date  back  to  the  days  before  Father  Maxwell's  coming. 

Ste.  Genevieve  was,  no  doubt,  the  official  residence  of  Father  Max- 
well although  he  owned  property  at  New  Bourbon  and  made  frequent 
visits  to  that  settlement. 

As  doubts  have  been  raised  about  this  matter  of  residence,  we  would 
quote  the  affidavits  made  in  the  so-called  "Maxwell  Claim."6 


6  ' '  Maxwell  Claim.  Application  of  the  Heirs  and  Legal  Bepresentatives  of  Hugh 
H.  and  John  P.  Maxwell  to  the  General  Land  Office,  for  Land  Script  in  lieu  of  their 
lands  sold  by  the  United  States  Government  and  lying  within  the  limits  of  a  Spanish 
Grant  to  James  Maxwell,  which  was  confirmed  to  Hugh  H.  and  John  P.  Maxwell  by 


202  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

"I  knew  Father  Maxwell  when  I  was  a  hoy;  as  he  often  came  to  our 
neighborhood,"  testifies  Allen  W.  Holloman,  "My  father  lived  about 
twenty  miles  southwest  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  where  the  priest  lived.  On  the 
way  from  Ste.  Genevieve  to  Mine-la-Motte  and  the  Black  River  country,  it 
was  the  habit  of  the  priest  to  pass  through  our  settlement  going  to  that 
region  and  return."  Mrs.  Alzire  M.  Kennerly  deposed  among  other 
things:  "I  am  Pierre  Menard's  daughter.  I  knew  priest  Maxwell  of  Ste. 
Genevieve.  His  nephew,  Hugh  H.  Maxwell  married  one  of  my  sisters. 
The  priest  and  my  father  were  very  intimate."  These  testimonies  are 
of  persons  of  the  very  highest  character  and  standing,  as  United  States 
Senator  Bogy  styles  them,  and  they  are  conclusive  as  to  Father  Maxwell's 
residence. 

Father  Maxwell  attended  a  number  of  settlements  within  a  semi- 
circle of  about  one  hundred  miles,  among  them,  New  Madrid,  Cape 
Girardeau,  St.  Michael's,  Potosi,  Old  Mines,  and  Perry ville.  Concerning 
the  first  church  at  Perryville  we  have  the  written  testimony  of  Isidore 
Moore,  who  came  to  Perry  County  as  early  as  February  1801.  "The 
old  church"  he  says  was  "built  in  1812.  The  Reverend  James  Maxwell, 
Vicar  General,  blessed  it,  and  said  the  first  Mass  in  it ;  He  served  us  the 
year  1813,  but  how  often  I  cannot  recollect ;  That  Reverend  gentleman 
had  some  years  previous  occasionally  said  Mass  a  few  times  in  the  dwell- 
inghouse  of  old  Mr.  Tucker.    Perhaps  it  was  in  the  years  1806  or  1807.  "1 

Father  Maxwell's  duties  as  Vicar  Geneeral  for  Upper  Louisiana 
consisted,  for  the  most  part,  in  visiting  the  parishes  that  were  bereft  of 
their  own  pastors,  and,  at  times,  giving  faculties  to  some  stray  priest 
that  asked  for  them.  When  Bishop  Peiialver  was  promoted  to  the 
Arehiepiscopal  See  of  Guatemala,  July  20,  1801.  Father  Maxwell's 
powers  as  Vicar  General  lapsed ;  but  as  the  Bishop  had,  with  per- 
mission from  Rome,  appointed  the  Vicars  General  at  New  Orleans, 
Thomas  Hassett  and  Patrick  Walsh,  administrators  of  the  diocese, 
Father  Maxwell's  powers  were  probably  renewed,  so  that  he  remained 
Vicar  General  for  Upper  Louisiana  until  the  death  of  Father  William 
Walsh,  "Vicar  General  and  Administrator  'ad  interim'  of  the  diocese  of 
Louisiana,"  that  is  up  to  March  22,  1806.  Now,  as  there  was  no  one  among 
the  Bishops  of  the  Province  to  restore  order,  Bishop  Carroll  assumed 


Act  of  Congress,  approved  27th  April  1816."  We  are  indebted  to  the  Librarian  of 
the  Missouri  Historical  Society,  Miss  Stella  Drumm,  for  the  use  of  this  very  im- 
portant document.  Amos  Stoddard,  in  his  ' '  Sketches,  Historical  and  Descriptive, 
of  Louisiana,"  1812,  says  of  this  Concession  of  land:  (Page  135)  "A  tract  of  one 
hundred  and  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety  six  arpens  was  conceded  Novem- 
ber the  third,  1799  to  a  Catholic  Clergyman  now  in  Upper  Louisiana,  who  is  an 
Irishman  by  birth.  This  concession  was  never  extended  on  the  lands  embraced  by 
it;  nor  did  any  Irish  Catholics  attempt  to  avail  themselves  of  the  benevolent  and 
pious  designs  of  his  Catholic  Majesty. ' ' 

"     Original  in  the  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Vicar  General  James   Maxwell  203 

the  administration,  as  he  was  empowered  to  do  by  Rome.  When  Propa- 
ganda approved  his  action,  about  the  beginning'  of  1807,  he  sent  Father 
John  Olivier  to  New  Orleans  and,  as  administrator  Apostolic  of  the 
Diocese  of  New  Orleans  appointed  him  his  Vicar  General.8 

Father  Maxwell  had  extensive  holdings  of  real  estate  in  the  districts 
of  Ste.  Genevieve  and  New  Bourbon.  A  number  of  these  parcels  of  land 
were  sold  to  pay  the  debts  of  the  holder  after  his  sudden  death,  May 
28th,  1814.  The  inventory  gives  us  some  interesting-  information  in 
regard  to  the  concession  of  a  tract  of  four  leagues  or  twelve  miles 
square,  embracing  112,896  arpents,  situated  in  and  around  what  is  now 
Reynolds  County.  Congress  on  April  27,  1816,  two  years  after  Father 
Maxwell's  death,  passed  an  act,  entitled,  An  Act  for  the  benefit  of 
John  P.  Maxwell  and  Hugh  H.  Maxwell;  "that  the  right  title  and  inter- 
est of  the  United  States  of  and  to  any  real  estate  whereof  a  certain  James 
Maxwell  died  seized,  the  same  be  hereby  released  unto  John  P.  Maxwell 
of  the  Missouri  Territory  and  Hugh  H.  Maxwell  of  the  Territory  of 
Illinois,  saving  and  reserving  to  all  persons  other  than  the  United  States, 
any  right,  title  or  interest  of,  in,  and  to  the  premises  aforesaid." 
This  act  did  not  transfer  these  tracts  to  Father  Maxwell's  sup- 
posed heirs,  the  nephews,  John  and  Hugh,  but  only  relinguished 
in  their  favor  any  possible  claims  of  the  United  States. 
In  consequence,  the  Diocese  of  Missouri,  or  St.  Louis,  as  well  as  the 
Maxwell  heirs,  laid  claim  to  the  vast  tract  in  Reynolds  County,  with  but 
indifferent  success.  The  land  was  afterwards  sold  by  the  United  States 
to  new  settlers.  The  Church  got  nothing  out  of  the  holdings  of  the 
former  Vicar  General,  but  the  Maxwell  heirs  have  received  some  reim- 
bursement from  settlers  for  their  readiness  to  quiet  a  clouded  title, 
and  in  fact,  have  sold  some  of  the  land,  as  John  Buford  of  Reynolds 
County  testified.  This  is  the  legal  aspect  of  the  case.  But  there  is  an 
historical  interest  attaching  to  the  whole  transaction.  Father  Maxwell's 
expressed  purpose  was  to  found  an  Irish  Catholic  colony  in  the  wilds 
of  Central  Missouri  and  he  had  practically  laid  the  foundations  of  such 
an  enterprise. 

The  region  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Black  River  and  the  Current 
River  is  noted  for  the  beauty  and  picturesqueness  of  its  scenery.  Its 
rugged  hills  and  fruitful  valleys,  its  limpid  rivers  and  creeks,  have 
become  known  far  and  wide.  Then  there  was  the  promise  of  rich  min- 
eral deposits.  A  Catholic  government  of  liberal  principles,  as  the 
Spanish  administration  was,  promised  a  new  and  happy  Ireland  to  that 
persecuted  people.  Father  Maxwell,  himself  an  Irishman,  was  persona 
grata  with  the  Spanish  court  and  government.  The  government  would 
do  all  in  its  power  to  secure  for  the  Catholic  settlers  all  the  advantages, 
both  spiritual  and  temporal,  that  they  might  crave. 


Shea,  J.  G.,  "Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll,"  pp.  594,  595. 


204  History  of  tht    Archdiocest    of  St.   Louis 

Father  .Maxwell's  petition  was  made  November  3,  1799,  and  the 
grant  of  the  land  asked  for  was  made  by  Lieutenant  Governor  Carlos 
Dehault  Delassus  on  the  same  day  and  in  the  same  year,  1799. 

The  Lieutenant  Governor  had  the  power  of  granting  land  titles; 
but  the  grant  had  to  be  submitted  to  the  Indendant  General,  who 
resided  in  New  Orleans.  This  was  often  neglected,  and  hence  arose  many 
law-suits.  Vet  the  United  States  Board  of  Commissioners  on  Spanish 
Claims  usually  confirmed  all  Patents  issued  by  the  individual  Lieutenant 
Governors,  even  if  uo  proof  of  confirmation  by  the  Intendant  General 
could  be  shown.  Whether  James  Maxwell  attended  to  this  matter  is 
not  known.  His  Patent  was,  however,  approved  by  an  Act  of  Congress. 

From  Father  Maxwell's  petition  it  appears  that  the  first  suggestion 
of  an  Irish  colony  in  the  heart  of  the  wilderness  of  Upper  Louisiana  had 
come  from  the  Spanish  minister  of  State  in  charge  of  the  Indies,9  under 
which  title  were  embraced  all  Spanish  possessions  in  America.  The  tract 
of  land  suitable  for  the  purpose  lay  around  the  forks  of  the  Black  River, 
about  eighty  miles  from  Cape  Girardeau,  and  ninety  to  ninety-five  miles 
from  Ste.  Genevieve,  and  about  thirty-five  miles  south  of  Potosi.  The 
greater  part  lay  in  the  present  county  of  Reynolds,  adjoining  Iron  and 
Wayne. 

Ample  testimonies  of  the  truth  of  this  statement  are  to  be  found 
in  the  printed  Report  of  the  trial  held  after  the  death  of  Father  Maxwell, 
in  regard  to  the  ownership  of  this  very  tract  of  land.  One  of  them  gives 
the  opportunity  of  describing  the  route  Father  Maxwell  may  be  supposed 
to  have  travelled  to  and  from. his  colony.  From  Ste.  Genevieve  to  Mine- 
la-Motte  or  St.  Michaels  extended  the  road  that  was  blazed  by  Renault 
through  the  wilderness  along  a  primeval  Indian  trail  for  the  purpose  of 
removing  the  lead  from  the  mines  of  Madison  County  to  the  River  at 
Ste.  Genevieve.  At  St.  Michaels  the  road  crossed  the  Little  St.  Francis. 
and  ten  miles  father  west,  the  Big  St.  Francis.  Ironton  lies  on  this  road, 
about  twenty  miles  from  Fredericktown.  From  there  the  road  lay 
southward  into  the  very  heart  of  what  is  now  the  county  of  Reynolds. 
Father  Maxwell,  no  doubt,  often  stopped  over  at  Mine-la-Motte  for 
priestly  ministrations  to  the  Catholics  of  St.  Michaels  (Fredericktown) 
and  environs,  as  they  were  among  his  parishioners.  The  Records  of 
their  marriages  and  baptisms  he  kept  at  Ste.  Genevieve.  There  was  a 
little  cemetery  at  the  junction  of  the  Ste.  Genevieve  and  Perry ville  roads, 
near  Mine-la-Motte.  Very  probably  it  was  here  at  the  "New  Village," 
half  way  between  Mine-la-Motte  and  Old  St.  Michaels,  that  Mass  was 
said  by   Father  Maxwell  in  some  private  dwelling. 


o  The  Duke  De  Alcudia,  Minister  of  State,  having  manifested  his  desire  that 
some  Catholics  "from  Ireland  should  come  t<>  settle  themselves  in  this  colony  of 
Louisiana,"  etc. 


Vicar  General  James  Maxwell  205 

That  Father  Maxwell  had  faith  in  his  Irish  colony  may  be  judged 
from  the  fact  that  he  built  a  solid  house  of  stone  for  a  store  and  estab- 
lished a  trading  house  in  the  wilderness.10  But  the  Irish  settlers  Father 
Maxwell  had  brought  to  his  incipient  colony  were  not  as  prosperous  as 
they  had  been  led  to  expect,  though  the  store  conducted  by  the  Founder 
of  the  colony  was  a  real  God-send  to  the  people  scattered  through  the 
wilderness. 

Being  a  highly  educated  and  public-spirited  man,  the  pastor  of 
Ste.  Genevieve  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  erection  of  schools.  Ste. 
Genevieve  had  for  many  years  been  the  proud  possessor  of  a  Grammar 
school.  But  in  1808  the  Ste.  Genevieve  Academy  was  incorporated  with 
twenty-one  trustees  composed  of  the  best  citizens  of  the  town,  with 
Father  Maxwell  as  President.  Mr.  Mann  Butler,  the  historian  of 
Kentucky,  was  engaged  as  principal,  and  the  erection  of  a  fine  stone 
building  was  begun  at  once  and  completed.  School  was  opened,  but 
the  times  were  not  propitious  to  the  venture,  and  it  was  discontinued 
until  1820. 

From  far-away  Canada  comes  the  following  notice  of  the  Ste. 
Genevieve  Academy.  "Under  a  picture  of  the  old  house,  writes 
Brother  Emery,  I  find  the  following  notes:  "This  building  was  erected 
at  Ste.  Genevieve,  Missouri,  1808,  by  the  trustees  of  the  Louisiana  Acade- 
my, to  be  used  as  a  school  for  the  Catholic  children  of  Ste.  Genevieve. 
It  was  placed,  in  charge  of  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools  in  1820, n 
as  we  shall  recount  in  the  proper  place.  The  building  still  crowns  this 
hill  on  which  it  was  erected  in  1808,  not  as  a  ruin,  but  kept  in  excellent 
state  of  preservation,  with  an  addition  at  the  rear  as  the  residence  of 
Mr.  Thomas  Rozier,  whose  Father  Firmin  Rozier  built  the  addition  in 
1854. 


10  Joseph  Huff,  of  Iron  County,  one  of  tlje  witnesses  in  the  Maxwell  Claim  trial 
in  1873,  testified:  "I  am  sixty  years  of  age.  I  came  to  this  part  of  the  country  in 
1829,  and  have  been  acquainted  with  the  Maxwell  Claim  at  the  forks  of  Black  River 
since  my  coming  to  the  country.  The  Maxwell  colony  then  was  a  part  of  the  history 
of  the  country,  and  spoken  of  more,  perhaps,  than  any  matter  connected  with  the 
early  settlement.  I  have  heard  the  old  settlers  who  lived  here  when  Maxwell  had  his 
store  at  the  forks,  talk  together  about  those  times  (of  what  they  were  all  acquainted 
with),  about  trading  at  the  store  in  Maxwell's  life  time,  and  about  the  foreigners 
Maxwell  had  in  his  colony,  who  were  very  ignorant  of  the  way  to  get  along  in  a  new 
country.  The  store  was  the  only  one  beyond  Potosi,  which  was  thirty-five  miles  off, 
and  all  the  settlers  traded  at  Maxwell 's.  The  colony  and  store  were  not  continued 
after  the  death  of  Maxwell,  the  priest.  When  I  came  to  the  country  there  were  few 
people  and  some  Indians  still.  I  hunted  over  the  Maxwell  grant  and  had  the  line  of 
survey  pointed  out  to  me  by  the  old  inhabitants  who  spoke  of  it  as  knowing  the 
survey  ....  The  old  settlers  expressed  regrets  that  the  Maxwell  store  was  dis- 
continued, where  they  were  all  in  the  habit  of  trading.  Whereas  when  I  came  to  the 
country  they  had  to  go  to  Potosi  to  trade  and  for  some  time  afterwards,  until  other 
stores  were  established. ' ' 

11  Brother  Emery  is-  or  was  Superior   of   the   Christian   Brothers. 


206  History  of  /In   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Of  course,  Mr.  E.  Flagg,  who  viewed  the  "handsome  structure  of 
stone,  commanding  a  noble  prospect,"  in  its  stale  of  ruinous  perfection," 
and  "enjoying  the  reputation  of  being  haunted,"  must  have  himself  been 
haunted  by  the  spirit  of  old  romance;  for  its  "broken  windows  outlined 
against  the  western  sky",  are  but  idle  imaginings  of  a  passer-by,  not  the 
result  of  serious  investigation.  The  building  was  completed  and  was 
never  in  ruins,  but  was  used  for  school  purposes  at  the  very  time  of  his 
visit.12 

Of  the  village  itself  Mr.  Flagg  says:  "It  has  that  decayed  and 
venerable  aspect  characteristic  of  all  those  early  French  settlements." 
Yet,  another  Traveller,  Ashe,  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the  altar  of  the  church 
of  Ste.  Genevieve  in  Father  Maxwell's  days:  "At  the  Upper  end  (of 
the  church)  there  is  a  beautiful  altar,  the  fronton  of  which  is  brass  gilt 
and  enriched  in  medio-relievo,  representing  the  religions  (religious 
orders)  of  the  world,  diffusing  the  benefits  of  the  gospel  over  the  new 
world.  In  the  middle  of  the  altar  there  is  a  crucifix  of  brass  gilt,  and 
underneath  it,  a  copy  of  a  picture  by  Rafael,  representing  the  Madonna 
and  Child,  St.  Elizabeth  and  St.  John.  In  a  second  group  there  is  a 
St.  Joseph,  all  perfectly  well  drawn  and  colored.  The  beauty  and  grace 
of  the  Virgin  are  beyond  description  and  the  little  Jesus  and  St.  John 
are  charming.13 

Father  Maxwell  did  not  escape  the  usual  fate  of  men  of  strong 
character  to  be  misunderstood  and  even  maligned  by  the  idle  and  the 
envious.  There  is  a  letter  in  the  Baltimore  Archives,  written  by  the 
Pastor  of  Ste.  Genevieve  and  dated  Nov.  17,  1810,  that  has  a  bearing  on 
an  investigation  conducted  by  Archbishop  Carroll  of  Baltimore  into  the 
character  of  Father  Maxwell,  then  in  the  68th  year  of  his  life.  From  a 
passage  of  Father  Stephen  Theodore  Badin's  letter  to  Archbishop 
Carroll  on  the  same  matter,  it  appears  that  forty  three  persons  under  the 
leadership  of  one  Joseph  Fenwick  had  sent  a  remonstrance  against  the 
Pastor  of  Ste.  Genevieve  to  Bishop  Carroll  in  order  to  have  him  removed, 
or  as  Father  Maxwell  openly  charges,  to  have  him  replaced  by  Father 
Badin  himself.  It  was  six  years  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  Spanish 
authorities  from  Upper  Louisiana,  and  the  entire  country  was  now  under 
Bishop  Carroll  as  administrator.  Hence  his  interference.  Letters  con- 
taining these  charges  were  sent  by  both  Carroll  and  Badin  to  Father 
Maxwell.  The  Trappist,  Urban  Guillet,  was  the  bearer  of  both  letters. 
What  the  charges  were,  we  cannot  say  at  present,  as  the  remonstrance 
of  Joseph  Fenwick  and  his  co-signers  is  not  at  hand,  nor  the  letter  of 
Bishop  Carroll,  nor  that  of  Father  Badin.  We  hope  to  find  these  letters 
also,  but  in  the  meantime  it  is  safe  to  say,  that  the  charges  referred 
mainly,  if  not  entirely,  to  breaches  of  ecclesiastical  discipline.    It  may 


12  Flaggs,  "The  Fur  West,"  1838.,  p.  96. 

13  Ashe's  Travels,  p.  119. 


Vicar  General  James  Maxwell  207 

be  surmised  that  his  long  terms  of  absence  from  home,  whilst  attending 
to  the  affairs  of  his  proposed  Irish  Colony,  and  a  rather  outspoken  con- 
tempt for  the  American  Catholic  immigrants  from  Maryland  and  Ken- 
tucky, were  the  main  grievances.  But,  as  Father  Badin  admits,  twelve 
of  the  fourteen  remonstrants  were  unknown  to  him  and  seven  were  not 
much  entitled  to  his  esteem,  "whilst  the  remaining  twenty  four  were 
of  his  former  Kentucky  parishioners. ' ' 

"To  my  certain  knowledge,"  says  Father  Badin  in  his  letter  to  the 
Bishop  of  Baltimore,  "there  were  (besides  the  cause  of  Father  Maxwell) 
many  causes  which  demand  the  presence  of  authority  of  a  Bishop  to 
retrieve  or  improve  the  affairs  of  religion."14  "We  will  give  Father 
Maxwell's  answer  to  Bishop  Carroll  and  Father  Badin,  without  note  or 
comment,  only  promising  this  fact,  as  recorded  by  Father  Guilday  in 
his  Life  and  Times  of  John  Carroll.  "The  two  pioneer  missionaries  of 
Kentucky,  Badin  and  Nerinckx,  had  been  trained  in  a  more  rigid  school 
of  theology  which  savoured  greatly  of  the  Jansenistic  spirit  then  preva- 
lent in  French  and  Belgian  ecclesiastical  circles."15  It  was  exactly  these 
two  men  who  found  fault  with  the  priestly  character  of  Father  Maxwell. 
Father  Maxwell  felt  aggrieved  at  what  he  considered  unjust  reproach, 
and  declared  he  would  cease  his  pastoral  functions  and  confine  himself 
to  saying  Mass.  But  he  must  have  changed  his  mind  or  perhaps  been 
exonerated,  as  he  continued  the  pastoral  care  of  Ste.  Genevieve  and  its 
dependencies  until  his  death  in  1814. 16  We  now  quote  the  following  retort 
courteous  from  the  letter  of  Father  Maxwell  to  Archbishop  Carroll :  "  I 
fear  that  your  Lordship  is  not  sufficiently  aware  of  the  duplicity  of  some 
French  ecclesiastics ;  they  are  a  jealous,  meddling,  troublesome  set  of 
men.  I  had  the  opportunity  of  being  in  a  state  of  intimacy  with  them 
these  five  and  thirty  years  that  I  am  a  missioner,  and  I  have  got  under- 
standing and  discernment  enough  to  know  the  human  mind.  Your 
Lordship  observes  to  me  that  you  received  a  petition  having  the  signatures 
of  forty-three  persons,  heads  of  families;  my  congregation  consists  alto- 
gether of  French,  and  I  boldly  assert,  that  no  Frenchman  has  signed 
that  petition  and  that  not  these  persons,  heads  of  families,  have  signed 
it,  who  are  altogether  unknown  to  me,  excepting  Mr.  Fenwick17  who  lived 
for  many  years  past  fifty  or  sixty  miles  from  this  place,  and  who,  of 
course  can  be  but  very  little  acquainted  with  my  personal  conduct.  I 
feel  the  greatest  sorrow  and  regret  to  show  the  least  opposition  and  dis- 
obedience to  the  orders  of  Your  Lordship ;  but  from  the  causes  alleged. 
1  cannot  cheerfully  submit  to  the  investigation  of  my  conduct  by  the 


1*     Two   Maxwell   Letters  in   "St.   Louis   Catholic   Historical   Review,"   vol.    IV, 
pp.  231-234. 

i=     Guilday,  Peter,  "Life  and  Times  of  John  Carroll,"  p.  520. 
is     Printed  in  St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Eeview, "  pp.  231  and  232. 
tl     L.   Cit.,   p.   234;    Maxwell   accuses   Fenwick    of    "having   raised   his    children 
without  the  love  and  fear  of  God." 


208  History  of  tin    Archdiocest   of  St.   Louis 

Reverend  Mr.  Badin;  for  I  consider  him  judge  and  party;  I  should 
always  object  to  him  as  a  judge  in  either  an  ecclesiastical  or  civil  tribunal 
in  a  case  of  mine."18  . 

It  was  on  the  4th  day  of  March  1804  that  Major  Amos  Stoddard, 
in  behalf  of  the  United  States,  took  possession  of  the  territory  of  Louisi- 
ana, under  the  treaty  of  cession.  The  solemn  act  of  lowering  in  quick 
succession  the  Spanish  and  the  French  flags,  and  hoisting  the  flag  of 
the  United  States,  took  place  at  St.  Louis.19  It  then  devolved  upon 
Congress  to  provide  for  the  better  government  of  the  new  territory.  A 
governor  was  appointed,  a  House  of  Representatives  was  elected.  A 
Legislative  Council  was  to  be  selected  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States  out  of  eighteen  persons  nominated  by  the  Territorial  House  of 
Representatives.  The  five  counties  entitled  to  representation  were:  St. 
Charles,  St.  Louis,  Cape  Girardeau,  Ste.  Genevieve  and  New  Madrid. 
The  first  House  consisted  of  thirteen  members,  and  convened  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Joseph  Robidoux,  December  7,  1812.  From  among  the  eighteen 
persons  they  had  nominated  for  members  of  the  Council,  President 
Jefferson  selected  nine,  among  them  the  Reverend  James  Maxwell,  whom 
his  associates  at  once  elected  member  of  the  Committee  of  Enrollment,  and 
on  January  19,  1814,  presiding  officer  of  the  body.  The  Second  General 
Assembly  which  met  at  St.  Louis  on  the  5th  day  of  December,  1814, 
chose  William  Neely  as  presiding  officer,  because  Father  Maxwell,  as  we 
have  already  stated,  had  been  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse  on  May  28th 
of  the  same  year. 

From  the  Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  as  given  in  the 
' '  Missouri  Gazette  and  Illinois  Advertiser, ' '  we  would  quote  :  ' '  Dec.  6, 
1814.  Mr.  Scott:  'I  am  instructed  to  acquaint  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, that  a  vacancy  happened  in  the  Legislative  Council  by  the 
death  of  the  Honorable  James  Maxwell,  for  the  County  of  Ste.  Genevieve,' 
December  7.  In  conformity  to  notice  of  yesterday  from  the  Legislative 
Council  that  a  vacancy  has  become  therein,  and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Wilson, 
the  House  proceeded  to  the  nomination  of  two  persons,  one  of  whom  is  to 


is     L.  Cit.,  p.  232. 

i»  "There  were  a  great  many  inhabitants,"  says  Edwards  in  his  "Great  West,'' 
"who  looked  upon  the  transfer  even  at  first  with  disfavor,  but  it  was  confined  prin- 
cipally to  that  class  whose  possessions  were  meagre  and  consequently  who  had  but 
little  to  hope  for  in  the  rise  of  property.  The  coureurs  des  bois  and  the  voyageurs, 
doubtless  regretted  the  change,  as  it  gave  possession  of  the  country  to  a  people  who 
would  throw  some  trammels  over  the  wild  liberties  of  their  vagabondish  life.  But 
others  regretted  the  change  from  political  and  religious  motives.  The  last  Lieutenant 
Governor  Delassus,  is  said  by  Barb6-Marbois  to  have  wept  when  the  flag  was  furled, 
the  tricolor  now  of  the  new  French  Republic,  that  had  superseded  the  Lilies  of 
France."  The  selection  of  Father  Maxwell  as  a  member  of  the  Territorial  Council 
had  a  tendency  to  conciliate  the  old  French  and  Spanish  settlers  with  the  new  order 
of  t hings.    Cf .  ' ' Great  West, ' '  pp.  278. 


Vicar  General  James  Maxwell  209 

supply  the  vacancy  in  the  Legislative  Council  occasioned  by  the  death  of 
the  Honorable  James  Maxwell." 

Father  Maxwell  died  at  the  age  of  seventy -two  years  and  was  buried 
May  30,  1814,  in  the  Church  he  had  served  so  well.  Father  Francis 
Savine  of  Cahokia  performed  the  last  rites  of  the  Church.  When  the  old 
church  was  enlarged  by  Father  Weiss,  the  body  remained  undisturbed. 
Now  the  remains  rest  beneath  the  pavement  of  the  sanctuary  in  the 
church,  so  tastefully  enlarged  and  renovated  by  the  present  pastor  the 
Very  Reverend  Charles  Van  Tourenhout.  One  beautiful  eminence  near  the 
city  still  bears  the  name  of  its  former  owner.  Maxwell's  Hill.  His  name 
is  one  of  which  Ste.  Genevieve  may  well  be  proud.20 


zo     After  storm  and  strife  comes  rest  eternal.     We  would  subjoin  this  inscription 
on  Father  Maxwell's  tombstone,  Ste.  Genevieve  Parish  Church: 

Ci  git 

Le   Rev.   Jacques   Maxwell 

decede    le    28    Mai,    1814 

age  de  72  ans 

Cure  de  Cette  Paroisse 

de  1797  a  1814 

Heureux  qeux  qui  demeurent  dans  votre  maison.  Seigneur  lis  vous  honerant  des 

tous  siecles.  Psaume  83 — vers  5. 


Chapter  12 
WA X I ) E R I \(  J   W ESTWAR] ) 


Since  the  6tli  day  of  October  17SS,  when  Bishop  Hubert  of  Quebec 
cheerfully  transferred  his  authority    over   the    Illinois   Country   to  the 
Preftct  Apostolic,  at  Baltimore,  Dr.  Carroll  was  very  solicitous  in  supply- 
ing priests  for  those  neglected  missions.    Bishop  Hubert  had  also  written 
about  Father  Gibault  having  "incurred  the  suspicion  of  treason  against 
the  British  government,"  and  of  Father  de  la  Valiniere  being  "a  man  of 
good  morals,"  but   of  "a  turbulent   spirit."     The   first,  rather  severe 
judgment  was  accepted  as  a  warning  against  the  former  Vicar  General 
of  Quebec,  the  other  judgment,  though  rather  ominous,  was  disregarded 
in  the  appointment  of  Father  de  la  Valiniere  as  the  Vicar-General  of 
Baltimore.   Dr.  Carroll  was  led  in  the  course  of  time  to  make  some  other 
unfortunate  appointments,  although  the  most  of  them  were  good  men 
and  priests.    Three  of  these  appointees  of  Monseigneur  Carroll  success- 
ively held  the  position  of  Pastors  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Louis,  on   the 
Spanish  side,  although  they  had  been  engaged  for  the  missions  and  par- 
ishes in  Illinois.  They  were  the  Dominican  Father  Ledru,  the  Benedictine 
Monk  Didier,  and  the  Secular  Priest  'Pierre  Janin.    Another  appointee 
of  Dr.  Carroll,  the  Recollot  Charles  Leander  Lusson,  remained  at  Cahokia 
about    four  months,  when    he  obtained  an    appointment    from    Bishop 
Penalver  of  Louisiana  to  the  pastorship  of  St.  Charles  on  the  Missouri. 
The  first  of  these  whom  Bishop  Carroll  later  on  styles,  "that  apostate 
Dominican,  called  Ledru."  came  to  Detroit  from  Canada  and  received 
his  appointment  to  the  Parish  of  Cahokia  from  Dr.  Carroll  in  1789,  but 
almost  immediately  crossed  over  to  the  Spanish  side.    He  exercised  his 
ministry  at  St.  Charles  and  St.  Ferdinand,  and,  on     the  departure  of 
Father  Bernard  de  Limpach,  became  Pastor  of  St.  Louis.    What  roused 
Dr.  Carroll's  anger  against  him  was  his  duplicity,  especially  his  former 
unauthorized  claim,  that  he  had  been  sent  to  America  as  a  Missionary 
Apostolic.  His  first  entry  in  the  Register  of  Baptisms  occurs  in  November 
1789,  and  the  last  in  September  1793,  during  which  period  he  baptized 
one   hundred   and   sixty-eight   whites,   fifty-five   negroes,   and   nineteen 
Indians;  solemnized  twenty-nine  marriages  of  whites  and  two  of  Indians 
and  whites  and  officiated  at  the  interment  of  seventy  whites,  thirty-five 
negroes,  and  three  Indians. 

Father  Ledru 's  successor  in  St.  Louis  was  the  celebrated  Benedictine 
of  the  Congregation  of  St.  Maur,  Dom  Pierre  Joseph  Didier.  Father 
Didier 's  life  was  a  most  eventful  one.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  French 
Revolution   he  was  stationed   at  the  Abbey   Church   of   St.   Denis,  the 

(210) 


Wandering   Westward  211 

place  of  sepulture  of  the  French  monarchs,  since  the  days  of  Dagobert 
I,  A.  D.  638.  No  church  in  Christendom  had  so  many  relics,  few  were 
so  rich  in  glorious  memories.  In  1789  whilst  Procurator  of  the  Abbey, 
Dom  Didier,  had  permitted  the  royal  troops  to  quarter  there,  an  action 
which  made  him  obnoxious  to  the  radical  element  in  Paris,  and  eventually 
brought  ruin  to  the  Abbey  itself.  On  the  31st  day  of  July,  1793  its 
destruction  was  decreed  by  the  National  Convention.  The  decree  was 
carried  out  with  savage  fury,  the  bodies  of  dead  Kings  and  Queens  were 
dug  up  and  thrown  into  lime-pits;  the  monuments  were  broken  and 
the  fragments  scattered.  Only  the  bare  walls  remained  to  tell  of  the 
vengeance  of  an  infuriated  mob.  Dom  Didier  had  fled  from  the  doomed 
Abbey  in  1789  and  kept  himself  in  hiding  until  a  safe  and  honorable 
place  should  be  found  for  him. 

A  company  of  French  Catholics  had  been  formed  in  Paris  in  1790 
for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  colony  in  the  backwoods  of  America.     A 
tract  of  land,  about  three  million  acres,  north  of  the  Ohio  River  was 
secured  by  the  Company.    The  colony  was  named  Gallipolis.    The  Papal 
Nuncio  at  Paris  was  requested  by  the  leaders  of  the  Company  to  obtain 
from    Rome   the   appointment   of    a    Bishop    for   the  new    colony.     The 
choice  of    the  members    for    this  position   was    the    same    Benedictine 
Dom    Didier    of    the    Congregation    of    St.    Maur.      The    Prefect    of 
the      Propaganda.     Cardinal     Antonelli,     answered      that      there     was 
a  Bishop  in  that  region,  John  Carroll  of  Baltimore.    But  Dom  Didier 
replied,  that  the  location  of  the  new  colony  was  so  far  inland  from 
Baltimore,  that  Bishop  Carroll  could  not  give  proper  care  to  it.   Besides 
the  Colony  was  French,  and  Frenchmen  wanted  to  have  a  French  Bishop. 
The  Nuncio  wrote  a  second  time  to  Cardinal  Antonelli,  saying  that  three 
or  four  priests  (Sulpicians)  were  preparing  to  go  to  Gallipolis,  with  Dom 
Didier  as  the  spiritual  head  of  the  colonj-.  Propaganda  yielded,  and  on 
April  26th,  1790  appointed  Father  Didier,  not  Bishop,  nor  Vicar  Apos- 
tolic, but  Vicar  General  in  spiritualibus  for  the  space  of  seven  years,  on 
condition  that  such  jurisdiction  should  not  conflict  with  that  of  Dr. 
Carroll.    Besides  Dom  Didier 's  faculties  would  have  to  be  confirmed  by 
Bishop  Carroll  before  he  could  use  them.   About  Didier 's  character  the 
Cardinal  was  informed  that  he  was  a  religious  of  good  morals,  sound  in 
doctrine,  though  of  an  impetuous  and  idealistic  nature.   Bishop  Carroll, 
on  September  3rd,  1791,  speaks  of  the  arrival,  last  year,  of  a  Benedictine 
Monk,  with  a  Congregation  on  "the  banks  of  the   Ohio."     Now,   as 
Carroll  held  jurisdiction  over  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  and 
as  the  United  States  certainly  claimed  the  Northwest  territory,  including 
Ohio,  as  a  part  of  its  domain,  the  Congregation  of  Gallipolis  was  subject 
to  Bishop  Carroll  from  the  very  start.    In  consequence  of  these  facts 
becoming  known,  the  Papal  Nuncio  at  Paris  disadvised  the  Sulpicians 


212  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

from  going  with  the  colonists.  They  then  decided  to  go  to  Baltimore. 
Bishop  Carroll  was  kept  informed  about  the  whole  matter  by  Cardinal 
Antonelli,  and  Father  Didier  obtained  approval  of  his  faculties  from 
him.1 

The  colony  did  not  thrive;  neither  temporally  nor  spiritually.  The 
colonists,  for  the  most  part,  were  Parisians  altogether  unadapted  to  the 
conditions  of  pioneer  life  in  the  wilderness,  and  spiritually  many  of  them 
were  tainted  with  the  irreligious  spirit  of  the  pre-revolution  times.  At 
last  the  colony  broke  up,  its  members  scattering  in  all  directions:  The 
better  part  of  them  sought  refuge  at  New  Madrid,  New  Bourbon  and  St. 
Louis,  all  on  the  Spanish  side  of  the  river.  Only  a  small  remnant  of  the 
several  thousand  French  colonists  remained  in  the  city  of  Gallipolis. 
When  Fathers  Badin  and  Barrieres  visited  them  in  September  179:5, 
"they  were  delighted  and  at  their  departure  they  shed  bitter  tears."2 

A  sad  story  of  failure,  yet  one  replete  with  all  the  elements  of  old 
romance,  redolent  of  an  old-world  civilization  ground  to  dust  in  contact 
with  primeval  nature  and  its  inexorable  laws. 

On  July  21st,  1792,  Dom  Didier 's  name  is  signed  in  the  Baptismal 
Register  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo's  Church  in  St.  Charles  on  the  Missouri 
River.  A  little  later  we  find  Didier  at  Florissant,  and  in  1794  he  took  up 
his  residence  in  St.  Louis,  having  attended  to  its  spiritual  wants  since 
December  1793.  From  December  1793,  to  April  1799,  he  baptized  two 
hundred  and  twenty  whites,  seventy-nine  negroes,  and  sixteen  Indians. 
He  solemnized  seventy-three  marriages  of  whites  and  one  marriage  of 
white  and  Indian,  and  buried  eighty-five  whites,  sixty-one  negroes,  and 
nine  Indians. 

Dom  Didier 's  life  in  St.  Louis  was  quiet  and  peaceful.  He  was,  no 
doubt,  glad  to  have  found  this  haven  of  rest.  Being  a  Benedictine 
Monk,  he  had  a  special  love  for  the  beauty  of  nature.  Hone,  in  his 
"Every-Day  Book"  for  1826  says:  "The  Monks  have  compiled  a  Cata- 
logue of  flowers  for  each  day  in  the  year,  and  dedicated  each  flower  to 
a  particular  saint,  on  account  of  it  flowering  about  the  time  of  the  saint's 
festival."  It  is  said  of  Father  Didier  that  he  delighted  in  green  herbage 
and  bright  flowers ;  No  doubt,  he  also  remembered  their  old-time  names, 
and  their  religious  associations  and  the  French  designation  for  the  flower- 
beds in  a  church-yard,  "Les  Bouquest  de  l'Eglise."  But  no  Benedictine 
garden  was  complete  without  a  large  assortment  of  herbs  whose  fragrance 
and  medicinal  virtues  might  serve  in  alleviating  the  pains  and  bodily 
ailments  of  his  spiritual  children.    And  then,  the  good  Benedictine  was 


i  See  "The  Gallipolis  Colony"  by  John  McGovern,  O.  P.,  in  "Records  and 
Studies  of  Catholic  Historical  Society,"  vol.  37,  No.  1.  Also  "The  Gallipolis 
Colony,"  by  L.  J.  Kenny,  S.  J.,  in  "Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  IV,  pp.  415; 
rind  Guilday's  "Life  and  Times  of  John  Carroll,"  pp.  374-407. 

2     Spalding,  "Sketches  of  the  Early  Catholic  Missionaries  of  Kentucky,"  p.  <>-. 


Wandering  Westward  213 

a  lover  of  the  Cross.  On  the  highest  spot  of  town  near  the  west  gate,  he 
built  a  calvary,  that  is  a  large  stone  platform  with  stone  steps  on  all  four 
sides.  A  large  crucifix  was  erected  in  the  center  of  this  Calvary, 
to  throw  its  shadow  over  the  living  and  the  dead  of  his  Parish.3 
We  can  easily  picture  the  character  of  Father  Didier  as  of  a  pious,  kindly 
and  benevolent  old  man,  grave  in  his  manner,  and  of  a  benign  counte- 
nance, and  highly  respected  by  all.  He  is  reported  to  have  died  in  October 
1799.  His  last  recorded  ministerial  act  in  St.  Louis  is  dated  May  16th, 
1799.  During  his  last  illness  Father  Lusson  attended  to  St.  Louis  from 
St.  Charles,  and  continued  to  do  so  until  the  arrival  of  Father  Pierre 
Janin,  a  secular  priest,  whom  Bishop  Carroll  sent  to  the  Illinois  country 
in   company  with  Fathers  Richard   and  John   Francis   Rivet. 

From  Father  Rivet's  letters4  we  learn  that  on  October  20th,  1795, 
Father  Janin  was  permanently  settled  at  Kaskaskia.  Besides  the  fact, 
that  the  Indians  of  that  region  desired  a  missionary,  the  great  chief  de 
Conague,  who  has  the  greatest  influence  over  all  the  other  tribes,  seems 
to  have  taken  too  strong  a  hold  of  him  to  let  him  go  elsewhere."  The 
French  were  also  anxious  to  retain  the  priest.  But  "Father  Janin  had 
no  aptitude  for  missionary  work,"  as  Father  Rivet  writes  six  months 
later,  and  resigned  his  Commission.  The  small  salaries  promised  by  the 
American  government  were  not  forthcoming,  in  spite  of  Bishop  Car- 
roll's intercession.  The  missionaries  were  actually  starving.  There 
is  a  sinister  note  in  this  lettter  in  regard  to  Father  Janin :  "he  will 
pass  into  the  Spanish  domain."  On  May  24th,  1796,  Father  Rivet 
praises  Janin  as  a  man  of  "pure  faith  and  irreproachable  morals," 
but  represents  him  as  saying  that  "his  age  does  not  allow  him  to  pursue 
an  enterprise  a  thousand  times  more  painful  and  difficult  than  he 
had  thought. ' '  Shortly  before  this,  Father  Rivet  had  learnt  that  Father 
Janin  was  about  to  leave  for  New  Orleans,  and  intended  to  send  his 
resignation  to  Bishop  Carroll  from  that  city.  Father  Rivet  was  now 
appointed  Vicar-General,  signing  himself  at  the  same  time,  "Missionary 
appointed  for  the  Savages,  for  the  moment  exercising  the  ministry  in 
the  Parish  of  St.  Francis  Xavier.  "5 

Father  Janin  had  really  left  his  post  of  duty  without  an  exeat  and 
started  on  his  way  to  New  Orleans.  But  stopping  at  the  southernmost 
point  reached  by  Father  Marquette  on  his  voyage  of  discovery,  the  Post 
of  Arkansas,  was  induced  to  remain  there  with  faculties  from  Bishop 
Peiialver  of  Louisiana.    The  Register  of  Baptisms,  Marriages  and  Sepul- 


a     Rothensteiner,  "The  St.  Louis  Calvary"  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical 
Review, ' '  vol.  Ill,  p.  39. 

*     Cf.  Maes,  Camillus  P.,  Bishop  of  Covington,  in  "The  Ecclesiastical  Review," 
July  and  August  numbers,  1906. 

5     Maes,  op.  cit.,  pp.  36-42  passim. 


•J14  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

lures  of  the  Parisli  of  Arkansas  larks  the  two  first  pages:  On  page  3, 
Father  Janirj  enters  the  record  of  a  Baptism  under  date  of  the  13th  of 
September,  17!>(i.  From  that  day  on  until  December  28th,  17!)9,  Father 
Janin  baptized  eighty-seven  persons,  and  united  in  Marriage  eighteen 
couples.  After  that  there  is  a  vacancy  of  almost  three  years.  On  April  6th, 
1800,  Pierre  Janin  became  the  canonical  pastor  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Louis. (i 
During  the  four  and  a  half  years  of  his  administration  he  baptized  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  whites,  an  hundred  and  fifteen  negroes  and  fifty- 
nine  Indians;  solemnized  the  marriages  of  thirty-four  whites  and  two 
whites  and  Indians,  and  buried  one  hundred  and  thirty -eight  whites, 
(ifty-eight  negroes,  and  nineteen  Indians.  The  large  number  of  inter- 
ments recorded  during  Father  Janin 's  pastorate  is  accounted  for  by  the 
fact  that  the  smallpox  made  its  first  appearance  in  St.  Louis  on  the  loth 
of  May,  1801.  But  when  the  Spanish  Dominion  came  to  an  end  Bishop 
Peiialver  was  promoted  to  the  Achiepiscopal  See  of  Guatemala.  His  Vicar- 
Generals  in  New  Orleans,  Rev.  Thomas  Cannon  Hasset,  and  Rev.  Patrick 
Walsh  continued  to  exercise  their  powers  with  express  permission  from 
Rome.  Canon  Hasset  on  June  10th,  1803,  issued  a  circular  letter  to  each 
priest  in  the  Diocese  asking  whether  he  wished  to  retire  with  the  Spanish 
forces  or  to  remain. 

The  pastors  of  St.  Louis  and  St.  Charles,  Pierre  Janin  and  Leander 
Lusson,  retired  with  the  Spanish  forces,  leaving  the  entire  field  of  Upper 
Louisiana  to  Father  Maxwell,  the  Vicar  General,  and  a  visitor  from  the 
East,  Father  Thomas  Flynn.7 

Of  Father  Thomas  Flynn,  "Capuchin  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis," 
as  he  styles  himself  in  the  Records  of  Florissant,  administered  the  Parish 
of  St.  Louis  from  December  1806  to  January  1808  and  also  engaged  him- 
self to  visit  the  Parish  of  St.  Ferdinand  six  times  per  year  for  the  purpose 
of  singing  Highmass  and  baptizing.  For  this  service  he  was  to  receive 
from  each  family  at  least  one  bushel  of  wheat.  Those  refusing  to  con- 
tribute were  to  be  constrained  by  the  chief  trustee  to  do  so.  Father 
Flynn 's  Baptisms  at  Florissant  numbered  thirty.  Two  marriages  were 
solemnized  by  him  in  1807.  The  contract  obliged  him  also  to  visit  the 
sick  and  to  prepare  the  children  for  First  Holy  Communion. 

Father  Flynn  arrived  in  St.  Louis  early  in  November  1806.  On 
November  8th,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  a  Wm.  McCordell  of  Bardstown,  Ky., 
in  which  the  following  passage  occurs:  "I  have  said  Mass  in  the  Church, 
which  is  pretty  decent,  twice ;  and  tomorrow,  Sunday  the  Church- 
wardens, at  the  High-Mass  are  to  install  me  as  pastor  over  the  place.  The 
Church  has  a  tolerably  good  bell,  high  altar,  pulpit  and  commodious 
pews.    The  house  for  the  priest  is  convenient,  but  rather  out  of  repair. 


Church  Records  of  St.  Louis  Cathedral. 

Shea,  "Life  and  Times  of  Bishop  Carroll,"  p.  582. 


Wandering  Westward  215 

There  is  annexed  to  it  a  large  garden  well  stocked  with  fruit  trees,  barn, 
stable  and  other  out-offices. 

"There  is  to  be  an  assembly  of  the  parishioners  within  the  next  few 
days  in  order  to  consider  making  a  provision  for  my  support,  which  will 
be  paid  annually.  In  short,  my  dear  Friend,  for  the  animal  life,  it  is 
highly  probable,  I  shall  be  very  well  off;  and  it  is  only  the  spiritual 
which  gives  me  pain.  For  I  shall  be  sixty  miles  distant  from  the  clergy- 
man who  is  nearest  me.  However,  I  shall  endeavor  to  have  the  comfort 
of  seeing  him  as  often  as  possible."8 

It  has  been  stated  that  Father  Flynn  had  no  authority  to  exercise 
pastoral  ministrations  in  St.  Louis,  because  he  had  no  dimissorials  to  show 
nor  faculties,  from  any  one.  Yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  Father 
James  Maxwell  was  considered  Vicar  General  of  the  district  of  Upper 
Louisiana,  and  it  can  be  presumed,  as  even,  Father  Nerinckx  presumes, 
that  Father  Maxwell  did  kindly  receive  his  compatriot  and  consented  to 
his  stay  in  St.  Louis.  Very  little  was  known  about  Father  Thomas 
Flynn  until  recently,  and  what  has  now  come  to  light  is  not  favorable 
to  the  Capuchin  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis.  One  of  the  earliest  mission- 
aries in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  after  the  dissolution  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  the  Capuchin  Peter  Helbron,  the  founder  of  the  Church  at 
Buffalo  and  many  other  places,  writes  to  Bishop  Carroll  from  Pittsburg 
under  date  of  November  1st,  1805:  "Concerning  Mr.  Flynn."  Est  vir 
nullius  resolutionis :  he  left  me  at  Buffalo,  when  the  Congregation  bought 
a  place  on  purpose  for  the  priest,  which  is  not  prepared  yet,  and  will  not 
so  soon  be  ready  to  receive  the  priest.  Mr.  Flynn  went  clown  the  River 
Ohio,  perhaps  to  the  Monks  of  La  Trappe.  .  .  He  was  about  five  weeks 
with  me  without  celebrating,  and  preaching  but  once.  I  promised  to  the 
faithful  in  the  wilderness  to  come  back  again."9 

On  October  22nd,  1806,  he  wrote  to  Carroll:  "Mr.  Flynn  is  gone 
down  the  river  to  the  Trappists. "  At  that  time  the  Trappists  had  their 
establishment  on  Pottingers  Creek,  Ky.10  Father  Helbron  was,  therefore, 
mistaken  about  the  destination  of  Father  Flynn.  Not  to  the  Trappists 
did  he  go,  but  to  St.  Louis.  On  January  1st,  1807,  Father  Charles  Nerinckx 
wrote  a  long  Latin  letter  to  Archbishop  Carroll  in  which  he  alludes  to 
some  unhappy  priests,  among  them  Father  Flynn,  having  come  without 
credentials  from  the  Bishop  of  Baltimore,  yet  exercising  priestly  func- 
tions.    "With    the    consent  of    Rev.   Father    Badin, "  writes    Father 


8  A  Letter  of  Flynn  to  Bishop  Carroll,  dated  November  8,  1806,  of  which  a 
passage  is  printed  in  Shea's  "Life  of  Carroll,"  p.  595  gives  the  same  information. 

9  Helbron,  Peter,  "Baptismal  Register  at  Sportman's  Hall,"  in  "Records  of 
American  Catholic  Society,"  vol.  XXVI,  p.  374. 

10     Nerinckx  to  Carroll,  printed  in  "Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  VI,  pp.  83 
and  84. 


L'Ki  History  of  tin   Archdiocest   of  xt.  Louis 

Xerinckx, "  he  (Father  Flynn)  had  preached  several  sermons  and  visited 
a  number  of  missions,  but  heard  only  a  few  confessions.  I  should  judge 
lie  had  better  remain  in  the  Trappist  Monastery.  From  his  letters  we 
learn  that  at  St.  Louis  or  some  other  place  in  Louisiana,  he  introduced 
himself  as  pastor,  or  rather,  was  introduced  by  laymen,  although,  to 
.judge  more  mildly,  we  must  suppose  that  he  had  jurisdiction  from  the 
Vicar-General  there.  -May  God  grant  that  this  matter  have  no  sad  end." 
Now,  whatever  we  may  hold  in  regard  to  these  reports,  partly  based  on 
mere  hear-say,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  Father  Helbron's  judgment  as 
to  Father  Flynn  was  correct  "Est  vir  nullius  resolutionis, "  he  was  a  man 
of  no  constancy  of  purpose. 

The  contract  which  Father  Flynn  made  with  the  Church-wardens 
of  St.  Louis,  was  approved  by  the  Congregation  in  public  session  on 
November  23,  1806.  The  preamble  states,  that  Father  Flynn  was  sent 
to  St.  Louis  by  Father  Maxwell,  Cure  of  Ste.  Genevieve : 

First,  the  very  Reverend  Father  Thomas  Flynn  binds  himself  to 
all  the  citizens  of  this  parish  to  serve  them  in  his  ministry  for  the  time 
and  space  of  one  year  to  count  from  the  first  day  of  the  month  of  next 
December,  and  to  finish  on  the  same  day  of  next  year,  1807,  during  all 
this  time  to  exercise  the  sacerdotal  functions  in  the  aforesaid  Parish 
excepting  only  the  last  Sunday  of  each  month,  to  have  the  faculty  of 
serving  the  parishoners  of  St.  Ferdinand  and  St.  Charles,  where  the 
Reverend  Father  will  be  able  to  exercise  his  ministry. 

Secondly,  if  it  should  happen,  that  the  last  Sunday  of  some  month 
of  the  year  be  a  great  feast,  then  the  Reverend  Father  Thomas  Flynn  will 
not  be  permitted  to  absent  himself  from  this  parish  to  serve  the  others; 
lie  will  then  take  the  following  Sunday  to  discharge  his  duties  in  the 
villages  of  St    Ferdinand  ami  St.  Charles. 

Thirdly,  The  Reverend  Father  Flynn  will  have  the  kindness  to  say 
the  Mass  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  summer,  that  is  to  say,  from  the  first  of 
April  to  the  first  of  October,  and  he  will  say  it  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  winter 
that  is  to  say,  from  the  first  of  October  to  the  first  of  April. 

Fourthly,  The  Reverend  Father  obliges  himself  to  instruct  the 
children  of  this  city  belonging  to  the  parish  in  the  doctrine  necessary  for 
the  Catholic,  Apostolic  and  Roman  state,  every  Sundaj'  after  Vespers, 
and  during  the  time  of  Lent  to  put  the  young  people  in  the  proper 
disposition  to  approach  the  sacraments. 

Fifthly,  The  Reverend  Father  Flynn  obliges  himself  to  visit  the 
sick  of  the  Parish  when  he  will  be  requested  and  to  assist  them  by  his 
ministry  at  all  times. 

Sixthly,  And  we  citizens  of  this  Parish  in  our  turn  oblige  ourselves 
towards  the  Reverend  Father  Thomas  Flynn  to  furnish  him  a  sum  af  360 
piasters  in  current  money,  that  is  to  say,  in  skins  of  the  deer  at  the  rate 
of  40  sols  the  pound,  or  in  soft  wheat,  a  piaster  per  minot   (39  litres)  " 


Wandering  Westward  217 

which  sum  will  be  placed  in  the  hand  of  the  church  wardens  in  charge  to 
be  at  the  disposal  of  the  said  Reverend  Father  Flynn,  and  that  to  compen- 
sate him  for  his  trouble  and  care  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry.  And  in 
case  of  any  private  individual  failing  to  satisfy  his  engagement,  —  for 
that  which  concerns  his  obligation,  —  the  warden  in  charge  is  authorized 
by  each  of  us  to  follow  up  the  debtor  with  the  rigor  of  the  law."11 

In  addition  to  his  salary  Father  Flynn  was  to  receive  four  dollars 
for  every  burial  of  an  adult,  two  dollars  for  burial  of  a  child,  three 
dollars  for  every  High-Mass,  and  five  dollars  for  every  marriage  cere- 
mony performed. 

The  parishioners  subscribed  at  this  meeting  or  soon  after,  the  sum  of 
$331.75.  Probably  every  parishioners  name  is  affixed  to  the  document, 
either  in  his  own  hand  or  by  mark. 

On  January  8th,  1808,  Father  Flynn  resigned  his  parochial  charges 
at  St.  Louis  and  St.  Ferdinand  and  wandered  on,  we  know  not  where. 
The  records  of  St.  Louis  show  that  Father  Flynn  baptized  eighty-eight 
whites,  eleven  negroes,  and  one  Indian,  and  solemnized  eleven  marriages 
of  whites,  and  buried  thirty  whites  and  nine  negroes.  From  the  day  of 
Father  Flynn 's  departure  in  1808,  until  the  arrival  of  Father  De  Andreis 
in  1818,  that  is,  for  fully  ten  years  the  parish  of  St.  Louis  had  no  pastor, 
but  was  visited,  at  irregular  intervals,  by  Father  James  Maxwell  of  Ste. 
Genevieve,  Fathers  Urban  Guillet,  Joseph  Mary  Dunand  and  Bernard 
Langlois,  all  Trappists  from  Monk 's  Mound,  and  Father  Francis  Savine 
from  Cahokia. 

Father  Savine  after  serving  the  Church  on  occasional  visits  shier 
December  11th,  1811,  eventually  took  full  and  exclusive  charge  by  an 
agreement  with  the  Church-wardens,  dated  St.  Louis,  May  29th,  1814 : 
"For  and  in  consideration  of  a  sufficient  sum  I  have  received  from  the 
faithful  of  this  parish,  as  well  as  the  assurances  of  other  considerations, 
I  oblige  myself  to  discharge  the  spiritual  duties  as  Cure  of  the  Church 
of  St.  Louis  every  third  Sunday  until  the  end  of  April  of  next  year 
1815.  "12  The  document  was  signed  by  Francis  Savine,  Priest.  This 
arrangement  with  the  Church-wardens  was  continued  until  October  1817. 
The  Baptisms  during  the  period  numbered  two  hundred  and  fifty  whites, 
seventy-three  negroes,  two  Indians :  the  marriages  ninety-one  white 
couples  and  two  negroes.  The  Burials,  mostly  performed  by  Trudeau  as 
chanter  of  the  Church,  by  Jean  Louis  Mave,  sacristan,  and  by  Samuel 
Solomon  and  Patrick  Lee  as  Church  Wardens.  These  minor  officers  of 
the  Parish  also  certified  to  all  the  burials. 


11  The  original  of  this  contract  between  Father  Thomas  Flynn  and  the  St.  Louis 
Church -Wardens  is  preserved  in  the  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

i-  Register  of  the  meetings  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Louis.  MS  in  Archives  "i 
Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis. 


Chapter  13 
FAT  I  IKK  I)  IN  AN  I)  AND  HIS  TRAPPIST  BRETHREN 


In  the  early  Records  of  the  Church  of  St.  Louis  three  names  of  Trap- 
pisl  Monks  occur  at  frequent  intervals,  Urban  Guillet,  Abbot,  Joseph 
Marie  Dunand,  Prior,  and  Bernard  Langlois.  Of  these  three  priests 
Father  Dunand,  or  the  Prior,  as  he  was  usually  called,  is  by  far  the 
most  important  in  the  history  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  Legends  have 
entwined  themselves  around  the  memory  of  this  strange  figure  and  his 
still  stranger  career.  There  was  a  touch  of  the  mysterious  in  the  sudden 
appearance  of  this  white-robed  monk  in  such  widely  separated  localities 
as  Pottinger's  Creek,  and  Casey's  Creek  in  Kentucky,  Kaskaskia  and 
Cahokia,  in  Illinois,  Prairie  du  Chien  in  Wisconsin,  St.  Louis,  Florissant 
and  the  Barrens  in  Missouri,  always  bent  on  winning  souls  for  Christ. 
Father  Dunand  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  interesting,  as  well  as 
heroic  figures  of  our  early  days  of  struggle  and  self-sacrifice,  a  name 
worthy  of  a  bright  page  in  the  records  of  the  unf  orgotten  past.1 

Father  Dunand  did  not  come  alone  to  the  Illinois  Country,  but  as  the 
second  in  authority  of  a  religious  community  of  priests,  brothers  and 
laymen  in  their  employ  or  under  their  instruction;  but  even  after  all 
his  brethren  of  the  Order  had  withdrawn  from  the  country,  he  alone 
remained  on  the  mission  in  the  wilderness  from  1807  to  1820. 

Joseph  Marie  Dunand  was  born  April  22nd,  1774  at  Chapelle  les 
Rennes  in  Lorraine.  His  childhood  fell  amid  days  of  civil  and  religious 
strife. 

The  per  fervid  words  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had  found 
a  glad  response  in  every  nook  and  corner  of  olden  France.  The  soldiers 
of  the  French  regiments  that  had  so  bravely  fought  under  Washington, 
as  General  in  Chief,  on  their  return,  spread  far  and  wide  the  cry  of  the 
new  democracy,  ' '  liberty,  equality,  fraternity, ' ' ;  and  the  youthful  Dun- 
and felt  its  wild  charm.  He  became  a  grenadier  in  the  republican  army 
of  France.  But  the  fond  dream  was  rudely  dispelled.  The  Committee  of 
Public  Safety  waged  a  rentless  war  against  the  faithful  adherents  of 
the  Church,  as  well  as  against  the  royalists.   The  grenadiers  of  Dunand 's 


i  A  number  of  our  best  historical  writers  have  devoted  deep  attention  to  the 
Trappish  Colony  of  Abbot  Urban  and  Prior  Dunand.  Bishop  Martin  Spalding  in 
his  "Sketches  of  Kentucky;"  Flick,  in  "Records  of  the  American  Catholic  His- 
torical Society,"  vol.  I;  Maes  in  his  "Life  of  Father  Nerinckx;"  Webb,  "History 
of  Catholicity  in  Kentucky,"  and  Garraghan  in  the  "Records  of  American  Catholic 
Historical  Society."  The  so-called  "Diary  of  Father  Joseph  Dunand"  was  also 
published  in  the  Records,  vol.  XXVI. 

(218) 


Father  Dunand  and  His  Trappist  Brethren  219 

Company  were  one  day  ordered  to  shoot  a  priest.  Against  this  act  of 
sacrilege  his  better  feelings  revolted :  that  very  day  he  fled  from  his 
native  France  and  found  safety  in  Switzerland. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  horrors  he  had  witnessed  the  young  man 
sought  admission  to  the  strictest  Order  in  the  Church,  the  Community 
of  the  Trappists,  in  the  Abbey  of  Val  Sainte  near  Freiburg. 

When  in  1791  a  republican  army  invaded  Switzerland  the  inmates 
and  dependants  of  the  Abbey,  about  250  persons,  fled  to  various  parts 
of  Germany,  from  there  some  took  passage  to  America,  others  to  Russia, 
and  others  returned  to  Val  Sainte.  It  was  in  this  last  refuge  of  peace 
that  the  youthful  Dunand  spent  the  years  of  his  novitiate,  and  was  raised 
to  the  holy  priesthood. 

On  the  3rd  day  of  February,  1805,  Father  Dunand  started  with 
Brother  Ignatius  on  his  voyage  to  the  United  States,  where  a  new  settle- 
ment of  the  Trappists  had  been  founded  three  years  previous,  with  about 
twenty-seven  members,  under  the  leadership  of  Abbot  Urban  Guillet. 

Father  Dunand  and  his  companion  were  stopped  on  the  frontiers 
of  France,  by  the  chief  of  the  Custom  House,  an  apostate  priest,  who 
treated  them  with  great  severity,  but  at  last  forwarded  them  to  Amster- 
dam. 

On  May  20th,  1805,  they  embarked  on  an  American  vessel,  and  on 
August  14th,  arrived  at  Baltimore.  Here  they  were  received  by  Abbot 
Urban  and  with  him  they  set  out  for  Kentucky,  where  the  new  Monastery 
Avas  situated.  But  alas,  instead  of  a  flourshing  community  Father  Dun- 
and found  at  Pottinger's  Creek  only  the  sad  wasted  remnants  of  the 
first  colony  of  Pigeon  Hills,  where  twenty-one  monks,  priests  and  broth- 
ers, and  sixteen  laymen,  had  lived  in  Abbot  Guillet  \s  care.  Sickness  and 
desertion  had  worked  terrible  havoc. 

Three  of  the  priests  had  died  soon  after  their  arrival  in  Kentucky, 
and  two  more  in  the  course  of  a  year.  The  excessive  hardships  of  the 
journey  on  flatboats  down  the  Ohio,  coupled  with  great  austerity  of 
the  Rule  they  followed,  certainly  were  responsible  for  this  sad  condition 
of  affairs. 

Father  Nerinckx,  who  travelled  with  them  a  part  of  the  way,  is 
rather  severe  on  Father  Urban,  the  Superior  of  the  Community.  ' '  In  my 
opinion,  Father  Urban,  is  not  a  man  in  the  right  place,"2  and  it  seems 
well  to  soften  its  asperity  with  the  milder  judgment  of  Bishop  Martin 
Spalding:  "Father  Urban  Guillet  was  a  man  of  great  piety,  indefatig- 
able zeal  and  activity,  and  of  a  singular  meekness  and  suavity  of 
manners."3  It  is  true,  the  zeal  for  the  rigid  rules  of  his  Order  made  him 
blind  to  the  necessities  of  his  subjects  in  their  new  and  severe  surround- 


2  "Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  (Louvain,  ed.),  p.  292. 

3  Spalding,  M.  J.,  "Sketches  of  Early  Catholic  Missioners  of  Kentucky,' 
Louisville,  1844.  The  chapter  on  the  Trappists  was  reprinted  in  "Catholic  Cabinet.' 
vol.  II,  pp.  604-612. 


220  History  of  tht    Ai'chdiocest   of  St.  Linn's 

ings.  In  ;in  old  world  monastery,  Abbot  Urban  would,  no  doubt,  have 
been  an  ideal  superior. 

Father  Dunand  arrived  at  Pottinger's  Creek  near  Holy  Cross 
Church  in  Nelson  County,  Kentucky,  on  October  10th,  1805.  The  well 
known  missionary  Sleplian  Madin  who,  at  the  time  was  Pastor  of  Holy 
Cross  Parish  in  the  neighborhood,  assisted  the  almost  helpless  community 
in  every  possible  way.  Father  Dunand  also  was  attacked  by  the  fever 
on  the  very  day  of  his  arrival,  and  struggled  for  four  months  between 
life  and  death.  But  God  had  further  work  for  him  to  do.  Scarcely  had  he 
gained  sufficient  strength  when  he  set  out  with  some  of  his  brethren  to 
found  a  new  establishment  of  his  Order  at  a  place  called  Casey's  Creek, 
the  wry  place  of  which  Father  Nerinckx  once  wrote:  "I  lately  visited 
my  St.  Bernard's  parish  and  stopped  over  night  with  the  admirable 
Monks  of  La  Trappe.  I  found  fourteen  members  in  the  stable.  That 
structure,  which  is  not  entirely  rainproof,  is  dormitory,  refectory  and 
church.  A  space  is  set  apart  for  the  lay-brothers,  and  there  is  a  small 
apartment  for  storing  provisions,  in  which  1  slept  with  my  guide. 

The  Fathers  and  Brothers  sleep  on  the  bare  floor;  I  had  a  bag  of 
oats  to  rest  on."' 

Father  Dunand.  however,  could  not  be  discouraged  by  such 
trivial  circumstances.  Referring  to  Pigeon's  Hills,  he  says:  "There 
were  not  more  than  seven  Catholic  families  there.  We  built  a 
little  chapel  in  which  to  say  Mass,  and  the  Catholics  and  some  Protes- 
tants were  present  on  Sundays  and  Feastdays.  I  was  perfectly  content 
in  this  new  establishment,  and  counted  on  having  found  my  abode  of 
peace,  but  Divine  Providence  had  many  other  hardships  in  store  for 
me."6  Father  Dunand  was  not  mistaken  in  this:  the  restless  spirit  of 
Urban,  the  Abbot,  fell  upon  a  new  plan.  The  Indians  along  the  borders 
of  the  Mississippi  had  invited  him  to  their  beautiful  country,  and  prom- 
ised to  send  their  children  to  him  for  instruction,  if  he  would  come.  The 
thought  of  the  conversion  of  these  poor  heathen  children  of  the  wilderness 
fell  like  consuming  fire  into  the  good  Abbot's  soul.  He  resolved  at  once 
to  transfer  his  entire  community  to  Upper  Louisiana.  The  exact  location 
was  to  be  determined  later  on.  With  Father  Dunand,  the  Prior,  and  one 
lay-brother,  Dom  Urban  started  on  the  perilous  journey  in  the  depth 
of  winter,  heedless  of  all  things  but  his  Indian  project. 

Of  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  this  overland  trip  on  foot  from 
Kentucky  to  St.  Louis,  Father  Dunand  gives  us  a  few  thrilling  inci- 
dents. "During  this  expedition  I  was  also  obliged  to  carry  my  own  pro- 
visions. Even  at  that,  I  was  exposed  to  starvation  in  this  vast  wilderness. 
The  cold  was  extreme ;  the  rivers  were  all  frozen  and  the  ground  was 
covered  with  snow.    Wishing  to  reach  St.  Louis  by  Christmas  Day,    I 


4     Cf.  Maes,  Camillus,  "Life  of  Nerinckx,'-  p.   L08. 
Dunand 's  Diary,  1.  c,  p.  331. 


Father  Dunand  and  His  Trappist  Brethren  221 

took  a  guide  whom  I  made  walk  before  me  to  sound  the  ice.  It  is  the 
custom  for  the  traveller  to  supply  himself  with  a  pole  which  he  carries 
crosswise  before  him  in  order  to  keep  him  up,  should  the  ice  give  way 
beneath  his  feet.  I  neglected  this  precaution,  wishing  no  other  staff  for 
crossing  than  trust  in  God. 

' '  It  was  putting  myself  to  a  severe  test !  We  were  in  the  middle  of  the 
river  when  the  ice  more  than  a  league  in  extent,  cracked  with  a  great 
crash.  I  could  not  help  trembling,  but  my  guide  reassured  me,  saying  that 
it  was  a  proof  that  the  ice  was  good,  and  this  would  only  strengthen  it. 
As  a  result  my  fears  departed  and  the  journey  ended  without  accident."6 

Wild  and  forbidding,  as  Southern  Illinois  then  looked,  and  full  of  dan- 
ger and  hardship,  as  the  journey  really  was,  it  must  all  have  seemed  but  the 
proper  setting  for  the  wild  and  unruly  population  of  its  few  towns. 
Roughly  speaking,  there  Avere  three  classes :  the  aborigines,  the  Indians, 
whose  native  manners  and  customs  had  been  depraved  rather  than  ele- 
vated by  the  contact  with  the  white  adventurers;  then  the  descendants 
of  the  old  French-Canadian  voyageurs  and  coureurs  de  bois  mingled  with 
a  number  of  cultured  immigrants  from  France  and  the  West  Indies,  all 
now  designated  as  Creoles;  and  lastly  the  Americans  from  the  East.  In 
his  Diary,  Father  Dunand  speaks  with  pity  of  the  poor  Indians,  with  love 
and  admiration  of  the  Creoles  and  the  Catholic  newcomers  from  Mary- 
land and  Kentucky,  but  with  anger  of  the  irreligious,  contemptuous  and 
persecuting  Americans. 

It  was  in  November  1808  that  the  party  had  started  for  Cahokia, 
where  they  arrived  after  walking  ten  days  through  the  woods.  Dunand 
seems  to  have  left  the  Abbot  with  M.  Jarrot,  he  himself  crossing  the 
frozen  Mississippi  on  the  eve  of  Christmas  1808.  But  let  the  good  Father 
continue  the  interesting  story : 

"Having  arrived  at  St.  Louis  I  found  the  district  in  a  pitiful  state. 
Deprived  of  priests  and  all  spiritual  aid,  the  morals  of  the  people  were 
entirely  corrupt,  and  ignorance  of  religion  was  so  general,  that  the  in- 
habitants scarcely  recognized  the  name  Catholic.  The  small  number  of 
the  better  instructed  rejoiced  in  their  Faith.  For  the  rest,  some  openly 
mocked  at  it  and  others  behaved  with  perfect  indifference.  This  fatal 
carelessness  had  its  source  in  want  of  instruction.  I  am  not  referring  to 
the  natives  of  the  country  who,  generally  speaking,  were  good.  It  was 
through  the  incursion  of  foreigners  that  irreligion  and  licentiousness 
had  made  their  way  into  this  distant  land.  Divided  in  language,  senti- 
ments and  interests  from  the  rest,  the  aliens  worked  against  the  commun- 
ity's  good.  They  were  the  persecutors  of  the  priests.  Having  gathered  a 
certain  fortune  by  dint  of  crimes  and  injustices,  and  then  having  retired 
to  the  villages  to  enjoy  in  plenty  the  ease  and  pleasures  and  comforts  of 
life,  they  naturally  resented  the  zeal  of  the  missionaries  who  exposed 


«     Dunand 's  Diary,  1.  c,  pp.  3.T2  and  :::-:::. 


l'l'2  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louts 

their  baseness  and  disturbed  their  peace.  The  very  sight  of  a  priest  was 
unendurable  to  them.  Tt  acted  as  a  secret  reproach  to  their  consciences. 
Their  hearts  were  closed  to  the  truth  which  condemned  them,  though  in 
doing  so  it  repelled  further  from  them  those  who  brought  them  a  mes- 
sage so  important."7 

It  is  a  terrible  arraignment,  the  man  consumed  with  zeal  for  the 
honor  of  God,  makes  of  the  great  mass  of  the  western  people.  Yet,  there 
are  many  facts  to  substantiate  his  severest  charges.  Only  one  of  them 
appears  as  an  unsupported  legend:  No  priest  of  that  period  "was  put 
in  a  hollow  tree  and  abandoned  to  the  current  of  the  Mississippi."  This 
legend  probably  originated  in  the  fact  that  Father  Valentin,  the  first 
resident  priest  of  St.  Louis,  rather  suddenly  departed  from  St.  Louis 
in  a  pirogue. 

But,  as  Father  Dunand  says,  the  natives  of  the  country,  those  that 
had  enjoyed  the  mild  rule  of  the  Jesuits,  were  good  Christians  still :  When 
He  announced  on  the  evening  of  his  arrival  that  he  would  celebrate  Holy 
Mass  at  midnight  in  honor  of  the  Feast  of  Christmas,  their  joy  was 
intense. 

"I  found  the  church  wrell  filled,  despite  the  rigor  of  the  cold.  I  felt 
great  satisfaction  in  seeing  so  many  Christians  unite  to  celebrate  the 
birthday  of  our  Divine  Saviour.  The  joy  of  these  brave  people  was  not 
less;  for  they  had  not  counted  at  all  on  having  Mass  on  this  most  solemn 
occasion.  They  did  all  in  their  power  to  induce  me  to  remain  among  them. 
I  understood  better  than  they  did  how  much  they  were  to  be  pitied  for 
having  no  priest,  and  so  I  was  glad  to  accede  to  their  request.  My  stay 
w^as  not  entirely  unprofitable."8 

"This  village,  which  has  nearly  a  hundred  and  twenty  families,  is 
generally  good.  Everybody  approached  the  Sacraments;  nevertheless. 
I  was  forced  now  and  then  to  use  a  little  strategy  and  have  recourse 
to  pious  ingenuity  to  induce  them  to  do  so,  seeing  that  they  were  neg- 
ligent."9 

One  more  sample  of  Father  Dunand 's  blunt  methods: 

"One  day  in  passing  near  the  prison  of  St.  Louis  I  learned  that 
they  were  about  to  hang  a  man  who  was  a  Catholic.  I  at  once  entered 
the  jail.  Six  Protestant  ministers  surrounded  the  criminal.  One  of  these 
wore  a  torn  coat,  a  long  beard  and  had  a  wild  look  about  him.  I  mistook 
him  for  the  criminal,  as  the  latter  on  the  contrary  was  well  dressed  in 
white  linen  with  his  beard  newly  cut.  I  therefore,  said  fearlessly,  to  the 
first,  'Of  what  religion  are  you?     He  answered:  "I  am  an  Anabaptist.' 


7     Dunand  's  Diary,  1.  c,  p.  333. 

s     Dunand 's  Diary,  1.  c,  p.  334.    Father  Thomas  Flynn  had  departed  in  January 
of  that  year. 

9     Dunand 's  Diary,  1.  c,  p.  343. 


Father  Dunand  and  His  Trappist  Brethren  223 

'so  much  the  worse  for  you,  then1  said  I,  'it  is  a  religion  that  is  worth 
nothing.  Is  it  possible  that  on  the  verge  of  death  you  do  not  seek  to  enter 
the  true  religion?'  'I  am  not  the  criminal,'  he  quickly  added  as  he 
pointed  slightingly  to  the  condemned  man,  'it  is  he  who  is  the  culprit.' 
I  was  abashed  at  my  error,  but,  without  troubling  myself  further,  I 
promptly  approached  the  man  who  had  been  pointed  out  and  asked  him 
some  questions.  I  knew  from  his  responses  that  he  had  never  been  bap- 
•  tized.  Then  I  explained  to  him  the  essential  things  to  know,  above  all  the 
necessity  of  Baptism.  He  was  quite  touched  and  anxious  to  receive  it.  The 
ministers  arose  in  indignation  against  me,  immediately  entered  into  a 
dispute  and,  Bible  in  hand,  strove  for  four  hours  by  the  clock  to  prove 
to  me  that  Baptism  was  useless.  They  were  furious  and  surrounded  the 
wretch  merely  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  me  away.  All  their  efforts 
served  for  nothing.  I  brought  water  and,  notwithstanding  their  fury, 
baptized  him  half  an  hour  before  they  led  him  to  his  death."10 

But  what  was  Dom  Urban  Guillet  doing  all  this  time  ?  As  we  have 
seen,  his  purpose  was  to  establish  a  Trappist  Monastery  at  some  as  yet 
undetermined  place  in  the  heart  of  the  continent.  He  had  two  offers  of 
land :  one  at  Florissant  on  the  Missouri  River,  and  the  other  near  Caho- 
kia.  A  wealthy  Irishman,  John  Mullanphy,  offered  the  one,  consisting 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  with  two  houses ;  whilst  Nicholas  Jarrot, 
one  of  the  most  intelligent,  wealthy  and  respectable  French  citizens 
countered  with  a  tract  of  four  hundred  acres  in  the  historic  Mound 
region  of  Illinois. 

The  good  Abbot  was  undecided:  he  entered  into  negotiations  with 
Governor  Lewis  as  to  some  grant  of  land  to  his  community  on  account  of 
its  being  an  educational  institution,  but  made  no  headway  in  the  matter. 
On  January  28th,  1809,  he  wrote  to  Bishop  Carroll:  "Both  Governor 
Lewis11  and  Governor  Harrison,  are  desirous  of  having  me,  and  the 
habitants  on  either  side  of  the  river  contend  among  themselves  as  to 
who  will  have  the  college.  I  have  found  on  each  side  of  the  river  a  suit- 
able site  for  a  monastery,  but  have  been  unable  to  proceed  to  a  sale,  owing 
to  the  self-interest  actuating  both  parties.  Those  of  St.  Louis  say  that 
the  Post  side  of  the  river  is  unhealthy,  while  those  of  the  Post  say  the 
same  of  the  St.  Louis  side.  This  is  why  I  contented  myself  with  accept- 
ing two  houses  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  arpents  of  land  near  St.  Louis 
for  a  year  only,  so  as  during  this  time  to  get  at  the  real  truth  of  the 
matter  and  build  at  the  place  which  will  suit  best."12 


io     Dunand 's  Diary,  1.  c,  p.  341  and  342. 

ii     Merriwether,  Lewis,  was  stationed  at  St.  Louis,  General  Harrison  at  the  Post 
of  Vincennes. 

i2     Abbott  Guillet  to  Bishop  Carroll,  January  28,  1809. 


l'iM  History  of  the  Archdiocesi   of  St.  Louis 

In  the  meantime  the  colony  ;ii  Pottinger's  Creek  were  busy  con- 
Structing  a  flat-boat,  with  which  they  were  to  float  down  the  Ohio  and 
ascend  the  Mississippi.  "They  were"  as  Bishop  Spalding  relates  "en- 
abled to  depart  from  Kentucky  early  in  the  spring  of  1809;  and  they 
proceeded  without  accident  to  the  month  of  the  Ohio.  Here  they  were 
delayed  three  weeks,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  a  body  of  boatmen,  whom 
Father  I'rban,  who  had  traveled  by  land  to  St.  Louis,  had  promised  to 
send  to  meet  them  at  this  point,  in  order  to  aid  them  in  the  difficult 
ascent  of  the  Mississippi. 

During  their  stay  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  the  Monks  landed  on  tin; 
Illinois  side  of  the  river,  near  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  ('aim. 

Here  they  felled  and  sawed  timber,  and  fitted  up  a  temporary  altar. 
at  the  foot  of  a  large  widely  branching  tree,  and  there  they  daily  sang 
the  divine  praises  and  offered  up  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  New  Law. 
It  was  perhaps  the  first  time  that  the  voice  of  prayer1  had  been  heard 
amidst  those  dense  and  unreclaimed  forests;  the  first  time  that  the  Holy 
Victim  had  been  offered  up."13  At  length  the  Canadian  boatmen  arrived, 
and  took  charge  of  the  voyage,  and  towed  the  boats  up-stream  along  the 
banks  by  means  of  ropes.  This  mode  of  voyaging  consumed  a  whole 
month.  As  their  final  destiny  was  Florissant,  the  boat  was  towed  up 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  River.  Here  an  accident  occurred  which 
caused  great  consternation.  "In  attempting  to  draw  the  boat  into  the 
rapid  current  of  the  Missouri  the  towline  broke  and  the  boat  shot  rapidly 
down  the  stream.  All  the  able-bodied  men  were  on  the  shore  and  only 
the  infirm  and  disabled  were  on  board.  The  boat  continued  to  descend 
the  .Mississippi  almost  an  entire  day,  before  the  boatmen  on  the  shore 
were  able  to  check  it;  and  several  days'  hard  labor  were  required  to 
regain  their  former  position  and  many  more  to  reach  the  nearest  landing 
place  for  Florissant,  the  coal-hill  known  as  La  Charboniere.  "14  The  whole 
community  arrived  at  Florissant  before  the  end  of  May  and  established 
themselves  in  the  old  government  house,  which  John  Mullanphy  had 
turned  over  to  them,  rent  free  for  a  year.  There  were  only  three  priests; 
Father  Dunand,  the  Prior,  Father  Bernard  Langlois  and  Father  Ignatius. 
The  Abbot  was  absent  at  the  old  home  in  Kentucky,  to  take  care  of  the 
horses  and  the  cattle,  which  he  was  to  bring  up  to  the  new  settlement. 
When  he  did  arrive  on  the  scene  in  November  1809,  he  found  his  com- 
munity shifted  to  the  Illinois  side,  where  Nicholas  Jarrot  had  turned  over 
the  plantation  of  four  hundred  acres,  with  the  big  Mound  and  a  number 
of  smaller  ones  on  it.  But  every  member  of  the  colony  was  attacked 
by  typhoid   fever.     Dom  Urban  too  had  the  fever  when  he  arrived  at 


13     Spalding,  "Sketches  of  Kentucky." 
1*     Spalding,  "Sketches  of  Kentucky." 


Father  Duiiand  and  His  Trappist  Brethren  225 

Cahokia;  and  exhausted  as  he  was  by  the  long,  most  tiresome  journey, 
he  was  further  depressed  by  the  news  that  the  Prior  was  ill,  and  that  the 
whole  community  was  near  death's  door. 

Father  Bernard,15  two  lay-brothers  and  the  school  boys,  who  had 
remained  at  Florissant,  were  expected  to  join  them  soon,  as  Dom  Urban 
wrote  to  Bishop  Plessis  of  Quebec  an  account  of  what  had  happened. 
The  land  given  by  Jarrot  to  Abbot  Urban  seems  to  have  had  a 
clouded  title.  In  order  to  attain  a  confirmation  from  Congress  and  to 
solicit  an  extra  grant  on  account  of  his  school,  Dom  Urban  went  to 
Washington.  On  May  1st,  1810,  he  wrote  about  his  purposes  to  Bishop 
Plessis:  "You  are  right  in  thinking  that  four  hundred  acres  are  enough 
to  keep  us  occupied  for  many  years,  they  would  be  enough  for  ever, 
were  we  to  limit  our  members  to  a  very  small  community  without  educa- 
ting children.  But,  should  Government  reject  our  title,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  move  again."10  Dom  Urban  writes  that  nothing  was  done  by 
Congress  in  his  favor,  save  that  the  title  to  the  four  hundred  acres  was 
confirmed. 

The  Trappists  remained  at  what  was  now  called  Monk's  Mound 
nearly  three  years.  They  built  a  cluster  of  houses  with  a  Church,  which 
they  called  "Notre  Dame  de  Bon  Secours".  Henry  Brackenridge  "the 
little  English  boy"  of  St.  Genevieve,  now  grown  to  man's  estate,  in 
1811  paid  a  visit  to  Monks  Mound  and  left  us  an  interesting,  if  not 
altogether  just  description  of  the  Monastery  and  its  inmates : 

"The  buildings  which  the  Trappists  at  present  occupy,  are  merely 
temporary :  they  consist  of  four  or  five  cabins,  on  a  mound  about  fifty 
yards  high,  and  which  is  perhaps  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  square. 
Their  other  buildings,  cribs,  stables,  etc.,  ten  or  fifteen  in  number,  are 
scattered  about  on  the  plain  below.  I  was  informed  that  they  intended 
to  build  on  the  terrace  of  the  large  mound ;  this  will  produce  a  fine  effect, 
it  will  be  seen  five  or  six  miles  across  the  plain,  and  from  some  points 
of  view  ten  or  twelve.  They  have  about  one  hundred  acres  enclosed  in 
three  different  fields,  including  the  large  mound,  and  several  others. 

"On  entering  the  yard,  I  found  a  number  of  persons  at  work,  some 
hauling  and  storing  away  the  crop  of  corn ;  others,  shaping  timber  for 
some  intended  edifice.  The  greater  number  were  boys  from  ten  to  four- 
teen years  of  age. 

"I  ascended  the  mound  which  contains  the  dwellings.  This  was  nearly 
25  feet  in  height :  the  ascent  rendered  easy  by  a  slanting  road.    I  wander- 


]5     Father  Bernard  Langlois,  a  Canadian  and  Trappist,  is  sometimes  confounded 
with  Father  Bernard  de  Limpach. 

is     Abbot  Urban  to  Bishop  Plessis  of  Quebec,  May  1,  1910  quoted  by  Garraghan 
in  his  ' '  Trappists  of  Monks  Mound, ' '  1.  c,  p.  88. 


Vol.  1-8 


226  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

'•il  about  here  for  some  time,  in  expectation  of  being  noticed  by  some  one; 
it  was  in  vain  that  I  nodded  to  the  Reverend  Fathers,  or  peeped  into 
their  cabins.  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  accosted  by  a  young  man,  whom 
I  discovered  to  be  in  their  employment  as  a  kind  of  steward,  though 
not  otherwise  attached  to  the  society.  J  experienced  relief  on  being  able 
to  find  one  who  was  willing  to  speak  :  I  made  a  variety  of  inquiries  of 
him,  but  to  very  little  purpose:  he  was  however  obliging,  and  promised 
to  speak  in  my  behalf  to  the  Principal.  In  a  short  time  Father  Joseph 
made  his  appearance;  I  learned  that  he  had  the  government  of  the 
monastery  in  the  absence  of  Father  Urban.  He  is  a  sprightly,  and 
intelligent  man,  and,  much  to  my  surprise,  talked  with  wonderful  volu- 
bility, which  excited  in  me  almost  as  much  surprise  as  Robinson  Crusoe 
in  his  island  felt,  when  his  parrot  addressed  him.  He  invited  me  into 
the  watchmaker's  shop,  for  they  carry  on  several  trades,  to  assist  in 
supporting  the  institution.  The  shop  was  well  furnished ;  part  was 
occupied  as  a  laboratory,  and  library ;  the  latter  but  indifferent ;  a  few 
medical  works  of  no  repute,  and  the  dreams  of  the  Fathers,  with  the 
miraculous  winders  of  the  wyorld  of  Saints.  Several  men  were  at  work, 
and  some  boys  busily  employed.  One  poor  fellow7,  ten  or  twelve  years  of 
age,  attracted  my  attention  and  pity.  He  was  seated  by  a  stove,  making 
strokes  on  a  slate,  and  appeared  to  have  just  risen  from  the  bed  of 
sickness,  or  rather  from  the  tomb.  Emaciated  to  the  last  extreme,  his 
face  was  pale,  cold  and  bloodless,  his  lips  purpled,  his  sunken  eve  marked 
by  a  livid  streak,  and  his  countenance  overspread  with  a  listless  stillness 
...  I  was  pleased  when  I  sawT  Father  Joseph  advance  toward  him  with  a 
tenderness  and  benignity  of  countenance,  which  does  not  belong  to  a 
monk :  he  endeavored  to  cheer  him  by  speaking  pleasantly  to  him,  but 
the  poor  fellow  had  lost  the  power  of  smiling,  his  physiognomy  was 
locked  up  in  rigid  coldness,  which  nothing  but  returning  health,  or  the 
warmth  of  parental  affection,  could  soften. 

"Father  Joseph  inquired  whether  I  had  dined,  and  being  informed 
in  the  negative,  had  something  prepared.  My  fare  was  simple,  consisting 
chiefly  of  vegetables ;  though  not  less  acceptable ;  for  it  was  given  with 
good  will.  Having  returned  thanks  to  the  Father  for  his  hospitality, 
I  took  my  leave.  I  learned  that  the  family  of  the  Trappists  consists  of 
about  eighty  persons,  a  considerable  number  of  whom  are  not  at  home. 
The  boys  are  generally  American,  the  men  principally  German  and 
French.  They  expect  a  considerable  accession  from  Europe.  It  is  about 
a  year  since  they  have  been  fixed  in  this  place.  Last  summer  proved 
fatal  to  five  or  six,  and  few  escaped  the  prevailing  fever/'17 


17     Brackenridge,  "Visit  to  Cahokia,  in  1811,"  is  quoted  by  Scliarf,  "History  of 
St.  Louis,"  vol.  I,  p.  99. 


Father  Dunand  and  His  Trappist  Brethren  227 

Mr.  Brackenridge  's  little  slurs  on  the  Monk  and  the  ' '  Dreams  of  the 
Fathers"  and  "the  miraculous  wonders  of  the  world  of  saints"  tend  to 
lower  our  estimate  of  his  fairness  as  an  historian :  yet  in  describing  the 
things  he  saw,  he  gave  true  and  vivid  views.  His  opinions  do  not  concern 
us. 

"At  the  time  the  Trappists  established  themselves  in  Illinois"  says 
Bishop  Spalding,  "the  Indian  war  of  the  Northwest  was  beginning  to 
rage.  It  terminated  in  the  full  discomfiture  of  the  savages,  at  the  famous 
battle  of  Tippecanoe,  on  the  7th  of  November,  1811.  It  is  a  remarkable 
fact  in  the  history  of  acoustics,  that  the  Trappists  distinctly  heard  the 
report  of  the  cannon  fired  at  Tippecanoe,  though  they  were  about  two 
hundred  miles  distant  from  the  scene  of  action.  A  peculiar  state  of  the 
atmosphere,  and  the  circumstance  that  the  sound  passed  uninterrupted 
over  immense  level  prairies,  may  enable  us  to  account  for  this  curious 
fact,  which  is  stated  on  respectable  authority."18 


is     Spalding,  ' '  Sketches  of  Kentucky. ' ' 


<  Ihapter  14 
!•'  A  T  BEE  Dl"  N  A  X  DTH  E  L(  )N  E  M  [SSIONAB  V 


The  wanderings  of  the  early  Trappists  in  America  have  been  com- 
pared to  those  enshrined  in  the  Odyssey  of  Homer.  Mutatis  mutandis, 
a  certain  resemblance  may  be  admitted.  Yet  the  quest  for  a  new  home 
was  not  without  good  results.  Their  nine  years  stay  kept  alive  the  faitli 
iu  many  thousands  of  souls  scattered  like  sheep  in  the  wilderness.  It  is 
true,  they  lost  seven  priests  and  eight  lay-brothers  by  death :  but  as 
the  bodily  life  was  as  nothing  to  them,  compared  with  the  life  of  the 
spirit,  their  failure  seemed  really  a  gain.  It  was  not  the  American  band 
of  Trappists  that  shrunk  from  the  task,  but  rather  the  brighter  hopes  of 
the  General  of  their  Order,  that  called  them  away  to  new  and  more 
promising  fields.  While  all  the  members  of  the  Order,  both  priests  and 
lay  brothers,  thus  returned  to  Europe,  many  of  the  young  men  who  were 
attached  to  it,  remained  in  America,  generally  devoting  themselves  to 
the  trades  they  had  learned  among  the  Trappists. 

Among  them  were  some  men  of  distinction,  as  Mr.  de  Hodiamont, 
one  of  those  who  witnessed  the  saintly  death  of  Father  De  Andreis. 

But,  as  in  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits,  Father  Meurin  remained 
behind  to  continue  the  work  of  his  Order,  so  in  the  recall  of  the  Trap- 
pists, Father  Dunand  obtained  permission  from  his  Superior  to  stay  with 
the  forlorn  people  of  St.  Charles,  St.  Ferdinand  and  the  Barrens. 

During  the  decade  from  1808  to  1818  the  Parishes  above  St.  Gen- 
evieve depended  for  the  comforts  of  religion  almost  exclusively  on  the 
Trappists  of  Monks  Mound.  Father  Maxwell  was  glad  to  have  their 
assistance. 

On  the  Illinois  side,  there  was  only  Father  Olivier,  with  the  accession, 
in  1812,  of  Father  Francis  Savine.  It  was  probably  through  the  influence 
of  Bishop  Flaget  of  Bardstown  that  Father  Dunand,  now  universally 
called  the  Prior,  was  permitted  to  stay  on  the  missions  in  Missouri  until 
1820.  He  seems  to  have  resided,  at  first,  in  St.  Charles,  where  there 
was  a  Church.  In  St.  Ferdinand  he  was  pastor  in  residence  from  1814 
to  1820.  Florissant  thus  became,  as  Father  Garraghan  says,  "the  Foun- 
tain-head which  dispensed  spiritual  aid  to  all  the  out-lying  country." 
A  number  of  the  pioneer  Churches  were  built  through  the  Father 
Prior's  exertions;  at  the  Barrens,  at  Portage  des  Sioux,  and  Dardenne.1 


i     Father   Dunaud's   Diary,  in   "Records  of  the   American    Catholic    Historical 
Society,"  vol.  XXVII,  p.  45. 

(228) 


Father  Dunand  the  Lone  Missionary  229 

Of  the  excellent  Catholic  Americans  at  the  Barrens  Father  Dunand 
has  given  such  a  glowing  account  in  his  Journal  that  we  feel  obliged 
to  transcribe  it  word  for  word :  The  first  visit  was  made  in  1814,  to  be 
followed  by  many  more : 

"I  arrived  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Tucker,  a  good  Catholic  who  had 
eight  sons  and  one  daughter,  all  except  the  youngest  married  and  settled 
about  him  in  good  homes.  We  had  traveled  a  long  time  on  this  marshy 
ground,  in  fear  every  minute  of  sinking  with  our  horses,  and  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  wild  beasts  and  enormous  serpents. 

"But  we  were  well  repaid  for  all  our  trouble  by  the  warm  recep- 
tion of  our  excellent  Catholic  and  his  family.  I  inquired  how  they  had 
passed  their  Sundays  and  holy  days,  without  Mass.  They  answered 
that  on  these  days  all  the  families  of  the  district  assembled  three  times; 
the  first  time  they  recited  the  prayers  of  the  Mass;  the  second  time 
they  recited  the  beads  or  other  prayers  and  followed  this  by  singing 
hymns  and  canticles;  and  the  third  time  some  one  of  the  better  instruct- 
ed taught  catechism,  not  only  to  the  children  but  to  the  married  folks 
as  well.  I  could  not  help  admiring  this  beautiful  arrangement,  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  who  is  the  Spirit  of  righteousness  and  simplicity,  has 
established  among  these  pious  planters,  so  simple  and  so  free  from 
malice. 

' '  I  imagined  myself  carried  back  to  that  blessed  epoch  of  the  birth 
of  the  Church.  I  fancied  I  saw  those  first  Christians  instructed  by 
the  Apostles  and  so  united  by  their  charity,  that  they  were  but  one 
heart  and  one  soul.  I  would  have  liked  well  to  have  remained  with 
such  good  people  and  to  have  chosen  this  holy  spot  for  my  home,  but 
Divine  Providence  called  me  elsewhere.  However,  I  did  not  wish  to 
leave  these  virtuous  soids  without  giving  them  hope  of  again  seeing 
me.  Finally  to  preserve  or  increase,  if  such  were  possible  the  concord 
reigning  amongst  them.  I  advised  them  to  build  a  church. 

"It  is  the  one  thing  you  lack,"  I  said  to  them.  "From  it  you  will 
draw  the  greatest  benefit.  On  Sundays  you  could  all  assemble  there. 
Some  one  of  your  number  of  good  reputation  and  who  to  piety  adds  an 
exact  knowledge  of  his  religion,  could  teach  catechism  or  give  some 
pious  reading.  You  might  chant  the  psalms,  some  canticles  or  hymns. 
All  this  would  be  a  great  aid  to  fervor  and  bulwark  against  Protestants 
who  will  not  dare  to  attack  you  seeing  you  so  well  united.  God,  for 
His  part,  will  bless  you  abundantly  and  when  you  are  all  assembled 
in  His  Name  He  will  be  pleased  to  be  in  your  midst.  I  added  as  a  last 
motive  for  their  encouragement  that,  if  they  followed  this  advice  I 
would  return  from  time  to  time  to  visit  them  and  celebrate  for  them 
the   Holy    Sacrifice.      1   then   bade   them   good-bye    and    continued   my 


•-'•'{O  History  of  ilic  Arrhdiocc si    of  St.   Louis 

journey.    Bui  it'  1  was  not  with  them  in  body,  my  hearl  remained  with 
them."2 

"On  the  following  day  they  met  to  consider  the  building  of  a 
church.  It  was  resolved  to  do  so  by  common  agreement.  They  chose 
a  very  beaut  if  id  site.  Beginning  the  next  day.  some  prepared  the  materi- 
als, and  others  worked  at  its  construction  with  such  ardor,  that  in  less 
than  two  months  the  edifice  was  under  cover.  There  were  two  hundred 
workers.  When  it  was  in  readiness  M.  Tucker  knowing  where  I  lived. 
came  to  remind  me  of  my  promise.  T  had  been  taxing  my  strength  too 
much,  for  I  had  travelled  over  a  region  of  more  than  three  hundred 
and  fifty  leagues  visiting  various  settlements  in  the  Upper  Louisiana. 
I  likewise  had  gone  to  visit  congregations  beyond  the  Wisconsin;  and 
this  new  foundation  which  was  in  the  opposite  direction  presented  fresh 
hardships.  But  I  had  pledged  myself,  and  it  was  necessary  to  add  this 
congregation  to  those  I  already  attended,  i  held  for  these  good  peo- 
ple a  feeling  of  affection  that  attracted  me  towards  them.  Nevertheless 
difficulties  and  dangers  of  travel  caused  a  kind  of  repugnance.  It  was 
necessary  to  cross  several  rivers  which  were  very  dangerous  when  high. 
However,  I  overcame  all  these  difficulties.  I  did  not  wish  to  show  less 
courage  than  the  good  old  man  whom  these  obstacles  had  not  hindered 
from  coming  to  seek  me.  The  journey  was  laborious,  but  their  joy  at 
seeing  me  in  their  midst  rewarded  me  abundantly  and  induced  me  to 
return  there  several  times."3 

"I  was  so  well  pleased  with  these  good  people  that  I  have  since 
returned  there  four  times  a  year,  although  they  are  forty  leagues  from 
my  parish.  The  good  old  Mr.  Tucker  received  me  in  his  home.  One  day 
on  arriving  there  I  found  him  ill.  I  administered  the  last  sacraments 
to  him  and  soon  after  he  ended  his  days  full  of  merit  before  God.  He 
left  some  valuable  donations  to  the  Church  in  his  will."4 

It  was  through  the  agency  of  Father  Dunand  that  the  first  Theo- 
logical Seminary  of  St.  Louis  was  located  at  the  Barrens.  But  this 
good  work  will  be  duly  treated  when  the  proper  occasion  shall  offer 
itself. 

There  is  an  allusion  in  the  foregoing  account  to  a  missionary  trip 
of  the  Father  Prior  to  Prairie  du  Chien  at  the  junction  of  the  Wiscon- 
sin River  with  the  Mississippi.  It  may  well  be  that  Father  Marquette's 
eye  rested  on  the  tongue  of  land  whereon  Prairie  du  Chien  was  to  arise 
in  later  times.  Certain  it  is  that  there  was  a  settlement  of  whites  at 
the  place  in  early  times.  But  of  a  Church  or  a  missionary  establishment 
there  is  no  trace  in  history  up  to  the  year  1817,  and  the  priest's  name  who 


2  Dunand 's  Diary,  1.  e.,  p.  46. 

3  Idem,  ibidem,  pp.  46  and  47. 
*     Idem,  ibidem,  p.  48. 


Father  Dunand  the  Lone  Missionary  231 

opened  the  Church  Record  with  a  large  number  of  entries,  and  who 
opened  and  blessed  a  Cemetery  and  urged  the  building  of  a  Church  was 
our  Father  Prior,  Joseph  Dunand.5  It  was  in  March  1817,  that  Father 
Dunand  set  out  from  Florissant  for  Prairie  du  Chien,  at  the  urgent  in- 
vitation of  the  French  Catholics  who  lived  at  that  remote  point.  The 
journey  was  by  canoe  :  five  men  did  the  rowing,  one  the  steering.  Father 
Dunand  graphically  describes  the  sufferings  sustained  from  cold  and 
storm  and  privations  of  all  kinds.  Thus  he  continues:  "Every  evening 
when  we  had  put  to  land  to  pass  the  night  the  savages  came  to  visit  us ; 
after  they  had  gotten  warmed  up  a  little  the  chief  came  and  gave  me 
his  hand,  as  did  also  the  leaders  among  them.  I  flung  them  a  piece 
of  tobacco  to  mollify  them,  as  they  still  were  dangerous,  although  peace 
had  been  made. 

"The  thirty-fourth  day  from  the  time  of  my  departure  after  great 
fatigue  and  hardships  we  reached  the  place  where  we  sought  to  carry 
the  light  of  faith.  I  was  heartily  welcomed  by  the  people  who  had 
invited  me  to  pay  them  this  visit.  The  Commander  of  the  fort,  although 
a  Protestant,  honored  me  with  a  visit  and  offered  me  his  services.  I 
lived  one  month  among  these  people  who,  until  then,  had  been  entirely 
abandoned.  I  administered  holy  Baptism  to  a  great  many,  large  and 
small,  among  whom  there  were  many  half-breeds  and  savages.  In  short, 
all  day  I  was  occupied  in  the  exercise  of  the  holy  ministry.  Three  per- 
sons only  refused  to  profit  by  my  visit.  Protestants  came  every  day  to 
the  instructions;  even  the  Jews  were  converted.  The  savages  of  dif- 
ferent nations  were  exact  in  attendance  of  Mass;  the  savage  women 
brought  me  their  children  in  groups,  some  to  be  baptized,  others  that 
they  might  behold  a  Makita  Courage;  that  is  to  say,  a  black-robe."6 

Dreadful  things  were  witnessed  by  the  good  Prior  on  this  journey 
through  the  Country  devastated  by  years  of  Indian  warfare ;  and  even 
then  cruelties  were  perpetrated  that  made  his  stout  heart  quail : 

"One  day  when  again  going  up  the  Mississippi  I  arrived  with 
my  canoe  and  the  men  who  accompanied  me  near  a  house  which  the 
savages  had  set  afire  and  where  some  horrible  cruelties  had  been  com- 
mitted,. The  father  and  mother  whom  they  had  scalped  were  lying 
dead  before  the  door.  Besides  this,  they  had  massacred  seven  children, 
most  of  them  girls.  The  largest  one  they  had  put  on  the  hearth  of  the 
chimney  to  serve  as  a  log;  two  they  had  placed  as  andirons,  two  above 
crosswise  and  the  two  smallest  in  a  kettle  in  which  some  one  was  mak- 
ing soap.  The  house  was  on  fire  when  we  arrived.  I  shuddered  with 
fear  lest  the  savages  might  still  be  there ;  but  a  domesticated  savage 


■">     The  Catholic  Church  in  Wisconsin,  pp.  850-852. 
"     Idem,  ibidem,  p.  57  s. 


•_':!■_'  History  of  thi    Archdiocesi    of  St.   Louis 

who  accompanied  me  reassured  me  by  saying  that,  from  whal  they  bad 
done  On  a  similar  occasion,  it  was  safe  to  assume  that  they  had  promptly 
withdrawn.  With  much  confusion,  1  reviewed  this  burning  house  and 
the  bloody  corpses,  when  a  sight,  sadder  still,  at  least  more  apt  to  excite 
pity,  caught  my  eye.  A  poor  old  man,  nearly  sixty-five  years  of  age, 
came  before  me  having  been  scalped  and  left  for  dead  by  the  savages. 
"Father  Joseph,"  lie  said  to  me,  "save  my  soul!  save  my  soul!"  (speak- 
ing in  the  English  language).  We  took  all  possible  care  of  him  and 
he  became  some  better,  but  at  the  end  of  a  few  days  he  died."7 

Prairie  i]u  Chien  lay  in  the  very  center  of  these  Indian  disturbances, 
and  Father  Dunand  naturally  dwelt  on  them  in  his  Diary  at  greater 
length.  We  will  give  one  more  incident  to  show  in  what  a  hopeless 
condition  the  greater  part  of  Northern  Illinois  found  itself  just  before 
the  dawn  of  its  christianization :  "One  day  two  Americans  fell  into 
their  hands,"  writes  Father  Dunand,  "and  lest  they  might  escape,  they 
brought  them  to  a  savage  village.  While  their  fate  was  being  decided 
they  were  laid  on  their  backs  on  the  earth;  then  their  four  exti'emities 
were  stretched  out  fastened  to  four  pegs  driven  very  deep  into  the 
ground.  One  was  condemned  to  be  boiled  in  a  large  kettle  and  after- 
wards eaten ;  the  other  was  to  be  roasted  alive  before  the  fire  over 
which  the  pot  was  boiling  which  contained  his  companion.  The  first 
having  been  disembowelled  was  torn  to  pieces  and  crammed  into  the 
kettle ;  the  other  was  stripped  of  his  clothes  and  led  before  the  fire  from 
which  the  flames  rose  more  than  six  feet.  The  Indians,  weapons  in 
hand,  formed  a  circle  round  him  that  he  might  not  escape.  The  women 
were  in  front,  each  holding  in  her  hand  a  pointed  stick  with  which  to 
prod  the  unfortunate  man  and  to  oblige  him  to  turn  towards  the  fire. 
It  is  worthy  of  note  that  under  such  circumstances  the  women  are  far 
more  cruel  than  the  men.  One  of  the  women  had  her  child  in  her  arms. 
She  was  the  most  vicious  of  all.  The  poor  creature  who  was  thus  toast- 
ing, unable  to  bear  such  cruel  torture  conceived  the  idea  of  making  them 
kill  him  at  once ;  and  for  this  purpose  grabbed  her  child  and  flung  it  in 
the  pot  with  his  companion.  Seeing  this,  the  savages  clapping  their 
hands  to  their  mouths,  cried  out:  "He  is  a  hero!  He  is  a  hero!  and  the 
mother  of  the  child  coming  forward  adopted  him  as  her  son;  in  this 
way  he  was  spared ;  but  on  condition  that  he  recognize  as  his  mother  her 
whose  child  he  had  thrown  into  the  pot.  One  need  not  be  astonished 
at  this,  for  it  is  the  custom  among  these  people  for  the  woman  to  adopt 
as  her  husband  or  son  him  who  has  been  the  murderer,  if  he  is  caught. 
This  is  the  almost  invariable  rule."8 


"     Dunand 's  Diary,  1.  <■.,  \>.  <>n. 
Mem,  ibidem,  p.  54. 


Father  Dunand  tltt   Lont  Missionary  233 

But.  sad  to  say.  continues  Father  Dunand.  "There  are.  among 
these  natives  some  white  men  more  inhuman  than  the  aborigines.  The 
following  story  gives  one  instance  of  this.  One  day  two  young  Amer- 
ican girls,  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  fell  into  the  hands  of  some  Indians 
who  carried  them  off  to  their  cam]).  It  is  easier  to  imagine  than  to 
describe  what  was  the  fright  and  shock  of  these  girls  at  the  sisrht  of 
these  wild  men,  thirsty  for  blood  and  always  ready  to  shed  it.  How- 
ever, whether  they  were  moved  by  the  tears  of  these  two  unfortunates. 
or  whether  they  were  induced  by  some  prospective  interest,  they  decided 
to  sell  them  to  some  white  traders.  While  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the 
merchants  who  must  have  been  at  some  great  distance,  they  placed  the 
two  young  women  by  the  side  of  a  fire.  There  they  kept  them,  trembling 
from  head  to  foot,  more  dead  than  alive,  when  a  white  man  living  among 
the  natives  approached  one  of  them  with  a  knife  in  his  hand;  and  hav- 
ing laid  her  breast  bare  with  violence,  cut  it  off  and  roasted  it.  The 
natives  were  horrified  at  such  barbarity;  they  pursued  the  monster  to 
kill  him,  but  he  hid  himself.  Meanwhile  the  poor  victim  of  so  horrible 
a  deed  was  stretched  on  the  ground  bathed  in  her  own  blood  and  over- 
cast with  the  pallor  of  death.  A  savage,  bending  over  her  said:  "My 
poor  girl,  we  did  not  wish  to  kill  thee,  but  since  thou  hast  lost  so  much 
blood  and  cannot  escape  death,  I  will  do  thee  a  kindness."  With  these 
words  he  cleaved  the  head  from  the  body  with  his  hatchet.  A  merchant 
bought  the  other  and  returned  her  to  her  parents.  I  learned  this  tragic- 
story  from  those  who  were  themselves  spectators  to  it.":' 

Such  were  the  prevailing  conditions  in  all  the  northern  portion  of 
the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  before  the  coming  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  his 
missionary  band  of  1818. 


s     Dunand 's  Diary,  1.  c,  pp.  55  and  56. 


PART  ONE 


THE  ERA  OF  PREPARATION 

BOOK  III 

The  Church  of  St  Louis 
Under  Bishop  Du  Bourg  of  Louisiana 


BOOK  III 

Chapter  1 
BISHOP  LOUIS  WILLIAM  VALENTIN  DU  BOURG 


The  twenty  days  from  November  30th,  1803,  to  December  20th,  1803, 
were  fateful  for  three  great  nations,  France,  Spain  and  the  United  States. 
On  the  first  date  Spain  retroceded  to  France  the  province  of  Louisiana, 
she  had  received  from  France  forty  years  previous ;  and  on  the  latter 
date  the  United  States  acquired  possession  of  the  same  province  of  Louisi- 
ana, bought  from  France,  for  the  sum  of  fifteen  million  of  dollars.  All 
Louisiana  was  now  a  territory  of  the  great  western  republic.  Fifty 
thousand  souls,  mostly  of  the  Catholic  faith,  had  been  added  to  the 
struggling  Church  of  America.  The  change  had  come  so  suddenly,  un- 
expectedly, that  no  one  could  realize  the  full  meaning  of  the  event.  It  was 
the  birth  of  a  new  and  glorious  period  not  only  for  liberty  and  progress 
but  for  religion  as  welL  It  was  not  so  plain  then,  as  it  is  today,  that  the 
unification  of  the  country,  under  the  benign  principles  of  the  American 
Constitution,  would  cause  an  ever-widening  stream  of  immigration  to 
flow  in  and  invigorate  the  Church  and  make  it  the  mighty,  self-sustaining 
body  we  behold  with  joy  and  pride.  But  the  Louisiana  Purchase  was, 
under  God's  Providence,  the  beginning  of  this  wonderful  change. 

As  the  death  of  Father  Patrick  Walsh,  Vicar  General  of  New  Orleans, 
left  the  diocese  of  Louisiana  without  ecclesiastical  government,  Bishop 
Carroll  of  Baltimore  resolved  to  act  under  the  Decree  of  September  1st, 
1805,  and  assume  the  administration.  He  appointed  Father  John  Olivier, 
who  had  been  at  Cahokia  till  1803,  and  was  now  Chaplain  of  the  Ursu- 
lines  at  New  Orleans,  his  Vicar-General  for  Louisiana.  There  was  one 
man  in  the  episcopal  city,  a  man  of  great  influence,  who  would  not  recog- 
nize the  new  authority,  Father  Antonio  de  Sedella.1  The  character  of 
this  Capuchin  Monk  is  still  an  enigma.  The  people  of  New  Orleans  loved 
and  received  him,  as  one  that  stood  in  highest  grace  with  Heaven,  whilst 
he  himself  was  continually  opposing  those  whom  the  Church  placed  in 
authority.   It  is  said  that  he  was  a  Free-mason  and  at  the  same  time  an 


1  Cf.  Gassier,  F.  L.,  "Pere  Antoine,  Supremo  Officer  of  the  Holy  Inquisition 
of  Cartagena,  in  Louisiana,"  in  "Catholic  Historical  Review,"  New  Series,  vol.  II, 
pp.  5&-63.     Also  vol.  TV.  Old  Series,  pp.  52-75. 

(237) 


238  History  of  tin   Archdiocesi   of  St.  Louis 

officer  of  the  Spanish  [nquisition.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  that  tie  was 
a  man  of  great  powers  of  mind  and  of  a  domineering  character.  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  at  one  time  called  him  the  "inimicus  homo,"  and  at  another, 
proposed  him  to  Rome  for  the  office  of  his  coadjutor.  Father  Sedella 
wras  certainly  not  a  "homo  ecelesiae"  whatever  else  he  may  have  been. 
He  held  the  position  of  Pastor  of  the  Cathedral  at  New  Orleans,  with 
two  assistants  wdiose  character  was  under  a  cloud.  Vicar  General  Olivier 
endeavored  to  abate  the  scandal,  but  met  only  stubborn  resistance. 

Bishop  Carroll  in  a  letter  to  James  Madison,  then  Secretary  of  State, 
bares  the  secret  of  his  long  delay  in  taking  effective  action.  He  had  been 
informed  by  Cardinal  Pietro,  that  "the  acquiescence  of  the  American 
government  is  necessary  with  respect  to  the  measures  to  be  adopted  for 
settling  the  ecclesiastical  state  of  Louisiana."2  But  the  only  persons  for 
the  difficult  position  of  Bishop  in  those  newly  acquired  parts  of  the 
United  States  were  Frenchmen,  who  would  probably  not  be  acceptable 
to  the  Government,  especially  as  Napoleon  was  known  to  be  meddling 
with  these  same  affairs.  The  unwarranted  course  of  action  of  the  French 
Government  proceeded  from  the  efforts  of  some  Louisiana  politicians 
headed  by  that  "artful  Spanish  Friar,  Antonio  de  Sedella,"  who  sent 
a  special  mission  to  obtain  a  recommendation  from  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
for  the  immediate  nomination  of  de  Sedella  to  the  bishopric.  "But,  the 
attempt  has  completely  miscarried,"  wrote  Bishop  Carroll.  This  would 
throw  some  light  on  the  motives  of  Father  Antonio  in  his  entire  course 
of  rebellion.  Mr.  Madison,  of  course,  had  no  suggestion  to  offer,  no  criti- 
cism to  make,  but  expressed  perfect  confidence  in  the  patriotism  of  the 
Bishop  of  Baltimore.  Cardinal  Antonelli's  suggestion  was,  that  Father 
Charles  Nerinckx  should  be  sent  to  New  Orleans  with  the  rank  of  Ad- 
ministrator Apostolic  and  the  "rights  of  an  Ordinary,"  but  the  humble 
and  rather  diffident  missionary  would  not  listen  to  any  such  proposal. 
Father  Lespinasse  also  was  considered,  and  lastly  Father  Benedict  Flaget. 
As  the  troubles  in  New  Orleans  became  more  harassing  from  day  to  day, 
Bishop  Carroll  bethought  himself  of  the  man  that  seemed  entirely  fitted 
for  the  magnificent  opportunity  of  bringing  order  out  of  chaos  in  Louisi- 
ana,  and  place  the  Church  there  on  the  way  of  triumphant  progress.  Tt 
was  the  Sulpician  Father  William  Valentin  Louis  Du  Bourg,  one-time 
President  of  Georgetown  College,  and  Founder  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary, 
and  other  institutions  of  learning  and  piety.3 

Father  Du  Bourg  was  a  native  of  the  Island  of  Santo  Domingo,  the 
place  where  the  holy  sacrifice  was  first  celebrated  in  America  after  its 
discovery  by  Christopher  Columbus.   The  date  of  his  birth  was  February 


2  Guilday,  "Life  and  Times  of  John  Carroll,"  p.  707. 

3  Letter  of  Appointment  as  Administrator  Apostolic,  signed  by  Cardinal 
Antonelli  and  Archbishop  Carroll  of  Baltimore  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiosese, 
printed  in  "Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  TV,  p.  56. 


Bishop  Louis  William  Valentin  Du  Bourg  239 

4th,  1766,  twenty-five  years  before  the  terrible  uprising  of  the  blacks 
drove  the  French  colonists  from  the  island.  Cape  Francois,  was  the 
place  of  his  birth,  though  not  the  scene  of  his  childhood,  as  he  was  taken, 
two  years  old,  to  Bordeaux,  the  former  home  of  his  family  in  France.  He 
made  his  classical  and  philosophical  studies  in  the  College  of  Guyenne  in 
Bordeaux,  and  then  went  to  Paris  for  the  study  of  Theology.  On  October 
12th,  1786,  he  entered  the  Grand  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpiee  and  remained 
there  for  two  years.  Owing  to  the  troubles  of  the  period,  the  Registers 
of  Ordinations  were  lost,  and  so,  the  date  of  young  Du  Bourg 's  admission 
to  the  sacred  orders  is  not  known.  It  was  probably  in  his  twenty-third 
year  that  he  became  a  priest,  that  is  in  the  Fall  of  1788.  His  first  posi- 
tion was  that  of  a  Professor  in  the  College  of  Issy.  But  signs  of  the  time 
were  ominous,  both  to  throne  and  altar. 

On  August  1792,  it  became  clear  to  the  priests  at  the  College  that 
they  must  fly  for  safety.  Father  Du  Bourg  escaped  to  Bordeaux  dis- 
guised as  a  minstrel  with  violin  in  his  arm.  His  journey  to  Spain  lasted 
from  August  11th  to  September  3rd.  In  179-1  he  embarked  for  Baltimore, 
where  he  arrived  December  14th.  He  was  here  admitted  into  the  Sulpi- 
cian  Community,  on  March  9th,  1795. 

In  Baltimore  the  young  Sulpician  took  truly  Christian  revenge  for 
the  sins  of  the  negro  race  against  his  people  of  St.  Domingo  by  devoting 
a  good  part  of  his  time  and  energy  to  the  instruction  of  the  negroes  and 
negresses  in  their  holy  religion.  From  September  20th,  1796,  Father 
Du  Bourg  was  President  of  Georgetown  College.  Early  in  January  1799 
he  went  to  Havana  for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  College ;  but  as  he  met 
violent  opposition  from  the  clergy  of  Havana,  he  returned  to  Baltimore 
in  August  of  the  same  year.  Here  he  founded  a  College  for  boys,  which 
in  the  course  of  time  became  the  Seminary  of  St.  Mary's  Baltimore,  with 
himself  as  President. 

One  of  his  early  triumphs  was  the  part  he  took  in  the  establishment 
of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  commonly  called  ' '  Mother  Seton  's  Daughters, ' ' 
in  1809,  and  in  the  foundation  of  their  Mother-house  at  Emmitsburg. 
Maryland,  in  1811. 

Mrs.  Seton,  or  Eliza  Ann  Bayley,  was  one  of  the  noblest  converts 
the  American  Church  has  ever  gained.  After  the  death  of  her  husband, 
she  felt  that  her  vocation  was  the  instruction  of  youth,  but  for  a  time 
she  could  not  come  to  a  practical  decision.  The  religious  life  was  her  ideal, 
and  yet  her  children  had  every  claim  upon  her  motherly  care.  It  was 
Du  Bourg 's  guiding  and  helping  hand  that  enabled  Mrs.  Seton  to  combine 
her  seemingly  conflicting  duties  into  one  great  undertaking  for  God's 
honor:  the  establishment  of  the  new  religious  community  of  teaching 
sisters:  "Mother  Seton 's  Daughters." 

From  these  apostolic  labors  and  triumphs  it  can  be  clearly  seen,  that 
Du  Bourg  was  a  man  of  uncommon  gifts  of  intellect  and  character,  and 


240  History  of  thi    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

well  able  and  deserving  to  fill  the  most  exalted  positions  in  the  Church. 
Accordingly,  Bishop  Carrol]  on  A.ugus1  L8th,  1812  appointed  him  "Ad- 
ministrator Apostolic  of  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana  and  the  Two  Floridas." 
This,  of  course,  included  all  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  and 
easl  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  from  the  gulf  to  Canada.  .\cw  Orleans. 
the  former  episcopal  city  was  to  he  the  seat  of  the  new  Administrator 
Apostolic. 

"The  new  Administrator. "  as  .John  (i.  Shea  says,  ''was  a  brilliant 
and  learned  man.  but  lacked  courage  and  firmness." 

To  these  undeniable  defects  of  Dr.  Du  Bourg's  character  St.  Louis 
owes  a  number  of  very  important  institutions,  which  in  the  natural 
course  of  events  ought  to  have  gone  to  the  older  and  more  important  city 
of  New  Orleans. 

This  good  came  out  of  the  evil  thai  Father  Antonio  did,  and  the 
one  weakness  of  Dr.  Du  Bourg's  character  helped  to  bring  untold  bless 
ings  to  St.  Louis.  But  we  musl  treat  all  these  events  in  an  orderly 
manner. 

The  diocese  of  Lower  and  Upper  Louisiana  was,  indeed,  vastly  rich 
in  territory,  but  extremely  poor  in  every  other  respect:  sparsely  peopled, 
the  settlements  widely  scattered,  the  parishes  disorganized,  and  the 
clergy  greatly  reduced  in  number  and  in  discipline.  "Many  Catholics 
died  without  the  sacraments,"  as  a  note  of  Propaganda  states,  "many 
children  are  unbaptized;  others  scarcely  see  a  priest  once  only  in  a  life 
time,  marriages  are  contracted  without  the  Church's  blessing,  and  Chris- 
tian doctrine  is  not  taught,  and  such  a  decay  of  Christian  life  is  to  be 
observed,  that  within  a  few  years  the  Catholic  faith  will  he  entirely 
obliterated."4 

New  Orleans  is  described  as  a  hotbed  of  unbelief  and  moral  cor- 
ruption, owing  to  a  greal  extent,  to  the  efforts  of  the  Freemasons,  and 
other  adherents  of  the  godless  philosophy  of  Voltaire,  but  above  all  "to 
the  scandals  given  by  some  of  the  clergy." 

Add  to  these  anxieties  the  fact  that  an  English  army  under  Packen- 
ham  stood  at  the  gates  of  the  city  ready  to  carry  it  by  storm.  General 
Jackson  won  the  victory,  and  Dr.  Du  Bourg's  brave  and  patriotic  conduct 
during  the  threatening  danger,  won  him  the  respect  of  the  victorioiis 
General  and  of  the  saner  part  of  the  people  of  the  city.  Even  Father 
Antonio  yielded  a  kind  of  recognition  to  the  Administrator's  authority."' 
But  now  there  fell  another  sorrow  to  Father  Du  Bourg's  lot.  His  good 
priests  were  dying,  four  of  them,  within  eighteen  months,  only  ten  re- 
mained, three  of  them  very  old  and  decrepit. 


^     Souvay  in  "Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  IV,  p.  53. 
•r>     Dr.  Du  Bourj,'   preached  an   eloquent  patriotic  senium   at    the   Thanksgiving 
services  for  the  victory  of  General  Jackson. 


Bishop  Louis  William  Valentin  Du  Bourg  241 

For  three  Ion"'  years  the  Administrator  Apostolic  bore  the  burdens 
of  an  almost  hopeless  cause.  The  war  with  England  was  over,  and  the 
way  to  Rome,  the  Seat  of  the  Holy  Father,  lay  open.  Why  not  appeal 
to  Him  for  help,  or  for  relief  from  his  terrible  burden?  More  laborers 
for  the  vineyard,  and  larger  means  for  their  support  were  the  things  he 
hoped  for;  his  recall  from  Louisiana  to  private  life  was  what  he  was 
prepared  for. 

On  April  29th,  1815  Dr.  Du  Bourg  announced  his  intention  of  going 
to  Europe  in  the  interest  of  the  Diocese,  and  the  appointment  of  Rev. 
Louis  Sibourd  as  his  Vicar  General  to  adminster  the  Diocese  during  his 
absence.  In  this  announcement  the  Administrator  Apostolic  stated  that 
he  had  all  the  necessary  faculties  for  this  appointment.  This  roused  the 
fighting  spirit  of  Father  Sedella.  He  demanded  to  be  shown  the  letter 
of  Du  Bourg 's  appointment,  and  the  special  faculties  received;  "other- 
wise," he  said,  "neither  my  honor  nor  my  ministry  allow  me  to  comply 
with  your  ordinance."  Dr.  Du  Bourg  immediately  complied  with  the 
Capuchin  Father's  impertinent  request,  by  sending  copies  of  the  Ponti- 
fical Brief  signed  by  Cardinal  Antonelli,  the  letter  of  Bishop  Carroll  of 
Baltimore,  which  conferred  upon  Dr.  Du  Bourg  the  quality  of  "Adminis- 
trator Apostolic  with  the  rights  of  an  Ordinary."  And  not  content  with 
this  he  entered  upon  a  lenghty  argument  with  a  man  who  would  not  be 
convinced.  Father  Antonio's  reply  was  a  simple  denial  of  all  his  Superior 
had  written.  Strange  to  say,  the  Administrator  Apostolic  returned  to 
the  charge  in  a  letter  dated  May  3rd,  1815:  The  argument  is  clear, 
concise  and  convincing.  Its  dignified  tone  must  have  made  some  impres- 
sion on  the  Pastor  of  the  Cathedral  of  New  Orleans,  if  the  argument 
failed  its  purpose.  Yet,  the  day  of  departure  was  at  hand.  On  the  4th, 
day  of  March,  Monseigneur  Du  Bourg  sailed  for  Europe,  no  doubt, 
sorely  beset  by  dark  omens  as  to  what  might  be  done  by  the  "inimicus 
homo."  Landing  at  Bordeaux,  in  July,  1815,  shortly  after  the  battle  of 
Waterloo,  when  all  France  was  in  turmoil,  he  could  not  proceed  on  his 
journey  to  Rome  for  some  time.  He  therefore,  wrote  to  Cardinal  Litta, 
Prefect  of  Propaganda,  that  he  had  set  out  from  Louisiana  on  an  "ad 
limina"  visit  to  the  holy  Apostles,  for  the  purpose  of  submitting  to  the 
Holy  See,  the  wretched  condition  of  the  diocese  entrusted  to  his  care ; 
but  that,  owing  to  the  disturbed  condition  of  Europe,  he  was  obliged  to 
postpone  his  visit,  perhaps  for  a  long  time. 

After  this  introduction  Monseigneur  Du  Bourg  broaches  his  com- 
plaint against  Father  Sedella  who  refused  to  recognize  the  Vicar  General 
duly  appointed,  a  man  of  remarkable  piety  and  prudence.  The  Adminis- 
trator finally  begged  for  a  recognition  of  Father  Sibourd 's  appointment, 
pointing  out  the  necessity  to  abstain,  for  prudential  reasons,  from  any 
reference  to  Father  Antonio.  The  Cardinal  Prefect  may  have  thought, 
that  a  little  more  firmness  on  the  part  of  Monseigneur  Du  Bourg  toward 


242  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis, 

the  recalcitranl  Capuchin  would  have  served  his  cause  much  better  than 
this  appeal  to  Rome.  Of  course,  Dr.  Du  Bourg  was  supported  in  his 
contention  with  Father  Anthony;  and  Archbishop  Carroll  was  requested 
to  notify  the  Catholics  of  Louisiana  to  this  effect.  Father  de  Sedella  there- 
upon ceased  to  exercise  the  jurisdiction  he  had  usurped;  but  did  not 
cease  to  make  trouble  for  the  Bishop. 

The  Administrator  Apostolic  was  received  in  audience  by  Pope  Pius 
VII,  who  listened  with  lively  interest  to  all  that  the  American  Prelate 
had  to  sajr  about  his  hopes  and  fears  for  Louisiana.  Men  and  means  for 
a  grand  effort  must  be  provided  otherwise  all  is  lost.  The  Holy  Father 
assured  him  of  his  assistance.  Dr.  Du  Bourg  received  the  appointment  as 
Bishop  of  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas  and  was  consecrated  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Louis  of  the  French,  September  24th,  1815.  The  consecrating 
Prelate  was  Cardinal  Joseph  Doria.  Father  Felix  de  Andreis  whom  Dr. 
Du  Bourg  had  met  at  the  Lazarist  Home  of  Monte  Citorio,  witnessed  the 
solemn  act.  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  as  was  his  wont,  gave  way  to  his  enthusi- 
astic zeal  by  appealing  to  the  Superior  of  the  Lazarists,  Father  Sicardi, 
for  the  very  best  missionary  he  had,  Father  Felix  de  Andreis.  At  the 
very  time  of  Dr.  Du  Bourg 's  arrival,  De  Andreis  was  giving  a  mission 
in  Rome,  with  such  remarkable  fervor  and  success  that  the  Prelate's 
mind  was  made  up  at  once :  Him  I  must  have  for  the  mission  or  none 
other. 

Father  Sicardi,  however,  was  altogether  unwilling  to  let  him  go 
to  Louisiana.  But,  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  feeling  that  the  success  of  his  own 
undertaking  depended  on  the  saintly  priest,  not  only  continued  his  im- 
portunities with  Father  Sicardi,  but  also  enlisted  the  powerful  inter- 
cession of  Cardinal  Consalvi,  the  Pope's  Secretary  of  State,  and  at  last 
appealed  to  the  Holy  Father  himself.  Father  Sicardi  yielded  to  the 
wishes  of  the  martyr  Pope,  although  with  a  heavy  heart,  and  in  an 
interview  with  Cardinal  Consalvi  on  the  27th  of  December,  made  all 
the  necessary  arrangements  with  a  view  of  the  erection  of  a  Seminary  in 
Bishop  Du  Bourg 's  almost  boundless  diocese. 

Father  De  Andreis'  delight  was  not  unmingled  with  fear,  that  he 
might  prove  unworthy  of  the  call.  The  thought  of  his  dearest  friend. 
Father  Rosati,  a  member  of  the  same  community,  but  then  absent  from 
Rome,  occurred  to  him.  He,  the  teacher,  had  several  years  previous,  spoken 
to  his  disciple,  that  he  should  learn  English,  as  they  were  to  be  sent  one 
day  to  a  mission  where  they  would  need  that  language.  Remembering 
this,  Father  De  Andreis  wrote  to  Rosati,  asking  him  whether  he  would 
accompany  him  on  the  mission  to  Louisiana.  Father  Rosati  answ-ered  : 
yes,  he  would.  Several  other  priests  and  clerical  students  volunteered 
for  the  mission,  Father  John  B.  Acquaroni  among  the  number.  On 
October  14,  1815,  the  first  band  of  American  missionaries  were  ready  to 
depart  with  the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  on  the  night  of  the  21st, 


Bishop  Louis  William  Valentin  Du  Bourg  243 

they  embarked  for  Marseilles  under  the  leadership  of  Rosati,  there  to 
await  the  coming  of  Father  De  Andreis  who  was  detained  for  the  time  in 
Rome.  Many  gifts  in  the  form  of  vestments,  altar-plate,  linens,  books, 
and  money,  were  made  to  the  new  mission.  On  the  15th  of  December, 
Father  De  Andreis  also  took  his  departure  from  his  brethren  at  Monte 
Citorio  in  company  with  Francis  X.  Dahmen,  the  future  Pastor  of  Ste. 
Genevieve.  They  took  the  over-land  route  to  Bordeaux,  touching  at 
Piacenca,  where  he  was  joined  by  the  everfaithful  Brother  Blanka,  and 
touching  at  Turin  and  Montpellier,  on  the  30th  of  January,  1817  ar- 
rived at  Bordeaux.  Here  they  were  most  kindly  received  by  the 
venerable  Archbishop  whose  guest  De  Andreis  remained  for  four  months 
and  a  half  during  the  collection-tour  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg.0 

The  little  community  under  Father  De  Andreis  at  Bordeaux  repre- 
sented only  the  first  fruits  of  the  new  Bishop's  endeavors.  At  Rome  he 
had  received  a  gift  of  six  hundred  scudi  from  the  Propaganda.  "What 
other  sums  he  collected  in  Italy  we  do  not  know  :  yet  they  must  have  been 
considerable.  But  what  cheered  him  most,  were  the  new  members  of  his 
missionary  band  he  recruited  in  Milan,  namely  a  pious  association  of 
priests  and  students  under  Father  John  Mary  Rossetti,  Of  these,  Joseph 
Tichitoli  accompanied  the  Bishop :  the  others,  Father  Marcellus  Borella, 
John  Rosti,  John  Bosoni,  Peter  Vergani,  Angelo  Mascaroni,  and  Joseph 
Pifferi,  followed  later,  and  labored  in  various  capacities  in  the  Dioceses 
of  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans. 

At  Lyons  Bishop  Du  Bourg  encouraged  some  pious  ladies  to  form  an 
association  for  the  support  of  the  missions,  which  in  after  days  was  known 
as  the  "Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,"  and  which  for 
many  years  was  the  main-stay  of  the  Church  in  Louisiana.  But  whilst 
all  this  was  sufficiently  encouraging,  there  was  a  dark  cloud  overhanging 
all  the  Bishop 's  hopes  in  New  Orleans.  ' '  The  news  which  I  received  from 
New  Orleans"  he  writes  to  Cardinal  Dugnani,  on  April  11th,  "were 
such  as  to  almost  make  me  give  up  the  whole  undertaking.  The  enemy, 
on  hearing  of  my  appointment,  renewed  and  multiplied  his  perfidious 
wiles.  There  is  now  question  of  having  the  State  Legislature  pass  a  law 
placing  my  temporalities  under  the  absolute  control  of  the  men  most 
strenuously  opposed  to  Episcopal  authority ;  and  so  heated  are  the  minds 
of  the  party,  that  my  friends  entertain  fears  about  my  personal  safety, 
should  I  appear  in  the  city. 

Your  Eminence  may  easily  realize  what  distress  such  news  caused 
me.  I  must  say  candidly  that  I  came  very  near  beseeching  His  Holiness 
to  take  away  from  my  shoulders  a  burden  which,  in  circumstances  such 
as  these,  appeared  to  me  simply  unbearable. 


6     A  good   and   sufficient   account   of  this   period   of   Du   Bourg 's  life  may    tie 
found  in  the  "Life  of  Felix  De  Andreis,"  by  Bishop  Joseph  Rosati,  pp.  51-72. 


2i-i  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  8t.   Louis 

Unbearable  it  would  be,  indeed,  Your  Eminence,  for  the  most 
courageous  and  fearless  Bishop,  if  he  were  obliged  to  settle  in  the  City 
of  New  Orleans,  or  even  in  Lower  Louisiana,  which  is  almost  entirely 
under  the  influence  of  that  wretched  Religious.  Nothing  at  all  can  be 
hoped  there  as  long  as  that  man  is  living.  However,  I  feel  how  essential 
it  is,  not  to  give  up  the  hope  of  bringing  back  some  day  by  dint  of 
meekness,  that  part  of  the  Diocese  under  submission  to  Episcopal  author- 
ity. But  this  consideration  itself  positively  forbids  exposing  the  Bishop 
to  an  uneven  struggle,  the  inevitable  result  of  which  can  be  only  the  loss 
of  the  respect  due  to  his  dignity. 

I  see  but  one  means  of  reconciling  all  the  interests  at  stake,  and 
I  beg  Your  Eminence  kindly  to  propose  this  means  to  the  Cardinal 
Prefect  and  to  the  Sacred  Congregation :  it  is,  that  I  should,  for  the  time 
being  establish  my  See  in  Upper  Louisiana,  namely  at  St.  Louis. 

Apart  from  the  peremptory  motive  which  brought  this  idea  to  my 
mind,  several  other  reasons  seem  sufficiently  strong  to  recommend  this 
measure.  In  order  that  I  may  work  thoroughly  for  the  good  of  my  Dio- 
cese, I  must  establish  a  Seminary  and  primary  schools;  these  new 
establishments  ought  to  be,  until  they  are  solidly  grounded,  under  the 
immediate  and  constant  supervision  of  the  Bishop.  Now  everything 
is  against  their  being  located  in  Lower  Louisiana,  whereas  everything 
looks  favorable  to  their  happy  development,  if  they  be  in  Upper  Louisi- 
ana: in  the  one  place,  morality  is  at  an  incredibly  low  ebb,  it  remains 
untainted  in  the  other ;  in  the  one,  the  air  is  unsalubrious,  it  is  pure 
and  healthy  in  the  other ;  in  the  one,  real  estate  and  living  are  very 
high,  they  are  very  cheap  in  the  other.  In  case  I  were  to  settle  in  Upper 
Louisiana,  I  would  appoint  only  a  Vicar  General  at  New  Orleans,  request 
His  Holiness,  through  the  Sacred  Congregation,  to  grant  him  the  faculty 
to  administer,  as  I  would  deem  fit,  the  Sacrament  of  Confirmation,  as 
the  immense  distance  between  the  place  of  my  residence  and  Lower 
Louisiana  would  prevent  my  betaking  me  thither  to  fulfill  this  august 
function  of  my  Order. 

In  this  case,  too,  it  would  be  necessary  to  postpone  indefinitely  the 
carrying  into  execution  of  the  project  which  I  have  suggested  to  the 
Sacred  Congregation  touching  the  dismemberment  of  Upper  Louisiana 
from  my  Diocese  and  its  creation  into  a  new  Diocese."7 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  did  not  wait  for  an  answer  from  Propaganda, 
before  taking  measures  according  to  this  plan.  Less  than  two  weeks 
after  writing  to  Cardinal  Dugnani,  he  made  known  to  Father  De  Andreis 
his  change  of  plans.  He  no  longer  intended  that  they  should  proceed  to 
Xew  Orleans,  but  to  St.  Louis,  which  is  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  about  twelve  hundred  miles  inland.   The  advantages  of  this  change 


"J     Archives    of    Propaganda,    printed    by    Souvay    in    "Catholic    Historical    Re- 
view," vol.  IV,  p.  63. 


Bishop  Louis  William  Valentin  Du  Bourg  245 

were  great,  both  for  the  Catholics  of  that  region,  and  for  the  Indians, 
who  are  far  more  numerous  and  more  easily  reached  at  St.  Louis,  than 
at  New  Orleans.  So  the  first  House  of  the  Mission  and  its  Seminary 
should  be  built  there.  But,  as  English  and  French  were  spoken  at  St. 
Louis,  it  would  be  necessary  that  the  missionaries  should  learn  English. 
The  change  of  base  surprised,  but  could  not  discourage  Father  De 
Andreis  and  his  companions.  "Now  then,"  said  he,  "Let  us  take  courage, 
gentlemen,  I  see  that  the  English  language  will  indeed  be  indispensable 
to  us."  Father  Rosati  recalled  what  Father  De  Andreis  had  told  him 
some  years  before  at  Rome :  that  the  English  language  would,  one  day, 
be  necessary  for  both."8  In  the  fulfilment  of  this  prediction  Father 
Rosati  saw  another  proof  of  the  fact  that  De  Andreis  was  "a  living 
saint."  On  the  eve  of  the  Ascension,  May  22nd,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  arrived 
at  Bordeaux  with  his  band  of  young  men,  ecclesiastic  and  laymen,  all 
anxious  for  their  departure.  The  company  was  divided  into  two  bands, 
the  first  one  under  the  leadership  of  Vicar  General  De  Andreis,  and 
comprising  Fathers  Rosati,  Acquaroni,  priests  of  the  Congregation  of 
the  Missions,  then  Fathers  Caretti  and  Ferrari,  secular  priests  from 
Porto  Mauritio,  Francis  Xavier  Dahmen,  Joseph  Tichitoli,  Leo  Deys, 
and  Casto  Gonzalez,  Seminarians,  Brother  Martin  Blanka,  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Missions,  and  three  young  laymen,  who  had  expressed 
their  intention  of  becoming  brothers.  The  missionaries  embarked  on  the 
American  brig  Ranger,  on  June  12th,  after  a  touching  farewell  from 
Bishop  Du  Bourg.  But  the  next  day  being  Corpus  Christi,  and  the  ship 
being  unable  to  sail,  all  returned  to  land,  where  Father  Andreis  cele- 
brated Mass  and  gave  Holy  Communion  to  all.  Soon  after  their  return 
to  the  ship,  a  favorable  wind  sprung  up,  and  the  proud  ship  that  bore  the 
hope  of  the  western  world,  started  on  its  voyage.  For  more  than  two 
months  this  stout  little  ocean  craft  was  to  be  their  home,  their  temple, 
their  Seminary.  The  Captain  and  crew,  as  well  as  the  only  other  pas- 
senger, were  non-catholics,  but  most  respectful  in  their  behavior.  Mass 
was  said  almost  every  day  by  one  or  the  other  of  the  priests;  prayers 
were  said  in  common,  lectures  on  Theology  were  given  regularly,  and  the 
study  of  the  English  language  was  pursued  with  a  zeal  commensurate 
to  the  cause. 

Father  Rosati  had  also  received  the  powers  of  Vicar  General,  but  was 
not  to  use  them,  save  in  case  Father  De  Andreis  should  become  incapa- 
citated. Thus  the  long  and  otherwise  tedious  voyage  became  a  fit 
preparation  for  the  great  work  awaiting  the  missionaries. 


8  ' '  Life  of  Father  Felix  De  Andreis, ' '  pp.  85  and  86.  The  best  part  of  this 
chapter  is  taken,  frequently  verbatim,  from  the  excellent  article  of  Dr.  Ch.  Souvay, 
C.  M.,  in  vol.  IV  of  "Catholic  Historical  Review,"  p.  52  ss. 


246  History  of  the  Archdiocest  of  St.  Louis 

Land  was  sighted  on  the  23rd,  of  July.  On  the  26th,  the  company 
landed  at  Baltimore.  It  was  the  Octave  of  the  Feast  of  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul. 

Father  De  Andreis  tells  us  with  what  delight  he  first  beheld  the 
land  of  his  future  labors.  But  hungry  and  way-worn,  as  the  missionaries 
were,  they  sought  the  hospitable  home  of  Father  Simon  Brute  "the  most 
holy,  learned,  humble  and  affable  man,  I  ever  knew."  as  Father  De 
Andreis  styles  the  President  of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Mary's.  The 
Sulpician  Fathers  did  everything  possible  to  make  all  the  immigrants 
feel  at  home  in  America.  Meanwhile  Father  De  Andreis  wrote  to  his 
Superior  in  Rome  about  their  safe  arrival,  and  to  Archbishop  Carroll 
asking  for  faculties  in  his  diocese,  and  lastly  to  Bishop  Flaget  at  Bards- 
town  asking  for  information  respecting  the  remainder  of  the  journey. 

Bishop  Flaget  advised  an  early  start  for  Pittsburg,  and  promised 
all  possible  assistance. 


/>/«• 


(^Ch^^ 


CW-^ 


SIGNATURES  OF  THE  PIONEERS 


Chapter  2 
CHURCH-GOVERNMENT  BY  MARGUILLIERS 


Although  the  government  of  the  Church  is  vested  in  the  sacred 
ministry,  the  Pope,  the  bishops,  and  the  pastors,  in  their  respective 
spheres,  the  care  of  the  temporalities,  under  certain  circumstances,  may 
devolve  on  the  laity.  There  is  nothing  contrary  to  Catholic  principles 
in  the  system  of  Church-wardens,  trustees,  or  as  the  French  expressed 
it,  marguilliers,  having  the  care  and  control  of  the  property  of  a  parish. 
Under  the  French  and  Spanish  regimes  this  system  seems  to  have  caused 
no  friction,  a  circumstance  that  may  be  ascribed  to  the  fact  that  the 
power  of  the  marguilliers,  was  circumscribed  by  the  civil  authority. 
The  state  paid  fixed  salaries  to  the  clergy  and  contributed  towards  the 
erection  and  repair  of  the  Church-buildings.  When  March  10,  1804  the 
flags  of  Spain  and  of  France  in  St.  Louis  were  almost  simultaneously 
lowered,  and  the  flag  of  the  United  States  was  hoisted  to  announce  that 
Upper  Louisiana  had  become  American  territory,  the  union  of  Church 
and  State,  that  had  obtained  under  French  and  Spanish  rule,  was  at  an 
end,  and  the  Church  was  free  to  act  as  it  saw  proper,  but  also  found 
itself  thrown  upon  its  own  resources.  The  property  of  the  Church 
remained  with  the  Church-organizations  as  represented  by  the  marguil- 
liers, or  board  of  trustees. 

The  office  of  marguillier  was  elective.  It  was  the  duty  of  these 
wardens,  generally  four  in  number,  to  collect  all  church-dues,  to  engage 
the  lower  officers,  as  the  chanter,  and  sacristan,  to  keep  the  property 
in  repair,  and  to  pay  the  priests'  salary.  The  appointment  of  the  priest 
or  pastor  belonged  to  the  Bishop. 

Bishop  Peiialver  left  his  position  at  New  Orleans  at  the  close  of  the 
Spanish  regime.  Most  of  the  priests  of  Louisiana  also  departed  with 
the  Spanish  authorities.  Only,  Father  Maxwell  of  St.  Genevieve,  Father 
Olivier  at  Kaskaskia,  and  possibly  Father  Gibault  at  New  Madrid  re- 
mained behind.  St.  Louis  had  no  priest  of  its  own,  but  only  occasional 
visits  of  Fathers  Maxwell  and  Olivier. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  was  quite  natural  that  the  people 
through  their  wardens  took  charge  of  the  temporalities  of  the  Church 
and  even  went  so  far  as  to  engage  a  wandering  priest,  Father  Flynn,  as 
their  cure,  pro.  tern.  Parish  meetings  were  held  once  a  year,  but  might  be 
called  at  any  time,  if  circumstances  warranted  action. 

Through  the  watchful  care  of  Bishop  Rosati  the  "Register  of  the 
lie  solutions;  of  the  Parish  Meetings  hell  in  the  Parochial  Residence  of 

(247) 


248  History  of  tfn   Archdiocest   of  St.  Louis 

St.  I. inns,  from  1806  to  1830"]  were  preserved  for  us.  This  Register 
gives  us  a  fairly  good  idea  as  i<>  the  manner  to  which  the  temporal  affairs 
of  the  Church  were  transacted  during  that  period  of  transition.  The 
very  first  item  in  t he  book  under  date  of  February  Kith,  1806,  contains 
a  complaint  in  regard  to  the  sad  condition  of  the  Church,  the  ceiling 
joists  being  in  a  state  of  advanced  decay,  and  an  order  to  the  warden  in 
charge  to  have  the  roof  repaired  and  the  building  whitewashed  inside 
and  outside,  out  of  the  funds  of  the  Church.  A  reprimand  is  applied 
to  Mr.  Bernard   Pratte  for  having  delayed  the  work  on  the  roof. 

Under  date  of  the  16th,  and  23rd,  day  of  180G  the  engagement  of 
Father  Thomas  Plynn's  spiritual  services  is  recorded. - 

After  this  entry  there  seems  to  have  come  a  pause  in  the  transactions 
until  January  21st,  1810,  when  the  election  of  Antonio  Soulard  as  church 
warden  and  of  Pierre  Chouteau  as  deputy  warden  is  recorded.  As  no 
accounting  for  the  year  1S0S  had  been  made  by  Warden  M.Didier,  such  an 
accounting  of  Church-funds  was  ordered.  "It  was  further  unanimously 
resolved  that  the  Tariff  must  henceforth  be  paid  in  specie :  in  consequence 
it  will  be  diminished  by  one  half,  except  for  the  sexton,  to  whom  a  piaster 
(one  dollar)  will  be  allowed  for  a  large  grave,  and  seventy  five  sols 
(cents)  for  a  small  one.  It  was  also  resolved  that  the  annual  salary  of 
the  chanter  will  be  reduced  to  sixty  piasters  in  place  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty.  The  rent  for  the  pews  will  also  be  payable  in  piasters,  by 
[•educing  the  price  by  one  half,  and  they  will  henceforth  be  computed  in 
specie."3 

On  July  22nd,  1810  the  following  inventory  of  articles  belonging  to 
the  Church  of  St.  Louis  was  recorded  :  A  silver  monstrance  ;  two  chalices 
and  their  patens;  a  eiborium  and  its  cover  in  gold;  two  silver  cruets:  two 
boxes  of  sacred  oil  and  its  case  of  red  velvet,  and  one  in  tin  for  the 
Host ;  sixteen  brass  candleholders  and  ten  in  wood ;  two  buffets ;  a  small 
box  containing  a  silver  plate ;  two  canopies ;  an  ivory  crucifix  in  a  gilt 
frame  out  of  repair,  a  pillow  of  black  plush  ;  a  bad  carpet ;  a  missal  and 
its  stand ;  a  gradual ;  a  Gospel-book ;  three  antiphon  books ;  a  censer ; 
a  banner;  a  brass  crucifix;  a  lead  crucifix;  a  brass  dish  for  the  cruets: 
two  small  bells  for  the  Mass ;  an  incense  box  for  the  incense  and  the  spoon  ; 
a  large  flambeau  on  a  triangle  in  wood ;  a  little  kettle ;  a  holy  water  font 
in  marble  mounted  on  a  wooden  stand ;  an  armchair ;  benches ;  chairs ; 
altar  cards,  three  inferior  cassocks;  two  good  cassocks;  five  gowns  of 
cloth;  seven  cleric  surplices;  three  altar  cards;  a  tin  lantern;  eight  albs; 
two  old  square  caps;  two  albs;  eight  large  surplices;  a  table;  three  Com- 
munion cloths;  six  altar  cloths;  four  napkins  for  the  blessed  bread,  a 
veil;  six  amices;  eight  burses;  a  chalice  case;  twenty-one  purificators ; 


1  Archives  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis. 

2  Cf.  Chapter  2  of  Book  II,  of  this  history. 

;t     Shaved  deerskins  seem  to  have  been  discounted  50%. 


Church-Government   of  Marguilliers  249 

fifteen  corporals;  ten  finger  towels;  a  box  and  a  few  ribbons;  a  chalice 
case;  two  girdles;  a  rng;  a  pall;  four  altar  laces;  a  surplice;  thirteen 
chasubles,  with  stoles,  maniples  and  veils;  three  copes;  a  pascal  candle 
and  flambeau ;  two  altar  stones ;  a  box  of  candles ;  a  bell  for  the  belfry 
and  cord ;  a  lantern  in  church ;  a  heater  belonging  to  Mr.  Didier ;  a 
ladder ;  a  host  iron ;  a  portable  piece. 

These  articles  of  the  above  inventory  were  in  the  care  of  the  warden 
in  charge. 

St.  Louis,  July  22nd,  1810. 

"On  February  17th,  1812  the  majority  of  the  faithful  of  this  parish 
being  assembled  at  the  parsonage  elected  'M.  Antoine  D.  Enjen  as  warden 
by  a  majority  of  thirty-one  votes.'  " 

"On  the  same  day  it  was  unanimously  decided  that  on  St.  John's 
day,  the  coming  June,  all  the  pews  of  the  Church  will  be  put  up  for 
sale  and  adjudged  in  piasters  and  not  otherwise.  It  was  further  agreed 
that  the  salary  of  the  Cure  will  be  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  piasters 
per  annum,  and  a  residence  in  the  parsonage.  On  the  motion  concerning 
the  salary  of  the  sexton  it  was  resolved  that  the  sum  of  fifty  sols  (cents) 
shall  be  allowed  him  for  each  house,  which  sum  will  be  paid  him  by  the 
proprietors  of  said  houses  who  are  Catholics." 

"The  warden  in  charge  was  ordered  to  apportion  as  justly  as  pos- 
sible, the  sum  required  for  the  priest's  salary  of  175  among  the  various 
families  of  the  parish." 

The  Cure  mentioned  here  was  Father  Francis  Savine. 

On  January  14th,  1813  the  parishioners  elected  Samuel  Solomon  as 
warden  for  1814,  and  assistant  to  the  warden  of  the  present  year,  Antoine 
D 'Enjen.  In  1812,  Father  William  Du  Bourg  was  sent  by  Bishop  Carroll 
to  New  Orleans  as  Administrator  Apostolic  of  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana 
and  the  Floridas.  This  included  all  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi 
and  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  St.  Louis,  therefore,  came  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Administrator  Apostolic,  soon  to  be  made  Bishop  Du 
Bourg  of  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana. 

On  November  14th,  1813  the  parishioners  of  St.  Louis  appointed  a 
Committee  for  the  purpose  of  asking  the  Bishop  for  a  resident  priest. 
The  members  were :  August  Chouteau,  Charles  Gratiot,  Gregoire  Sarpy. 
Bernard  Pratte  and  Andre  Landreville. 

On  January  9th,  of  the  following  year,  Antoine  Saugrain  was 
elected  Warden  for  1815,  and  assistant  to  Samuel  Solomon,  the  warden 
for  1814. 

It  was  on  May  29th,  1814  the  Father  Francis  Savine,  Cure  of 
Cahokia  obliged  himself  to  discharge  the  spiritual  duties  as  Cure  of 
the  Church  of  St.  Louis  every  third  Sunday  until  the  end  of  April  1815, 
a  promise  that  was  extended  to  October  1817,  when  Father  Henry  Pratte 


250  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

came  up  from  St.  Genevieve  to  prepare  the  place  for  Bishop  I)u  Bourg's 
coming. 

On  January  8th,  lSlf)  Patrick  Lee  was  elected  assistant  warden  of 
Antoine  Saugrain  the  warden  in  charge. 

On  February  25th,  1816  Bapliste  Beleour  was  elected  warden  for 

1817,  and  assistant  of  Patrick  Lee,  warden  for  the  present  year. 

On  January  12th,  1817,  Antoine  Chenier  was  elected  warden   for 

1818,  and  assistant  to  Baptiate  Beleour,  warden  for  1817. 

On  January  4th,  1818  Bernard  Sarpy  was  elected  warden  for  1819, 
and  assistant  to  Antoine  Chenier  warden  for  the  present  year. 

On  the  following  day,  January  5th,  1818  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  in 
company  with  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  was  to  enter  his  quasi  episcopal 
city  of  St.  Louis  in  triumphal  procession.  There  is  no  further  parish- 
meeting  mentioned  in  the  Register  until  February  16th,  1819  in  obedience 
to  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  call.  But  the  only  resolution  passed  by  the  parish- 
ioners was  "to  sell  the  old  Church,  that  the  profit  may  be  used  for  pay- 
ing a  part  of  the  debts  contracted  for  the  construction  of  the  new." 

We  shall  see  in  a  future  chapter  how  the  system  of  Church  wardens 
gradually  proved  its  incapacity  for  constructive  work  and  was  finally 
brushed  aside  by  the  businesslike  Peter  Richard  Kenrick. 


Chapter  3 
BISHOP  FLAGET 'S  INTEREST  IN  ST.  LOUIS 


Whilst  the  little  army  of  the  Lord  was  being  brought  together  and 
equipped  for  the  conquest  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  Bishop  Flaget  was 
busy  in  preparing  the  way  for  its  coming  victories.  From  the  day  of 
his  appointment  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  conceived  the  idea  of  a  division 
of  this  vast  territory  into  two  dioceses,  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis. 
He  had  spoken  to  his  dearest  friend,  Flaget,  about  it,  and  had  even 
insinuated  that  Flaget  should  be  appointed  to  the  bishopric  of  Upper 
Louisiana,  that  is  St.  Louis.  At  first  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown  seemed 
inclined  to  accept  this  solution  :  but  later  on  would  no  longer  hear  of  the 
proposition. 

On  June  26th,  1816,  Bishop  Flaget  wrote  to  Archbishop  Neal  of 
Baltimore:  "According  to  your  request  I  candidly  pass  my  opinion 
about  the  erection  of  a  new  See  at  St.  Louis.  I  firmly  believe  that  the 
place  is  of  the  utmost  importance  for  the  good  of  religion,  not  only  on 
account  of  the  many  Catholics  that  live  there  now,  or  of  those  that  will 
immediately  emigrate  thither,  as  soon  as  they  hear  that  there  is  a  Cath- 
olic Bishop,  but  much  more  so  on  account  of  the  many  nations  of  Indians, 
that  have  never  heard  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  Bishop  that  is  to 
be  sent  thither  must  be  accompanied  by  a  good  number  of  priests  and 
zealous  ones,  because  the  country  is  almost  destitute  of  them.  A  seminary 
and  college  must  be  erected  in  order  to  give  to  the  Catholic  religion  a 
superiority  over  all  the  other  sects  that  are  moving  every  stone  to  pull 
down  our  faith  and  build  their  errors  on  its  ruins.  The  R.  R.  Jesuits 
are  certainly  those  that  would  suit  the  best  in  those  quarters,  for  sixty 
years  ago  they  carried  on  almost  all  the  work  at  the  missions  both  among 
the  French  people  and  the  Indians,  and  their  names  there  are  yet  in 
the  greatest  veneration.  If  the  Holy  Father  was  to  send  a  Jesuit  as  a 
Bishop  and  give  five  or  six  companions,  I  do  not  entertain  the  least  doubt, 
but  in  less  than  twenty  years  it  would  be  the  most  flourishing  diocese 
of  all  those  that  are  in  the  United  States.  But  if  the  Pope  sends  thither 
a  Bishop  by  himself  or  with  one  or  two  priests  only,  nothing  good  will 
result  from  his  missions :  he  will  work  as  a  zealous  missionary,  but  he 
will  do  nothing  as  Bishop. 

As  to  my  translation  to  that  See,  if  ever  it  takes  place,  it  will  be 
attended  by  a  great  many  inconveniences  in  Kentucky,  and  Upper  Louisi- 
ana will  gain  very  little  by  it.  Since  I  am  in  Kentucky,  I  have  erected  a 
Seminary  where  there  are  now  seven  young  men  studying  divinity,  and 

(251) 


'2s2  History  of  the  Archdiocest   of  St.  Louis 

five  others  more  or  less  advanced  in  their  studies  according  to  the  time 
of  their  coming;  three  Monasteries  for  public  schools,  in  which  there 
are  about  thirty  girls  thai  have  taken  their  vows,  or  are  ready  to  take 
them.  Their  success  in  teaching  and  instructing  their  pupils  of  every 
denomination  has  far  surpassed  our  expectations.  All  these  establish- 
ments, if  ever  I  am  ordered  to  go,  are  threatened  with  immediate  ruin, 
because  all  the  priests  thai  attend  them  will  follow  me."1 

It  was  only  on  the  8th  day  of  August,  1816,  that  Bishop  Flaget's 
secret  misgivings  were  set  at  rest  by  a  letter  from  Bishop  Du  Bourg 
that  the  diocese  was  not  to  be  dismembered  for  the  present,  but  the 
seat  of  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  would  be  fixed  at  St.  Louis  or  possibly. 
St.  Genevieve.  The  reasons  for  this  decision  we  have  already  heard. 
Bishop  Flaget  was  well  pleased  and  immediately  began  to  prepare  the 
way  for  Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  his  band  of  missionaries.  Concerning  the 
work  of  preparation  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  written  to  Cardinal  Dugnani: 
"However,  Your  Eminence,  before  going  there,  I  deemed  it  necessary 
to  make  sure  of  the  kind  of  welcome  1  might  expect  there;  for  I  am 
told  also  that  the  coterie  at  New  Orleans  have  spared  no  efforts  to  poison 
the  minds  of  the  country-people,  and  as  much  as  they  could,  of  the  whole 
Diocese.  In  consequence,  I  have  written  to  Bishop  Flaget  of  Kentucky, 
who  is  highly  esteemed  in  Upper  Louisiana,  and  who,  being1  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  dispositions  of  the  people  there,  solicited  the  erection 
of  a  new  Episcopal  See  in  that  district;  I  have  requested  him  to  urge 
those  people  to  express  themselves  plainly,  and  assign  to  the  Bishop 
a  maintenance  independent  from  the  caprice  and  humor  of  his  flock.  My 
opinion  is,  accordingly,  that  I  should  wait  for  their  answer  before  defi- 
nitely determining  to  go  there. 

Upon  these  various  points  it  is  extremely  urgent,  Your  Eminence, 
that  I  should  have,  as  soon  as  possible,  the  directions  of  the  Sacred 
Congregation;  for  without  these  directions  I  act  only  at  haphazard,  being 
obliged  to  rely  solely  on  my  own  judgment.  I  consulted,  however,  the 
most  enlightened  and  wise  French  prelates  and  ecclesiastics;  and  all 
approved  of  my  plan."2 

In  answer  to  his  friend's  request  Bishop  Flaget,  through  his  Vicar- 
General,  Very  Reverend  Donatien  Olivier,  sent  the  following  circular 
letter  to  all  the  people  of  Upper  Louisiana: 

St.  Charles,  Ky.,  February  8,  1816. 

Very  Reverend  Brother — Without  further  introduction  I  notify  you 

t  hat  probably  before  the  end  of  this  year  you  will  have  a  resident  Bishop, 

i  Archives  of  Baltimore;  printed  i"  "American  Catholic  Historical  tie 
searches,"  vol.  XIX,  pp.  108-109. 

-'     Archives  of  Propaganda,  Le  Codex,  3,  pp.  372,  373. 


Bishop  Flaget's  Interest  in  St.  Lams  253 

cither  at  Ste.  Genevieve  or  St.  Louis,  whose  diocese,  if  I  be  not  mis- 
taken, will  comprise  the  territories  of  Missouri  and  Illinois,  whilst  those 
of  Indiana  and  Michigan  will,  for  the  present,  be  added  to  it.  This  ar- 
rangement will  not  be  completed,  however,  until  all  the  inhabitants  of 
these  territories  unanimously  engage  themselves  to  receive  with  due 
honor  the  Bishop  and  his  lawful  successors  and  to  place  in  his  hand  a 
fund  for  the  upkeep  of  a  seminary.  This  notice  is  official,  and  I  ask 
you  to  forward  it  to  all  the  parishes,  those  east  of  the  Mississippi  as 
well  as  those  on  the  western  bank.  In  order  to  proceed  in  this  matter 
with  all  possible  prudence,  I  believe  it  to  be  advisable,  that  every  parish 
hold  a  parish  meeting  to  select  a  delegate,  and  that  all  the  delegates  re- 
pair on  a  certain  day  to  St.  Louis  and  there  deliberate. 

1.  On  the  annual  income  they  can  promise  their  Bishop. 

2.  On  the  ways  and  means  of  securing  this  income.  The  mode 
must  be  simple  and  secured  against  all  possible  annoyance. 

3.  On  the  Bishop's  house,  its  furniture  and  servants. 

4.  On  a  building  for  the  seminary  which  must  be  near  to  the  church 
and  the  Bishop,  or  on  the  lands  which  may  some  day  furnish,  a  suffi- 
cient fund  to  educate  a  number  of  young  men  destined  for  the  sacred 
ministry. 

5.  On  the  funds  necessary  to  defray  the  costs  which  the  Bishop 
may  incur  in  coming  to  them,  and  to  purchase  the  necessary  pontifical 
vestments. 

It  would  not  be  out  of  place  to  discuss  the  question  where  it  would 
he  more  advantageous  to  erect  the  episcopal  see.  at  St.  Louis,  or  Ste. 
Genevieve.  As  soon  as  these  discussions  are  closed  and  the  minutes  there- 
of made  up,  they  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  and 
to  myself  for  examination. 

The  remarks  which  we  may  feel  obliged  to  make  on  this  we  shall 
send  to  you,  and,  as  soon  as  all  parties  are  agreed,  the  result  shall  be 
submitted  to  the  Roman  Curia,  which  is  waiting  for  them  in  order 
to  make  out  the  Bulls. 

The  great  temporal  sacrifices  which  the  people  must  make  for 
the  erection  of  the  episcopal  see  are  richly  repaid  by  the  permanent 
spiritual  advantages  which  they  will  derive  therefrom. 

I  am  even  convinced  that  within  the  next  few  years  the  popula- 
tion will  be  increased  by  immigration  from  other  states,  to  such  an 
extent,  that  in  less  than  ten  years  your  property  will  have  doubled 
or  trebled  in  value.  It  would  therefore  be  a  lamentable  blindness 
against  their  own  advantage  and  that  of  their  posterity,  if  they  would. 
for  considerations  of  present  difficulties,  reject  the  favors  now  offered 
to  them,  and  thus  forever  deprive  themselves  of  the  hope  of  possessing 
an  episcopal  see. 


254  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

As  the  Location  of  the  sec  will  mainly  depend  on  the  recommenda- 
tion which,  we,  Mgr.  Du  Bourg  and  myself,  will  make,  I  am  determined 

to  oppose  with  ;ill  my  power,  the  selection  of  St.  Louis;  if  it  he 
true,  what  lias  been  written  to  me.  that  a  theatre  was  opened  there, 
which  must  neutralize  the  efforts  of  even  the  most  zealous  and  most 
holy  Bishop. 

Indeed,  what  would  it  profit  a  prelate  to  inveigh  ever  so  earnestly 
against  the  vanities,  luxuries  and  intrigues,  when  the  play-actors  may 
preach  in  principle  and  in  practice,  the  intrigues,  the  luxuries  and 
vanities  of  the  world?  That  would  mean  to  mingle  light  with  dark- 
ness, truth  with  falsehood,  Belial  with  the  God  of  Israel.  And  to 
that  I  could  never  give  my  consent.  I  trust  that  the  citizens  of  St. 
Louis  will  enter  into  themselves,  and  will  not,  for  the  love  of  vanity 
and  falsehood,  reject  the  imperishable  goods  which  must  of  necessity 
come  to  them  from  the  presence  of  a  Bishop  among  them,  and  from 
all  the  institutions  which  will  be  established  by  him.  Admonish  a'l 
the  people  of  the  various  parishes,  to  bethink  themselves,  to  bewail  their 
sins,  to  purify  their  conscience,  that  they  may,  by  fervent  and  per- 
severing prayers,  obtain  a  holy  Bishop,  who  is  consumed  by  the  zeal 
for  God's  glory  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 

Order  also,  that  in  all  parishes  where  there  is  a  priest  or  a  pre- 
centor the  Veni  Creator,  together  with  the  Oratio  de  Sancto  Spiritu. 
he  sung,  either  before  or  after  Mass;  or  that,  where  there  is  no  one 
to  sing,  the  Rosary  be  recited.  I  request  that  the  priests,  once  a  month 
at  least,  celebrate  the  Votive  Mass  of  the  Holy  Ghost  with  this  inten- 
tion: for  their  happiness  will  greatly  depend  on  the  choice  the  Holy 
Father  the  Pope  may  make. 

As  the  parishioners  are  all  well  known  and  dear  to  me,  assure 
them  that  I  will  unite  myself  with  them  in  their  prayers:  for  no 
one  on  earth  can  more  strongly  wish  for  them  happiness  in  time  and 
eternity, 

In   all  friendship,  I   remain,  your  most  devoted  servant, 
Benedict,     Bishop     of     Bardstowai. 

Vicar-General  Donatien  Olivier  added  the  following  words: 

My  dear  Confrere — As  I  know  how  devoted  you  are  to  the  parish 
entrusted  to  you,  and  to  the  salvation  of  souls,  I  need  not  ask  you  to 
carry  out  all  the  injunctions  entered  in  this  letter  of  His  Grace. 

Prairie  du  Rocher,  April  9,  1816. 
Your    Confrere, 
I).  Olivier,  Missionary  in  Illinois. 


Bishop  Flaget'sl  Interest  in  St.  Louis  255 

You  will  please  communicate  to  me  the  result  of  your  parish 
meeting.3 

We  have  given  Bishop  Flaget's  entire  letter  as  it  was  read  to 
the  Congregation  in  Missouri.  It  is,  at  the  same  time,  a  monument 
of  the  saintly  Bishop's  childlike  faith  and  a  proof  of  his  enlightened 
views  as  to  the  future  glories  of  the  West.  The  people  of  St.  Louis 
have  certainly  never  had  occasion  to  regret  the  sacrifices  their  fathers 
were  called  upon  to  make  for  the  purpose  of  a  diocese  in  those  ancient 
days. 

In  the  meantime  Father  De  Andreis  and  his  companions  had 
completed  all  preparations  for  their  journey  to  St.  Louis. 

Travelling  by  stage,  eight  of  the  company  crossed  the  Allegheny 
Mountains  in  the  Fall  of  1816.  Rain  was  their  almost  daily  compan- 
ion. The  roads  became  frightfully  deep.  An  occurrence  of  divine 
interposition  is  related  by  Father  De  Andreis:  "An  enormous  frag- 
ment of  rock  became  detached  from  its  place,  and  rolling  rapidly 
down  the  mountain  side,  crossed  the  road  at  the  very  moment  that 
two  of  our  companions  were  passing.  It  seemed  impossible  for  them 
to  escape  death  or,  at  least,  very  severe  injury:  but  they  were  pre- 
served, the  immense  mass  passing  within  a  hair's  breadth  of  their 
feet  without  touching  them."4  But  the  rain  continued  to  fall  in 
torrents.  At  a  place  called  Bloody  Run,  the  whole  caravan  was  de- 
tained for  three  days:  then  the  stage  driver  declared  he  would  not 
go  any  further,  and  left  the  forlorn  party  at  the  swollen  Juniato 
River.  De  Andreis  sent  a  messenger  across  with  the  request  for 
another  conveyance  to  bring  the  party  to  its  destiny.  Then  another 
delay  occurred.  The  stage  was  already  crowded.  At  last  Father 
De  Andries  procured  an  ordinary  farmer's  wagon  for  their  baggage, 
and,  dividing  his  company  into  two  bands,  they  all  started  on  foot 
for  the  rest  of  the  journey.  At  last  on  the  19th  day  of  September, 
they  arrived  at  Pittsburg,  weary  and  footsore  and  almost  dispirited. 
Father  De  Andreis  confesses,  that  in  the  midst  of  these  frightful 
mountains,  the  smiling  picture  of  Rome,  its  churches  and  the  friends 
he  had  left  there,  presented  itself  to  his  mind  in  glowing  colors,  and 
like  daggers  made  him  experience,  all  the  tortures  of  melancholy. 

It  was  on  the  Feast  of  the  Seven  Dolors  that  the  missionary  ex- 
pedition reached  Pittsburgh.  Having  found  the  Church  of  the  place, 
whose  Pastor,  Father  O'Brien,  was  absent  on  one  of  his  missions,  all 


3  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

4  Rosati,  "Life  of  De  Andreis,"  p.  113. 


256  History  of  the  Archdiocesi   of  St.  Louis 

the   priests  said    Mass,  ami   the   others  communicated    for   the   first    time 
since  the  beginning  of  their  journey. 

On  the  23rd  of  October,  1816  the  missionaries  started  down  the 
Ohio  River  on  a  flatboat.  On  November  19,  they  reached  Lonisville 
and  resolved  to  await  the  coming  of  the  Bishop  at  the  Seminary  of 
St.  Thomas  near  Bardstown. 

Bishop  Flaget  advised  against  going  to  St.  Louis  at  that  time. 
as  there  were  no  preparations  made  for  the  missionaries,  and  the 
missionaries  themselves  needed  further  practice  in  the  English  and 
French  languages. 

At  Bardstown  the  good  Fathers  obtained  a  fair  knowledge  of 
what  awaited  them  beyond  the  Mississippi. 

On  the  29th  of  November,  1816  Father  I)e  Andreis  wrote  to 
Father  Sicardi  in  Rome:.  "The  life  of  a  missionary  in  this  country 
is  pretty  hard.  He  must  be  constantly  on  horseback,  finding  his  way 
here  and  there  through  immense  woods,  to  visit  the  sick  and  attend 
the  congregations.  Sometimes  he  is  obliged  to  go  thirty  or  forty 
miles  to  see  a  sick  person.  The  congregations  are  what  we  call  parish- 
es; the  people  assemble  in  cabins  built  of  trunks  of  trees,  laid  one 
upon  another,  the  interstices  being  filled  up  with  clay,  like  the  greater 
number  of  houses,  in  which  the  wind  and  rain  enter  without  difficulty. 
These  are  our  churches,  without  pictures  and  ornaments  of  any  kind, 
provided  merely  with  a  poor  wooden  altar.  They  are  scattered  about 
among  the  woods,  and  on  festival  days  Catholics,  and  not  unfrequent- 
ly  Protestants,  too,  for  ten  or  fifteen  miles  around  gather  together 
within  their  walls.  All  come  on  horseback,  and  it  is  really  amusing 
to  behold  the  surrounding  woods  filled  with  horses  and  to  hear  them 
neighing  as  if  a  regiment  of  cavalry  were  in  the  vicinity.  Confessions 
take  up  the  greater  part  of  the  morning.  Mass  is  said  or  sung,  a 
sermon  or  homily  preached,  and  then  follow  the  baptisms,  generally 
very  numerous.  The  sick  must  be  visited,  and  the  poor  priest,  worn 
out  with  fasting,  fatigue,  the  journey  and  the  heat,  has  at  length  to 
beg  his  dinner  here  or  there.  This  meal  usually  consists  in  some  corn- 
bread,  beef-steak  and  water,  without  wine,  vinegar,  soup  or  oil.  Some- 
times he  is  obliged  to  say  two  Masses,  and  to  preach  in  places  far  apart, 
for  the  people  are  very  much  dispersed,  every  one  being  employed  in 
cultivating  his  own  land.  There  are  neither  towns  nor  villages;  all 
the  work  is  done  by  negro  slaves,  who  are  very  numerous."5 

And  again  in  his  letter  to  Canon  Martorelli,  of  the  Lateran  Basil- 
ica, August  24,  1817:  Father  De  Andreis  gives  the  following  descrip- 
tion of  the  state  of  the  Church  in  America:    "Picture  to  yourself  an 


5     Bosati,  "Life  of  De  Andreis,"  p.  145  and  146. 


Bishop  Fidget's  Interest  in  St.  Louis  '2~u 

immense  tract  of  land,  entirely  covered  with  woods  and  forests,  dwell- 
ings scattered  here  and  there  without  any  order,  the  towns  and  cities 
being  few  in  number,  which  is  very  inconvenient  on  account  of  the 
small  number  of  priests,  and  for  other  reasons  of  minor  importance 
The  churches  are  situated  in  open  plains,  surrounded  by  the  woods. 
On  feast  days,  men,  women  and  children,  of  every  age  and  condition. 
come  on  horseback,  ten,  fifteen  miles,  or  even  more  to  attend  Mass. 
hear  the  word  of  God,  and  receive  the  sacraments;  so  that,  when  they 
wish  to  go  to  the  Holy  Communion,  they  are  compelled,  notwithstanding 
the  fatigue  of  the  journey  coming  and  going,  to  remain  fasting  until 
the  evening,  when  they  reach  their  homes.  These  churches  in  their 
outward  appearance,  resemble  all  the  other  houses,  being  built  of 
rude  logs  and  trunks  of  trees,  which  are  never  scarce  in  this  country. 
put  together  with  mud,  and  through  which  the  wind,  cold,  heat  and 
rain  enter  by  turns.     They  are  entirely  devoid  of  ornament." 

"Although,  with  regard  to  the  population,  these  churches  are  few 
in  number,  still,  as  priests  are  likewise  very  scarce,  every  one  of  the 
latter  has  to  attend  to  four,  five  or  six  of  these  parishes,  or,  as  they 
are  called  here,  congregations ;  and  though  a  priest  is  sometimes 
obliged  to  say  two  Masses  on  one  day,  some  of  the  congregations  are 
whole  months  without  a  clergyman."  "On  account  of  the  great  dis- 
tance at  which  the  congregations  are  situated  one  from  another,  the 
missionary  is  obliged  to  be  constantly  on  horseback,  going  here  and 
there  to  preach,  assist  the  sick,  etc.  Hence  twenty,  thirty,  sixty  or 
even  ninety  miles  in  one  day  are  his  customary  rides.  His  life  is, 
indeed,  a  hard  and  laborious  one.  Today  he  is  in  one  place,  but  he 
knows  not  where  he  will  be  tomorrow.  He  depends  entirely  for  his 
food  and  lodging  on  the  hospitality  of  the  planters,  who,  thank  God, 
are  delighted  to  show  every  mark  of  attention  to  a  priest.  Even 
Protestants  will  do  all  in  their  power  to  receive  him  well,  though 
the  best  fare  that  he  can  expect  consists  of  nothing  but  some  corn- 
bread  very  badly  baked,  tough  salt  pork,  potatoes  and  water:  This  is 
the  refreshment  that  the  missionary  finds  after  a  pretty  long  journey, 
having  heard  confessions  the  whole  morning  until  one  or  two  in  the 
afternoon,  said  Mass,  preached,  baptized,  etc. ;  sometimes  at  five  in  the 
evening  he  is  still  fasting."0 

At  last  in  September  1817,  came  the  welcome  news  that  Bishop 
Du  Bourg,  accompanied  by  about  thirty  priests,  had  arrived  at  Balti- 
more. Bishop  Plaget  with  Fathers  De  Andreis  and  Rosati  and  Broth- 
er Blanka  on  October  1st,  set  out  for  St.  Louis,  a  journey  of  about 
300  miles,  to  prepare  the  people  of  St.  Louis  for  the  Bishop's  coming. 


6     "Life  of  De  Andreis,"  p.   162  and    163. 
Vol.  1—9 


258  History  of  tin    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Mr.  Joseph  Tucker  served  as  their  guide.  The  entire  journey  was  made 
mi  horseback.  Crossing  the  Ohio  at  Shawneetown,  they  rode  through 
Illinois  to  Kaskaskia  and  St.  Genevieve,  and  leaving  De  Andreis  there 
in  place  of  Father  Pratte,  they  recrossed  the  river  and  proceeded  by 
way  of  Prairie  du  Rocher  to  Cahokia,  and  thence  to  St.  Louis.  We 
will  quote  from  a  letter  by  Father  Rosati,  as  given  in  the  Life  of 
Rev.  Father  De  Andreis,  C.  M. :  "The  parish  priest  of  St.  Genevieve, 
the  Rev.  Henry  Pratte,  came  to  meet  us  with  several  of  the  parish- 
ioners, and  as  they  all  knew  T.ishop  Flaget,  who  had  given  a  mission 
in  that  place,  lie  was  received  with  many  demonstrations  of  joy.  Some 
of  us  were  quartered  in  the  house  of  the  pastor,  others  in  good  Cath- 
olic families.  On  the  following  Sunday  Father  De  Andreis  sang  High 
Mass  and  Bishop  Flaget  preached.  He  spoke  of  the  object  of  our 
mission,  which  caused  several  of  the  principal  inhabitants  to  assemble 
on  two  occasions,  when  they  testified  their  earnest  desire  that  we 
should  remain  among  them;  but  one  of  their  number,  a  worthy  old 
man,  told  them  plainly  that  they  need  not  hope  for  that.  St.  Louis 
will  have  the  preference,  and  we  shall  be  obliged  to  yield ;  such,  in 
fact,  was  eventually  the  case.  "At  length,  on  the  17th  of  October 
1817,  we  arrived  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  which  at  the  period  had  no 
pastor;  it  was  attended  every  three  weeks  by  a  priest  from  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  Father  Francis  Savine.  The  Bishop  and  the  mis- 
sionaries went  to  the  presbytery,  which  was  an  old  stone  building 
almost  in  ruins,  divided  by  planks  into  two  portions,  one  of  which, 
the  smaller  of  the  two,  served  as  a  sleeping  room,  and  the  other  was 
appropriated  to  the  parochial  and  municipal  assemblies.  In  this  tot- 
tering house  Bishop  Flaget  determined  to  take  up  his  residence,  and 
as  there  was  no  bed  in  it,  some  of  the  inhabitants  prepared  one  for 
him.  Father  De  Andreis  and  his  companions  had  to  sleep  on  buffalo 
skins  spread  on  the  floor,  in  the  same  room  or  the  adjoining.  It  is 
true  that  the  citizens  were  very  willing  to  offer  their  own  houses,  but 
the  missionaries  concurred  with  the  Bishop  in  thinking  that  it  was 
better  to  he  satisfied  with  a  poor  but  independent  abode,  rather  than 
accept  the  offer  of  any  private  individual.  The  parish  church,  situat- 
ed very  near  the  presbytery,  was  in  no  better  condition.  It  was  small, 
poor  and  falling  into  ruins.  In  a  word,  wherever  the  eye  turned, 
nothing  could  be  seen  but  poverty  and  desolation."7 

"As  soon  as  Bishop  Flaget  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  he  interested 
himself  in  the  affair  entrusted  to  him  by  his  fellow-laborer.  Bishop 
Du  Bourgr." 


'Life  of  De  Andreis,"  p.  168. 


Bishop  Flaget's  Interest  in  St.  Louis  259 

Having  assembled  the  principal  heads  of  families,  he  spoke  to 
them  of  the  approaching  arrival  of  their  own  Bishop  and  the  mis- 
sionaries he  was  bringing  with  him  to  fix  their  residence  in  that  place. 
He  proved  to  them  that  they  should  feel  very  grateful  for  the  choice 
that  had  been  made  of  their  city;  for,  in  consequence,  it  would  rapid- 
ly become  not  only  the  center  of  the  extensive  country  around,  but 
the  center  of  all  religious  and  literary  instructions,  when  they  and 
their  families  would  derive  immense  benefit.  He  also  told  them  that, 
since  the  Bishop's  residence  among  them  would  confer  so  many  ad- 
vantages on  their  city,  they  ought,  on  their  part,  to  co-operate  in 
his  views,  and  cheerfully  give  him  all  the  help  they  could.  He  then 
began  to  speak  of  what  it  was  most  requisite  to  do  first,  and  mentioned 
particularly  the  preparation  of  a  suitable  residence ;  and,  as  all  these 
arrangements  could  not  be  considered  in  the  first  meeting,  he  held 
several  general  assemblies,  at  which  he  begged  everyone  to  express  his 
own  opinion.  During  one  of  these  meetings  a  certain  Mr.  L —  arose 
and  addressing  himself  to  the  Bishop  and  his  fellow-citizens,  said :  I  am 
far  from  disapproving  the  choice  that  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  made  of 
this  city  for  the  place  of  his  ordinary  residence.  He  is  a  Bishop  and  is, 
therefore,  at  liberty  to  fix  his  abode  in  whatever  part  of  his  diocese  he 
may  think  proper  to  select;  but,  inasmuch  as  it  concerns  the  inhabitants 
of  St.  Louis,  I  see  no  particular  reason  why  they  should  contribute  to  the 
expense  that  he  will  consequently  incur.  The  expense  of  a  diocese  should 
be  divided  among  the  whole  population ;  it  is  not  just  that  they  fall  on 
us  alone.  We  have  a  parish  church ;  we  will  give  our  pastor  a  proper 
salary ;  this  will  be  quite  enough  for  our  share.  If  the  church  is  going 
to  ruin,  it  is  our  duty  to  repair  it;  and  though  we  have  no  pastor  at 
present,  let  one  be  sent  to  us  and  we  will  cheerfully  receive  him.  But 
as  to  the  Bishop,  we  are  not  obliged  to  do  anything,  because  his  permanent 
residence  belongs  alike  to  all."8 

Such  were  the  arguments  advanced,  but  his  words  made  no 
impression  on  the  assembly,  because  everyone  knew  that  he  was  not 
actuated  by  genuine  zeal  for  the  public  good.  He  was  a  Catholic  only 
in  name,  who  scarcely  ever  entered  a  church,  attended  instructions,  or 
approached  the  sacraments ;  consequently  his  words  produced  no  effect  on 
those  who  heard  them.  On  the  contrary,  all  manifested  sentiments 
of  an  entirely  opposite  nature,  and  willingly  offered  to  contribute,  both 
by  labor  and  money,  to  whatever  the  project  establishment  would 
require."9 


s     Eosati,  "Life  of  De  Andreis,"  pp.  170  and  171. 
9     Ibidem,  p.  172. 


"2()0  History  of  tht    Archdiocest   of  St.   Louis 

One  of  the  citizens,  an  [rishman  by  the  name  of  Connor,1"  con 
tribute*!  the  inunitieieiit  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars,  and  his  example 
evoked  a  spirit  of  generosity  such  as  St.  Louis  had  never  before  witness  <1. 
Among  the  Non-Catholies  who  nobly  contributed  to  the  cause  was  the 
future  Senator  Thomas  II.  Benton,  whose  son  in  later  years  became  a 
convert  to  the  Church. 

Leaving  Father  Pratte  in  charge  of  St.  Louis,  and  Vicar  General 
De  Andreis  at  St.  Genevieve,  Bishop  Plagel  ami  Father  Rosati  started 
on  their  return  trip  to  Bardstown,  whore  they  arrived  on  the   (ith  of 
November.    Bishop  David,  the  President  of  St.  Thomas  Seminary,   in 
formed  them  of  the  early  arrival  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg. 


i°  Jeremiah  Connor  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1805.  He  was  appointed  Sheriff 
of  the  city  in  1800,  and  served  four  years,  not  only  as  Sheriff  but  as  Collector  and 
Treasurer  also.  He  laid  out  Washington  Avenue,  through  the  center  of  his  property. 
Besides  giving  the  $1,000  spoken  of  here,  he  donated  the  site  on  which  the  Jesuit 

Church  and  College  Buildings  stood  in  the  early  days.     Who  this  "Mr.  L "  was 

we  cannot  say.  We  trust  it  was  not  Mr.  Patrick  Lee,  the  Warden  in  charge  in  1817. 
Yet,  as  trustee  for  the  people,  he  may  have  considered  it  his  duty  to  oppose  dangerous 
innovations. 


a 


+^u^cS2^-.  (p.J^_a^£_ 


Chapter  4 
BISHOP  DU  BOURG'S  COMING  TO  ST.  LOUIS 


More  than  two  years  had  elapsed  since  Dr.  Du  Bourg's  departure 
from  New  Orleans,  June  17,  1815;  eventful  years  and  full  of  promise 
for  his  vast  diocese  in  the  far  West.  Father  Sedella  and  his  adherents 
were  still  scheming  and  threatening :  but  the  opposition  had  a  tendency 
to  move  the  newly-consecrated  prelate  to  ever  new  exertions  in  assembling 
the  means  for  its  final  conquest.  Heai'tened  by  his  success  in  gaining 
the  cooperation  of  the  Lazarist  Order,  not  only  for  the  establishment 
of  a  Seminary,  but  also  as  a  permanent  establishment  in  Europe  for 
recruiting  priests  for  the  mission.  Bishop  Du  Bour^  sought  and  obtained 
in  Paris  from  the  saintly  Mother  Barat,  now  Saint  Madeleine  Sophia, 
the  promise  of  a  colony  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  for  his 
diocese  of  Louisiana.  On  his  visit  to  Lyons  he  recommended  his  poverty- 
stricken  diocese  to  the  charity  of  the  Catholic  people  of  that  great  city 
and  thus  gave  occasion  to  the  foundation  of  the  "Society  for  the 
Propogation  of  the  Faith,"  Florence,  Bologna;  Bordeaux,  Paris  and 
a  number  of  other  places  in  France  and  Belgium  were  visited  by  the 
Bishop,  and  everywhere  a  generous  response  was  made  to  his  eloquent 
appeals.  Money,  vestments,  altar-plate  and  books  were  gladly  given 
by  princes  and  nobles,  to  serve  the  needs  of  the  American  missions.  The 
Holy  Father  himself,  Pius  VII,  a  number  of  the  Cardinals,  many  bishops 
and  priests  made  munificent  contributions  to  the  great  missionary  cause. 
On  June  12,  1816,  the  first  company  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  mission- 
aries, under  Father  De  Andreis,  as  Vicar  General,  had  been  sent  on  to 
Louisiana,  as  the  advance  guard  of  the  enterprise.  Louis  XVIII,  King 
of  France  promised  the  Bishop  free  passage  for  himself  and  his  entire 
following  on  the  first  ship  of  the  royal  navy  to  sail  for  America. 
Propaganda  had  been  informed  on  all  these  matters:  yet  the  Bishop's 
delay  of  going  to  his  diocese  seemed  unnecessarily  protracted.  A  rather 
sharp  letter  urged  an  early  departure.  It  seemed  as  if  the  Bishop  had 
fallen  under  the  suspicion  that  he  entertained  greater  love  for  la  belle 
France  than  for  the  benighted  land  of  Louisiana.  Bishop  Du  Bourg 
was  deeply  hurt  by  this  seeming  want  of  confidence ;  but  a  brief  ex- 
planation cleared  up  the  matter  to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  all; 
Bishop  Du  Bourg's  work  of  preparation  was  now  finished:  the  actual 
work  of  evangelizing  the  diocese  of  Louisiana  was  to  begin  without  delay. 
On  June  16th,  1817,  he  joyfully  announced:  "At  length  the  long  wished 
for  day  is  at  hand  :  tomorrow  we  shall  embark,  and   God  willing,  set 

(261) 


262  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

sail   for   America."3     But   another   involuntary   delay   occurred.     The 

good   ship,   In  Caravane,  could   not    Leave    its   m -ings   at    Bordeaux 

before  July  1st.  The  Bishop  had  with  him  twenty-nine  recruits  for 
the  Louisiana  .Mission,  five  priests,  four  subdeacons,  nine  clerics,  three 
Christian  Brothers,  four  young  men  still  in  their  classical  course,  and 
four  workmen,  who  had  offered  themselves  to  the  Mission.  The  priests 
were:  De  Crugui,  Anthony  Blanc,  Auguste  Janvier,  Charles  De  la  Croix. 
Secondo  Valezano;  the  subdeacons,  Bert  rand,  Portier,  Jeanjean,  Valen- 
tin; the  Clerics.  Brassac,  Des  Moulins, Hosten, Niel, De Parcq, Maenhaut, 
De  Neckere.  I'errodin,  Chauderat  ;  the  Christian  Brothers  Audio,  Fulgen- 
tius,  Antoninus;  the  College  boys.  Barreau,  De  (ieithre,  Desprat,  Magne. 
Of  the  four  workmen  we  have  but  the  Baptismal  names,  Joseph, 
Bernard,  Isidore,  Francis. 

The  voyage  lasted  sixty-five  days,  a  rather  long  period  of  time,  but 
very  fruitful  in  grace  to  the  ship's  crew,  as  wrell  as  to  the  missionary 
band.  Father  Anthony  Blanc,  the  future  Bishop  of  New  Orleans, 
tells  us  about  a  mission  that  was  given  to  the  officers  and  sailors  on  the 
Caravane.  Every  day  a  Catechetical  instruction  was  given  to  all 
that  wished  to  come;  the  Bishop  himself  made  the  opening  address. 
On  August  24  the  Bishop  said  Mass  and  gave  holy  Communion  to  forty 
members  of  the  crew,  seven  of  whom  were  first  communicants.  Thirty- 
five  of  these  men  received  Confirmation  on  the  same  day.  Some  of 
these  men  had  neglected  their  duty  for  thirty  years.  All  the  mission- 
aries had  a  share  in  this  work,  giving  instructions  and  hearing  con- 
fessions. Most  touching  was  the  parting  scene  at  Annapolis,  when  all 
the  sailors  fell  on  their  knees  and  asked  a  farewell  blessing.  On  the 
return  voyage  a  hurricane  struck  La  Caravane,  in  which  nearly  all 
members  of  the  crewr  were  lost.  From  Baltimore  word  was  sent  to 
Bishop  Flaget. 

Whilst  Bishop  Du  Bourg  took  up  his  abode  at  St.  Mary's  Semi- 
nary, (September  10, -November  4)  some  of  his  companions,  under  Father 
Blanc,  were  left*  at  Annapolis,  where  they  were  entertained  in  the  man- 
sion of  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton.  On  November  4,  the  entire  party, 
excepting  Mr.  Portier,  started  by  stage-coach  on  their  way  across  the 
mountains  to  Pittsburg.  The  dangers  and  discomforts  of  such  a 
journey  were  graphically  described  by  the  Bishop  in  a  letter  to  his 
ifriend,  Father  Brute,  dated  Pittsburg,  November  13,  1817  : 

My  good  friend: — What  roads!  What  precipices!  What  break 
necks!  I  do  not  remember  having  endured,  in  my  life,  such  fatigue. 
After  walking  half  of  the  second  day  to  avoid  dislocating  our  limbs, 
on  the  third  we  could  not  escape  the  overturn  of  the  stage  which,  that 
very  day,  was  upset  three  times.     When  the  first  accident  took  place 


i     Letter  to  Propaganda,  Archives  of  Propaganda,  1.  c,  Cod.  3,  Fol.  453. 


Bishop  Du  Bourg's  Coming  to  St.  Loins  263 

we  were  all  in  the  carriage,  at  the  moment  of  the  second,  it  was  empty, 
and  when  it  was  overthrown  the  third  time,  all  were  in  except  Augustin, 
Mr.  Blanc  and  myself.  We  had  bravely  made  up  our  minds  to  foot  the 
road.  All  our  fellow-travellers  at  last  took  the  same  resolution.  We 
happily  executed  our  resolution,  but  not  without  incredible  trouble. 
This  third  evening  especially  we  were  obliged,  for  the  security  of  our 
luggage  which  had  already  been  upset  twice,  to  follow  the  stage  more 
than  three  hours  after  sunset.  Without  a  ray  of  light  to  guide  us,  we 
constantly  fell  into  mud  and  water.  When  not  in  sloppy  plains,  we 
had  to  walk  over  slippery  rocks  which  hurt  our  feet,  while  wild  briars 
scratched  our  faces.  I  leave  you  to  imagine  in  what  a  plight  we  arrived 
at  our  stopping  place.  We  left  there  at  an  inn  our  two  sick,  Niel  and 
Martin,  with  Augustin  and  our  baggage.  The  two  invalids  availed 
themselves  of  a  conveyance  to  come  to  Pittsburg.  Augustin  was  the 
day  before  yesterday,  forty  miles  from  here,  much  embarrassed  with 
the  baggage  which  I  expect  with  great  impatience.  I  fear  he  cannot 
find  a  wagon  to  bring  it  to  us.  Our  vanguard  party,  thanks  to  God, 
have  been  better  treated  than  we  were.  They  had,  however,  their 
share  of  trials,  but  with  all  their  hardships  not  a  fracture,  not  even  a 
bruise.  I  did  not  feel  myself  incommoded  by  reason  of  my  130  miles 
walking.  I  would  not,  however,  advise  anyone  to  travel  that  road  by 
stage,  till  the  turn-pike,  already  commenced,  is  completed,  which  can- 
not be  before  three  or  four  years.  On  horseback,  on  foot,  these  are 
the  best  ways  unless  one  has  a  wagon  or  carriage  of  his  own.  What  is 
most  disagreeable  about  the  stage  is,  that  one  has  to  start  at  3  A.M., 
to  arrive  ordinarily  at  midnight  and  sometimes  no  sooner  than  2  A.M., 
and  thus  has  to  ride  in  the  dark  over  ways  which  in  daytime,  it  would 
be  rash  to  cross  in  stages.  We  find  here  in  the  attentions  of  Messrs. 
O'Brien,  Ross  and  Beelen  ample  compensation  for  our  past  troubles 
We  are  lodged  all  together  in  a  vast  house  which  these  gentlemen  have 
procured  for  us.  William  Valentin  is  our  steward  here,  he  acquits  himself 
of  his  duties  very  well  indeed.  Our  servants  attend  to  the  cooking. 
Several  of  us  celebrate  Holy  Mass  in  the  house,  and  the  others  at  the 
Church,  which  is  rather  distant.  It  was  only  day  before  yesterday 
that  our  rear  guard  reached  here.  On  Next  Sunday  I  intend  to  give 
confirmation  and  Monday,  if  Augustin  arrives  with  the  baggage,  we 
count  on  taking  the  Ohio.    I  will  write  you  from  Bardstowrn.  "2 


2  Letter  preserved  in  Bishops'  Memorial  Hall,  Notre  Dame,  Indiana,  printed 
in  "American  Catholic  Historical  Researches,"  vol.  IV,  pp.  137  and  138.  "The 
turnpike,  already  commenced  but  not  yet  completed"  is  the  Cumberland  Road, 
winding  its  way  through  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois  towards 
the  Mississippi,  was  the  first  National  Road  to  the  West.  It  was  completed  in  1818. 
Cf.  Archer  Butler  Hulbert,  "Historic  Highways  of  America,"  vol.  X. 


2(i4  History  of  tin    Archdioces<    oj  St.   Louis 

On  the  eve  of  December  2,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  accompanied  by 
Father  Blanc  and  two  Kentucky  priests,  Chabral  and  Schaefer,  arrived 
;ii   Bardstown  and  was  enthusiastically  received  by  Bishop  Plaget  and 

Father  David,  and  last  lmt  not  least,  by  the  Bishop's  own  advance 
guard  of  missionaries  under  Rosati,  who  had  anxiously  been  awaiting 
his  coming  since  their  arrival  at  St.  Thomas  a  year  a<j-o.  The  Bishop 
now  had  hut  one  desire,  to  gel  home  as  speedily  as  possible.  Bishop 
Flaget  was  glad  to  make  the  journey  to  St.  Louis  to  introduce  his  dear 
friend  to  the  people  of  that  city  and  to  install  him  in  his  cathedral. 
Accordingly  on  December  IS  the  two  prelates  with  Father  Badin  and 
the  student,  Niel,  started  from  Louisville  on  the  Steamer  Piqua, 
in  hope  of  completing  the  journey  to  St.  Louis  before  Christmas. 

Bishop  Flaget's  humorous  pen-picture  of  the  Piqua  is  worth  quot- 
um here:  "Nothing  could  be  more  original  than  the  medley  of  persons 
on  board  this  boat.  "We  have  a  band  of  seven  or  eight  comedians,  a 
family  of  seven  or  eight  .lews,  and  a  company  of  clergymen  composed 
of  a  tonsured  cleric,  a  priest  and  two  Bishops;  besides  others,  both  black 
and  while.  Thus  more  than  thirty  persons  are  lodged  in  an  apartment 
(cabin)  twenty  feet  by  twelve,  which  is  again  divided  into  two  parts. 
This  boat  comprises  the  old  and  the  New  Testament.  It  might  serve 
successively  for  a  synagogue,  a  cathedral,  a  theatre,  a  hospital,  a  parlor, 
a  dining  room  and  a  sleeping  apartment.  Il  is  in  fact  a  veritable 
Noah's  Ark,  in  which  there  are  both  clean  and  unclean  animals; — and 
what  is  more  astonishing,  pei and  harmony  reign  here."3 

The  travellers'  expectation  of  a  speedy  journey  were  disappointed; 
owing  to  excessive  cold  weather,  the  navigation  was  seriously  hampered 
by  huge  ice-floes  and  even  for  two  full  days  the  boat  was  stuck  fast 
in  the  middle  of  the  river.  When  on  December  24,  painfully  the  craft 
reached  at  last,  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  the  prospect  looked  still  gloomier; 
and  indeed,  as  the  voyagers  rose  up  the  next  morning  they  realized  with 
dismay  that  they  had  not  progressed  an  inch.  Unable  to  say  their 
Christmas  Masses,  they  resolved  to  make  three  meditations  instead. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  second,  the  Piqua  proudly  resumed  her  course 
towards  her  goal.  Slowly  she  plowed  her  way  northward,  and  at 
length,  on  the  evening  of  the  28th  of  December,  she  arrived  at  the 
landing  near  .Mrs.  Fenwick's  farm,  al  the  mouth  of  Apple  Creek,  where 
she  was  to  stop  a  few  hours. 

There  it  was  that  the  Bishop  of  Louisiana  first  set  foot  in  his 
Diocese.  Near  the  spot  a  cross  prepared  for  the  occassion  was  solemnly 
erected  whilst  the  Prelates  and  their  two  companions  sang  the  Vexilla 
Regis. 


s     Spalding,  Martin  J.,  Bishop  of  Louisville,  "Life  of  Benedict  Joseph  Plaget,' 
1852.  )i]>.  173  and  174. 


Bishop  Du  Bourg's  Coming  to  St.  Louis  265 

At  Fenwiek's  Father  Badin  parted  with  the  company.  Only  twenty 
miles  away  lay  the  Barrens,  where,  some  twenty  years  before,  a  number 
of  his  old  Kentucky  parishioners — as  also  were  the  Fenwieks — had 
come  to  settle.  The  occasion  to  see  them  was  too  good  to  miss:  to  the 
Barrens,  therefore,  he  directed  his  steps,  intending  to  overtake  the 
Episcopal  party  a  few  days  later  at  Ste.  Genevieve.4 

Returning  to  the  boat,  the  Bishops  "found  the  comedians  performing 
a  play — that  is,  engaged  in  a  general  fight  among  themselves, — until 
they  were  separated  by  the  Captain."  At  midnight,  on  the  30th,  they 
arrived  in  view  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  and  early  next  morning  they  des- 
patched a  messenger  to  announce  their  coming  to  Fr.  De  Andreis, 
the  pastor  for  the  time  being  in  place  of  Father  Henry  Pratte  who  was 
in  St.  Louis  to  prepare  all  things  necessary  for  the  coming  of  the 
Bishop. 

Two  hours  later,  Father  De  Andreis,  accompanied  by  some  forty 
of  the  principal  inhabitants,  went  on  horseback  to  the  landing  with 
several  young  men  likewise  on  horseback,  and  a  carriage,  to  escort 
the  prelates  into  the  town.  They  repaired  first  to  the  rectory,  where 
they  donned  their  pontifical  vestments;  and,  a  few  moments  later, 
headed  by  the  cross  and  twenty-four  altar-boys,  the  two  Bishops, 
under  a  canopy  carried  by  four  of  the  principal  citizens,  were,  to  the 
accompaniment  of  the  peal  of  the  church-bells  and  amidst  the  universal 
joy  of  all  the  parish  assembled,  and  even  of  the  protestant  members  of 
the  community,  conducted  in  solemn  procession,  to  the  throne  erected 
in  the  sanctuary  of  the  little  village  church.  With  that  felicitous  clever- 
ness which  always  put  on  his  lips  the  right  words  for  the  right  place, 
Bishop  Du  Bourg  opened  his  heart  to  his  St.  Genevieve  audience,  ex- 
pressing his  delight  that  he  was  at  last  in  his  Diocese,  among  his 
own  spiritual  children,  and  auguring  from  this  happy  event  great 
progress  for  religion  in  Upper  Louisiana.  An  enthusiastic  Te  Deum 
closed  the  ceremony,  and  the  rest  of  the  day  was  spent  in  receiving 
visits. 

On  the  1st  of  January  1818,  the  Catholics  of  St.  Genevieve  witnessed 
for  the  first  time  the  splendors  of  a  Pontifical  High  Mass,  celebrated 
by  their  Bishop,  who  once  more  preached  to  them ;  and  the  next  day, 
the  two  Prelates,  Father  Badin  who  had  joined  them  after  his  short  visit 
to  the  "Barrens"  settlement,  Father  De  Andreis  and  Mr.  Niel,  crossing 
over  to  Illinois,  resumed  their  journey  towards  St.  Louis.  They  arrived 
the  next  evening  (Saturday,  January  3)  at  Cahokia,  the  house  of  Father 
Savine,  where  they  were  welcomed  witli  unbounded  transports  of  joy.5 

Monday,  January  5th,  had  been  fixed  for  the  last  link  of  the 
journey.      Forty   men    of   Cahokia,    mounted    on    superb   chargers,    and 


■*     Spalding,  op.  eit.,  p.  171. 
Spalding,  op.  eit..  p.  175. 


266  History  of  tin    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

marching  two  by  two  in  perfecl  order,  led  t lit*  pageanl  to  the  lunik  of 
tlic  Mississippi  River,  whore  ;i  boal  was  in  readiness.  On  the  Missouri 
side,  a  large  crowd  of  people,  in  fact  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town, 
Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics,  were  anxiously  waiting  at  the  landing. 

It  was  a  beautiful  sight,  the  city  of  St.  Louis  in  its  early  glory, 
extending  along  the  river  two  miles  iii  three  parallel  streets,  each  rising 
above  the  other.  The  bank  of  the  river  was  high  and  composed  of  lime- 
stone. Most  of  the  houses  were  built  of  the  same  material,  some  of 
them  in  "rand  style,  and  surrounded  with  galleries.  Almost  every 
house  had  an  extensive  garden  or  park,  enclosed  by  stone  walls.  The 
country  around  and  west  of  the  town  was  one  extended  prairie,  in 
which  large  herds  of  cattle  were  grazing.  The  number  of  inhabitants 
was  said  to  be  2,500,  all  of  whom  seemed  to  be  lined  along  the  river 
bank,  anxiously  awaiting  the  episcopal  convoy.  At  last  the  boat  landed 
at  the  foot  of  Market  Street.  The  episcopal  party  was  welcomed  by 
the  happy  multitudes  in  truly  French  style  and  proceeded  to  the 
"Episcopal  palace,"  still  a  sorry  looking,  tumble-down  house,  in  spite 
of  Father  Pratte's  best  exertions.  Soon  after,  the  two  Bishops,  mitred 
and  clad  in  their  full  pontifical  robes,  came  down  the  steps,  were  re- 
ceived under  a  canopy  borne  by  four  prominent  men  of  the  church,  Didier, 
Pratte,  Sarpy  and  Belcour  and,  preceded  by  twelve  altar-boys,  marched 
to  the  gate;  then,  turning  northwards  along  the  Rue  de  VEglise — now 
Second  Street — they  reached  the  door  of  the  Cathedral,  the  rickety 
log  building  erected  in  1776,  and  went  up  to  the  sanctuary,  where  a 
throne  had  been  prepared,  whilst  the  people  filled  the  church  to  over- 
flowing. Then  Bishop  Flaget,  leading  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  the  throne, 
and  installing  him  in  his  Episcopal  chair,  congratulated  him  on  his 
being  in  the  midst  of  his  beloved  children.  The  sight  of  the  Pastor, 
now  at  last  at  the  end  of  his  two  thousand  league  journey,  the  view  of 
the  flock  which  he  had  loved  so  dearly  in  the  days  of  their  spiritual 
destitution,  and  the  comforting  thought  they  would  henceforth  never  be 
in  want  of  religious  help,  so  enraptured  the  zeal-consumed  soul  of  the 
speaker,  the  saintly  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  that  he  could  not  check  tears 
of  bliss  and  hope.  For  twenty-four  years,  the  Catholics  of  St.  Louis 
had  known  him,  since  the  far  distant  day  of  his  coming  to  Vincennes, 
his  first  mission;  and  they  idolized  him;  but  so  delicately  did  he  speak 
to  them  of  their  Bishop,  whom  it  had  been  his  role  to  herald,  that  their 
hearts  were  completely  won  to  their  new  pastor.6 


G  Spalding's  Account  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg 's  Installation  and  coming  to  St. 
Louis  is  based  on  the  letter  of  Father  Anthony  Blanc,  from  the  Seminary  of  St. 
Thomas  near  Bardstown,  Ky.,  dated  January  1818.  His  source  was  Bishop  Flaget 
himself  and  possibly  Father  Badin.  The  letter  was  first  published  in  the  Annates 
df  the  Association  for  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  vol.  II,  pp.  330-338. 


Bishop  Du  Bourg's  Coming  to  St.  Louis  267 

That  this  was  no  mean  victory  for  the  eloquence,  and  still  more 
for  the  personality  of  the  Kentucky  Prelate,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  could 
judge  better  than  anyone  else.  He  had  not  been,  indeed,  entirely  with- 
out misgivings;  for  he  Avas  well  aware  that  the  pestilential  blast  poison- 
ing the  Catholic  atmosphere  in  New  Orleans,  had  been  wafted  as  far 
as  St.  Louis.  But  this  was  now  past  history.  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  own 
winsome  personality  completed  the  victory,  so  well  won  by  the  eloquent 
Flaget :  "the  mere  presence  of  the  Bishop,"  says  Fr.  De  Andreis,  "his 
kindness,  benignity  and,  suavity  of  manner  have  dispelled  the  storm, 
dissipated,  in  a  great  measure,  every  prejudice,  and  captivated  all 
hearts."7 

Bishop  Flaget 's  mission  was  now  happily  completed.  On  the  Feast 
of  the  Epiphany  he  preached  his  farewell  sermon,  and  the  next  day,  in 
company  Avith  Father  Badin,  he  started  back  for  Bardstown  by  the  AATay 
of  Vincennes.  Noav,  at  home,  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  Avho  henceforth  signed 
himself  for  several  years  "Bishop  of  St.  Louis,"  soon  was  to  prove 
himself,  in  Upper  Louisiana,  the  efficient  instrument  of  Him  "who 
commands  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness." 


7  Cf.  Letter  of  Mrs.  Anne  L.  Hunt  written  to  her  father,  J.  B.  C.  Lucas,  at 
Washington,  dated  St.  Louis,  January  4,  1818,  with  a  postscript  dated  January  5. 
After  describing  the  event,  the  postscript  concludes:  "Bishop  Du  Bourg  is  certainly 
niore  eloquent  than  the  other  (Flaget).  At  all  events,  he  speaks  more  handsomely. 
All  the  people  appear  much  pleased  with  their  new  acquisition. ' ' 


Chapter  5 
BISHOP  DI'  BOURG'S  DIFFICULTIES 


Bishop  Du  Bourg  was  in  almost  every  regard  an  ideal  Shepherd 

(if  souls,  of  stately  figure  and  manners,  endowed  with  a  voice  clear  and 
sweet  as  a  hell,  a  frank  open  countenance,  not  without  a  touch  of  languor, 
as  befitting  Ids  southern  birth,  at  ease  among  the  highest  as  well  as  the 
lowest,  yet  shrinking  from  intentional  rudeness,  because  himself  so 
perfect  a  gentleman,  not  strong-willed  when  lie  met  opposition,  but 
irresistible  with  those  whom  lie  knew  to  bear  him  good  will,  and  above 
all  a  priest  and  bishop  with  the  full  realization  of  his  high  calling,  such 
was  the  man  who  was  sent  to  preside  over  the  rising  Church  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley. 

Very  seldom  has  a  Bishop  been  placed  before  such  bewildering 
difficulties  at  those  that  revealed  themselves  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg  in 
his  diocese  of  Louisiana.  The  vastness  of  the  territory  to  be  evangelized, 
and  the  sad  condition  of  the  actual  and  prospective  population,  are  well 
described  by  Father  Do  Andreis  in  a  letter  to  Father  Sicardi  in  Rome, 
dated  February  24,  1818: 

"This  diocese  of  Louisiana  covers  an  immense  extent  of  country, 
and  the  labor  that  it  will  require  will  soon  render  it  expedient  to  divide 
it;  cities,  towns  and  villages  are  "rowing  up  before  our  eyes  with 
marvelous  rapidity;  emigrants  are  arriving  in  crowds  from  all  parts  of 
the  United  States,  as  well  as  from  Europe.  Ireland,  Switzerland  and 
France  send  multitudes  of  people  to  the  smiling  and  fertile  plains  of 
Missouri,  and  in  a  few  years  the  country  will  become  so  flourishing, 
that  Europe  will  no  longer  excite  envy.  The  chief  part  of  the  population 
is  French  (Creole  as  they  call  it,)  and  consequently  Catholic,  but  with- 
out any  religious  culture,  on  account  of  the  long  period  during  which 
the  place  has  been  destitute  of  clergymen  and  of  every  means  of  in- 
struction. One  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  said  to  me:  'If  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  had  not  come  in  time  to  our  relief,  the  last  spark  of  faith 
would  have  been  ext inguished  in  our  country.'  But  the  French  part 
of  the  population  will  soon  be  absorbed  by  the  American  and  the  English, 
among  whom  only  a  small  portion  are  Catholics,  but  these  are  generally 
very  fervent;  the  greater  part  are  Protestants  of  various  denominations. 
We  have,  also  both  French  and  English  infidels,  who  call  themselves 
nullifidians,  that  is  to  say,  without  any  religion  whatever."1 

In  addition  to  his  vast  field  of  labor  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  also  kindly 
consented  to  take  charge  of  the  ancient  missions  and  parishes  along  the 


i      Rosati,  "Life  of  Father  De  Andreis,"  pp.  L78  and   L79. 

(268) 


BISHOP  DU  BOURG'S  CATHEDRAL 

Was  located  on  the  corner  of  Second  and  Market  Streets.  Built 
in  1818  and  1819,  Blessed,  January  9,  1820.  The  Church  was 
abandoned  in  the  fall  of  1834  and  burned  down  April  7,  1835. 


Bishop  Du  Bourg's  Difficulties  269 

eastern  borders  of  the  Mississippi,  Cahokia,  Kaskaskia,  Prairie  du  Rocher, 
Prairie  du  Pont  and  a  number  of  stations  of  more  recent  date,  in  Illi- 
nois. He  also  offered  to  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown  the  services  of  four 
of  his  priests  for  the  missions  of  Indiana  and  Michigan,  until  the  latter 
could  make  permanent  arrangements  for  the  attendance  of  these  districts. 
Accordingly  on  the  25th  of  April  we  find  Fathers  Anthony  Blanc 
and  Auguste  Jeanjean  appointed  missionaries  for  Vincennes,  and  Fathers 
Louis  Bertrand  and  Auguste  Janvier  for  Detroit.  All  these  distinguished 
priests  were  subsequently  withdrawn  to  Lower  Louisiana. 

The  arrangement  in  regard  to  the  western  part  of  Illinois  was  made 
permanent  under  Bishop  Rosati,  and  subsisted  until  the  erection  of  the 
diocese  of  Chicago.  Vincennes  remained  under  Father  Blanc's  pastor- 
ship until  February,  1820,  during  which  period  two  chapels  were  built 
by  him,  one  in  Davis  (now  Washington)  county,  Indiana^  the  other 
on  the  Illinois  side  of  the  Wabash  River  twelve  miles  from  Vincennes. 

"Most  of  the  French  people  at  Vincennes  came  from  Canada,  where 
religion  is  much  respected,"  wrote  Father  Anthony  Blanc,  the  future 
archbishop  of  New  Orleans.  "These  poor  French  people  have  gained 
nothing  by  the  change.  Deprived  of  the  consolations  of  religion,  living 
in  the  midst  of  savage  natives,  they  have  received  nothing  in  return. 
Although  their  language  is  not  a  dialect,  they  have  mingled  with  it  so 
many  expressions,  strange  even  to  our  old  French,  that  one  must  speak 
very  slowly  and  very  simply  to  be  understood.  I  found  this  not  a  little 
difficult,  but  I  am  becoming  accustomed  to  it."2  Even  the  elements 
seemed  to  be  leagued  against  the  messengers  of  the  Gospel.  Father 
De  Andreis  complains  to  Father  Sicardi,  February  24,  1818 : 

"The  country  lying  between  here  and  the  Pacific  is  inhabited  only 
by  wild  beasts,  and  savages,  whose  state  is  not  unlike  theirs.  Though 
the  climate  ought  to  be  rather  warm,  our  latitude  being  only  the  39 
degree,  the  cold  is  so  intense,  that  I  never  experienced  anything  like  it. 
We  cannot  remain  very  far  from  the  fire,  though  we  often  put  one  coat 
over  another;  the  cold  is  so  piercing,  that  it  seems  to  reach  the  brain, 
and  almost  makes  one  giddy.  I  have  very  frequently  found  nothing 
but  ice  in  the  chalice  whilst  at  the  altar,  and  had  some  difficidty  in 
melting  it  by  means  of  fire,  which  had  to  be  brought  to  the  spot ;  and 
even  then  in  consuming  the  sacred  species,  I  was  compelled  to  make  use 
of  my  teeth.  This  extreme  cold  proceeds  from  the  north  winds,  which, 
descending  from  the  icebergs  of  Greenland,  and  passing  over  the  frozen 
lakes  of  Canada,  come  here  to  freeze  us  to  death.     We  can  say,  with 


2  "Annnles  do  In  Propagation  de  la  Foi, "  vol.  II,  p.  343.  Englished  1>.\  Naina 
dos  Santos  in  ''Records  of  American  Catholic  Historical  Society,"  vol.  XIV,  pp.  2D7 
and  208. 


270  History  of  tin    Archdiocest   of  St.  Louis 

St.  Paul,  'Blessed  be  God  in  frigore,'  though  not  'in  nuditate,'  for  we 
are  bul  too  well  provided  for.'.'3 

Bishop  Dii  Bourg  deeply  sympathized  with  his  friends  whom  be  had 
drawn  away  from  cultured  surroundings  to  this  inhospitable  wilder- 
aess.  But  his  imagination  painted  the  future  in  glowing  colors,  and  his 
unshaken  trust  in  God  and  in  his  friends  abroad,  supported  him  and 
his  followers  in  all  hardships  and  privations.  What  troubled  him  most 
was  the  pressing  need  of  money. 

Finding  his  means  unequal  to  the  establishment  of  the  many  build- 
ings needed  in  his  see  for  religion,  divine  worship  and  education,  wrote 
as  follows  to  one  of  his  open-handed  friends  in  Europe:  "Say  to  those 
who  seem  fearful  of  injury  to  the  interests  of  Prance  by  working  for 
distant  lauds,  that  the  good  which  they  will  do  here  will  return  to 
them  a  hundred-fold.  Try  to  imagine  how  I  must  feel,  realizing  that 
I  am  surrounded  by  an  expanse  of  live  or  six  hundred  leagues,  upon 
which  is  scattered  a  multitude  of  neglected  Catholics,  and  Protestants, 
who  are  such  only  by  the  misfortune  of  their  birth,  and  who  are  dis- 
poned to  listen  to  the  truth  when  it  is  preached  to  them.  Turn  then 
your  eyes  on  hundreds  of  Indian  tribes  that  seem  but  to  wait  for  in- 
struction in  order  to  embrace  the  faith.  How  touched  you  would  be 
if  you  could  see  the  frequent  deputations  which  I  receive  from  them, 
the  religious  respect  which  they  testify  to  me,  and  the  urgent  prayers 
which  they  address  to  me,  to  be  their  father,  to  visit  them  and  to 
give  them  men  of  God.  In  the  midst  of  the  great  sadness  which  the  view 
of  so  many  of  my  neglected  children  causes  me,  I  am  beginning  to 
iexperience  the  consolation  of  seeing  the  seed  of  the  word  bear  fruit.  In 
the  established  parishes  everywhere  they  are  beginning  to  approach  the 
sacraments  frequently,  and  in  a  most  edifying  manner.  A  single  mission- 
ary wrote  to  me  lately  that  he  had  had,  this  year,  sixteen  hundred  Easter 
Communions  and  two  hundred  First  Communions.  The  schism  is  ex- 
tinct.    Old  enemies  have  returned  to  obedience  and  union."4 

Among  the  great  number  of  difficult  problems  that  presented  them- 
selves to  the  newly  arrived  Bishop  for  immediate  solution  was  first  and 
foremost,  the  erection  of  a  Cathedral.  The  old  Church,  indeed,  resembled 
the  first  Christian  temple,  the  stable  of  Bethlehem:  but  surely,  the 
people  of  St.  Louis  would  be  willing  to  prepare  a  more  fitting  abode 
for  their  dear  Lord.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  was  full  of  gratitude  and  hope; 
his  vivid  imagination,  as  always,  hid  away  the  difficulties  of  the  under- 
taking in  the  splendor  of  the  prospective  accomplishment. 

Cnder  date  of  January  8th,  1818,  that  is  the  second  day  after  his 
arrival   in  St.  Louis,  lie  writes; 


3    "Life  of  De  Andrew,"  pp.   L76  and   177. 

t     Annates,  vol.  I.  pp.  20-21,  Records,  vol.  XTV.  p.  141. 


Bishop  Du  Bourg's  Difficulties  271 

"Here  I  am  in  St.  Louis,  and  it  is  no  dream.  The  dream  would 
be  most  delightful,  but  the  reality  is  even  more  so.  I  visited  several 
parishes,  en  route.  Everywhere  the  people  came  in  crowds  to  meet  us, 
showing  me  the  most  sincere  affection  and  respect.  My  house  is  not 
magnificent;  but  it  will  be  comfortable,  when  they  have  made  some 
necessary  repairs.  I  will  have  a  parlor,  a  sleeping  room,  a  very  nice 
study,  beside  a  dining  room,  and  four  rooms  for  the  ecclesiastics,  and 
an  immense  garden.  My  cathedral,  which  looks  like  a  poor  stable,  is 
falling  in  ruins,  so  that  a  new  church  is  an  absolute  necessity.  It  will 
be  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long  by  seventy  wide ;  but  its  construction 
will  take  time,  especially  in  a  country  where  everything  is  just  begin- 
ning. The  country,  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world,  is  healthy  and 
fertile,  and  emigrants  pour  in.    But  everything  is  very  dear."5 

It  is  very  difficult,  as  every  priest  knows,  to  start  the  building  of 
a  church  immediately  after  one's  arrival  in  a  parish.  But  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  had  a  number  of  points  in  his  favor  which  the  ordinary 
priest  usually  has  not.  Chief  among  them  was  the  absolute  necessity 
of  the  case.  This  circumstance,  together  with  the  Bishop's  imposing 
presence  and  eloquent  appeal  quickly  brought  the  proper  decision,  so 
that  Father  De  Andreis,  who  now  had  taken  up  his  abode  in  St.  Louis, 
could  write  on  February  24th,  1818:  "The  plan  of  a  cathedral  to  be 
built  of  stone,  is  already  traced,  and  will  soon  be  carried  into  execution. 
When  this  is  done,  we  will  begin  to  think  of  the  other  buildings;  it  is 
but  just  that  we  should  commence  by  the  church,  for  we  have  nothing 
now  to  serve  the  purpose  of  one,  but  a  miserable  log-cabin,  open  to 
every  wind,  and  falling  to  pieces.  The  bishop  has,  however,  bestowed 
upon  it  a  splendid  temporary  decoration,  chiefly  composed  of  the  orna- 
ments he  obtained  while  in  Europe."6 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  having  decided  to  make  the  city  of  St.  Louis  his 
episcopal  residence,  at  least  for  a  time,  determined  to  build  a  cathedral- 
church  worthy  of  the  diocese  he  represented.  The  following  notice 
appeared  in  the  Missouri  Gazette,  March  26,  1818 : 

"Next  Sunday,  29th  inst.,  at  4  p.m.,  will  be  laid  by  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Bishop  Du  Bourg,  with  the  solemn  rites  used  in  the  Catholic  Church 
on  similar  occasions,  the  first  stone  of  the  new  Cathedral.  The  intended 
grandeur  of  that  fabric,  together  with  the  sanctity  of  the  object  to  which 
it  is  destined,  cannot  fail  exciting  a  lively  interest  in  the  breasts  of  all 
those  who  have  at  heart  the  growth  and  embellishment  of  this  infant 
city,  but  above  all,  its  moral  and  religious  improvement.  The  stone  is 
to  be  hollowed  in  the  form  of  a  chest,  to  contain  and  preserve  to  the 
latest  generations  the  names  of  benefactors,  coins  of  various  descriptions 
and  some  memoirs  of  the  present  times." 


s     Annales,  vol.  II,  p.  338  s.     Eecords,  vol.  XIV,  pp.  142  and  143. 
«     "Life  of  De  Andreis,"  pp.  182  and  183. 


272  History  oj   tin    Archdiocesi    of  St.   Lotus 

Another  secrel  of  this  rapid  settlemenl  of  the  matter  may  be  found 
hi  the  aegotiations  of  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  in  the  preceding  fall, 
which  culminated  in  starting  a  subscription;  so  thai  when  a  meeting  of 
the  parish  was  held  on  the  day  after  the  installation,  sonic  definite  ideas 
could  be  discussed  ;  the  size  and  materials  of  the  church  were  then  settled. 

"When  the  firsl  subscription  was  opened,  $6,566  was  subscribed, 
out  of  which  $4,271.75  was  actually  collected-  $3,099.75  by  Thomas 
McGuire  and  $1,172  by  Jeremiah  Connor.  It  is  often  repeated  thai 
nothing  is  more  dry  and  uninteresting  than  an  account  book.  This  may 
he  true,  if  one  does  not  go  beyond  names  and  figures;  but  how  false  it  is 
when  you  can  read  between  the  lines!  1  give  here  a  i\>\x  names,  which 
have  become  household   words  among  US: 

Auguste  Chouteau  $400,  Pierre  Chouteau  $200,  A.  P.  Chouteau  $50, 
Thomas  Brady  $200,  Jeremiah  Connor  $200,  Bernard  Pratte  $300,  John 
B.  Sarpy  $20,  Alexander  McNair  $100,  B.  Berthold  $100,  John 
Mullanphy  $100,  Theodore  Papin  $20,  Theodore  Hunt  $100,  Frederick 
Hates  $100.  Thomas  II.  Benton  $100,  (  added  $50  later),  M.  Sanguinet  $50, 
Henry  Von  Phul  $50  (paid  $30),  Francis  Robidoux  $60  (paid  $30), 
Wm.  Carr  $100  (paid  $50),  P.  B.  and  J.  P.  B.  Gratiot  $30  (paid  $50), 
Anthony  Soulard  $50,  J.  P.  Cabanne  $20,  Wm.  Clark  $100  (paid  $75), 
.Manuel  Lisa  $150. 

I  notice  that  by  far,  most  of  the  three  figure  subscriptions  were 
faithfully  paid;  the  difference  between  the  amount  subscribed  and  that 
collected  comes  mostly  from  the  failure  of  the  small  subscribers  to  keep 
their  pledged  word. 

A  second  subscription  launched  some  months  later  exclusively,  it 
appears,  or  very  nearly  so,  among  the  Catholics,  netted  $1,303.36,  mostly 
collected  by  Mr.  P.  Leduc. 

The  new  church  was  located  on  the  northeast  corner  of  the  church- 
yard, that  is,  on  the  corner  of  Second  and  Market,  with  the  entrance 
on  Second.  Ground  was  broken  early  in  1818,  and  foundations  started 
at  once,  so  that  the  corner  stone  could  be  laid  on  Quasimodo  Sunday, 
March  29,  1818;  and  in  June  the  construction  had  risen  to  15  feet  above 
ground  (Letter  of  Rosati  to  his  brother,  summer  1818).  Still  it  was 
only  on  Christmas  day  of  the  next  year  that  services  were  held  in  it  for 
the  first  time.  The  blessing  took  place  on  January  !),  1820.  And  high 
time  it  was,  for  the  old  log-church,  which  had  to  be  used  meanwhile, 
could  hold  out  no  longer.  Among  the  notable  events  which  were  enacted 
in  its  walls  during  the  last  years  of  its  existence,  must  be  mentioned  the 
solemn  Te  Deum  and  Thanksgiving  service  held  by  Father  Savine  after 
the  victory  of  New  Orleans,  and  leaving  aside  the  Bishop's  reception, 
the  various  ordinations  performed  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  during  his  stay 
in  St.  Louis.  There  did  Father  Xiel  receive  minor  Orders,  sub-deacon- 
ship,  deaconship  and,  on   March   19,  1818,  Holy  priesthood  :  there  Mr. 


Bishop  Du  Bourg's  Difficulties  273 

Portier,  the  future  Bishop  of  Mobile,  was  elevated  to  the  priesthood; 
on  Michaelmas  day  of  the  same  year,  1818;  Mr.  Tichitoli,  on  December 
15,  1818;  Mr.  Dahmen,  the  future  pastor  of  St.  Genevieve  for  many 
years,  on  September  5,  1819;  there,  finally,  were  held,  on  December  5, 
1818,  the  funeral  services  over  the  body  of  the  lamented  Father  Carretti, 
the  first  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  recruits,  who  died  in  Upper  Louisiana. 

The  new  church  was  not  completed  when  it  began  to  be  in  use ; 
indeed,  it  was  never  finished.  Only  the  middle  nave,  consisting  of  a 
rather  awkwardly  narrow  rectangle  measuring  135  by  40  feet,  had  been 
erected ;  the  five  large  arches  on  either  side,  originally  intended  to 
separate  the  middle  from  the  side  aisles,  were  filled  in  with  masonry 
and  served  as  outer  walls.  But  if,  from  the  architectural  standpoint 
the  church  in  its  incompleteness  gave  the  idea  of  a  narrow  shouldered 
and  narrow  chested  consumptive  body,  its  beauty  within  amply  com- 
pensated the  mean  outward  appearance. 

"The  cathedral  of  St.  Louis,"  says  the  first  St.  Louis  directory, 
issued  in  1821,  "can  boast  of  having  no  rival  in  the  United  States  for 
the  magnificence,  the  value  and  elegance  of  her  sacred  vases,  ornaments 
and  paintings,  and  indeed  few  churches  in  Europe  possess  anything 
superior  to  it.  It  is  a  truly  delightful  sight  to  an  American  of  taste 
to  find  in  one  of  the  remotest  towns  of  the  Union  a  church  decorated 
with  the  original  paintings  of  Rubens,  Raphael,  Guido,  Paul  Veronese, 
and  a  number  of  others  by  the  first  modern  masters  of  the  Italian, 
French  and  Flemish  schools.  The  ancient  and  precious  gold  embroideries 
which  the  St.  Louis  cathedral  possesses  would  certainly  decorate  any 
museum  in  the  world.  All  this  is  due  to  the  liberality  of  the  Catholics 
of  Europe  who  presented  these  rich  articles  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg  on 
his  last  visit  through  France,  Italy,  Sicily  and  the  Netherlands.  Among 
the  liberal  benefactors  could  be  named  many  princes  and  princesses, 
but  we  will  only  insert  the  names  of  Louis  XVII,  the  present  king  of 
France,  and  that  of  Baroness  La  Candele  de  Ghyseghem,  a  Flemish 
lady,  to  whose  munificence  the  cathedral  is  particularly  indebted. 

We  know  that  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  come  back  from  Europe  with 
many  beautiful  and  precious  things,  and  have  no  doubt  that,  thanks  to 
these,  the  cathedral  must  have  excited  wonderment.  But  as  to  there 
being  among  these  treasures  original  Rubens,  Raphael,  Guido  Reni  and 
Veronese  paintings,  we  have  very  serious  doubts."7 

At  a  meeting  of  the  parishioners  held  on  the  30th  of  January,  1820, 
the  Marguilliers  were  authorized  to  sell  the  materials  of  the  old  church, 
the  proceeds  going  to  the  building  fund  of  the  new  edifice.     From  an 


i  From  the  beautiful  article  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Souvay,  G.  M.,  "Around 
the  St.  Louis  Cathedral  with  Bishop  Du  Bourg,"  1818-1820,  read  before  the  "Cath- 
olic Historical  Society"  of  St.  Louis,  Nov.  21,  1917,  and  subsequently  published  in 
the  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review."  vol.  V,  pp.  149-159. 


274  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

entry  in  the  parish  account  book,  page  21,  we  learn  that  the  sale 
brought  just  $110.  Another  meeting,  convened  on  .March  7,  elected  six 
persons  "to  act  jointly  with  the  building  committee  for  the  disposal  of 
the  pews;  they  were  John  1>.  C.  Lucas,  Antoine  D'Enjen — who  resigned 
and  was  replaced  by  Francis  Guyol — Francois  Xavier  Valois,  Pierre 
Didier,  Antoine  Chenie  and  Hugh  O'Neil;  and  it  was  enacted  that  these 
sis  men,  together  with  the  building  committee,  should  "take  such  measure 
as  in  their  opinion  they  would  think  fit  for  the  disposal  of  the  pews  of 
the  old  church  which  the  aforesaid  meeting  abandon  this  day,"  and 
"find  the  most  advantageous  means  of  selling  the  pews  of  the  new  church, 
in  order  to  defray  the  expenses  already  incurred  in  the  construction  of 
said  church."  The  account  book  shows  that  9-")  pews  were  sold  for 
$9,295,  out  of  which  $6,786.38  are  entered  as  paid. 

But  all  this,  the  two  subscriptions  and  the  sale  of  the  pews,  totaling 
12,000  odd  dollars,  was  far  from  covering  the  cost  of  the  cathedral — more 
than  $20,000;  nor  was  the  building  of  this  edifice  the  only  undertaking 
of  Bishop  Du  Bourg :  he  had  started  in  the  summer  of  1818  the  Seminary 
at  the  Barrens;  after  the  wrecking  of  the  old  church,  he  built  on  the  spol 
the  college  which  had  been  commenced  on  November  2,  1819,  with  Father 
De  Andreis  at  its  head.8 

The  debt  still  resting  on  the  Cathedral  was  $4,500  for  which  sum 
Auguste  and  Pierre  Chouteau,  and  Bernard  Pratte,  as  members  of  the 
building-committee  had  made  themselves  personally  responsible.  This 
sum  did  not  appear  exorbitant  at  the  time  building  operations  were  begun 
Yet,  as  Billon  informs  us,  "By  the  time  the  building  was  covered  in, 
late  in  1819,  a  revulsion  in  business  had  occurred,  money  had  become 
scarce,  the  fifty  independent  banks  of  Kentucky  and  other  kindred  institu- 
tions in  the  West,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Tennessee,  etc.,  that  had  furnished 
nearly  all  of  our  circulating  medium,  to  use  an  expression  of  the  day,  had 
all  "busted  up."  The  building  was  never  finished  interiorly,  and  our 
commissioners,  who  had  made  themselves  personally  liable,  were  com- 
pelled to  apply  to  the  state  authorities  for  relief  or  pay  the  bills  out  of 
their  own  pockets. 

Accordingly  upon  the  application  of  the  three  above-named  gentle- 
men, 

"An  Act  of  the  Legislature,  for  the  relief  of  Auguste  Chouteau  and 
others,  commissioners  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  approved  December 
17th,  1822,  authorized  them  to  sell  at  public  sale,  by  the  Sheriff,  so  much 
of  the  Church  Block  in  St.  Louis  as  was  not  used  for  Church  and  Ceme- 
tery purposes,  as  would  be  necessary  to  indemnify  them  for  the  amount 
they  had  advanced  and  had  become  responsible  for  in  the  erection  of  the 
brick  church  to  the  extent  of  $4,500." 


1     [bidem,  p.  157. 


Bishop  Du  Bourg's  Difficulties  275 

Accordingly,  at  the  request  in  writing  of  the  said  commissioners, 
Auguste  Chouteau,  Pierre  Chouteau  and  Bernard  Pratte,  Sheriff  John 
K.  "Walker,  sold  at  public  sale,  September  16,  1823,  the  south  part  of  the 
block,  being  the  Walnut  street  front,  as  per  plat  of  division,  made  by  the 
parties  interested. 

Lot  No.  1,  37  by  131  feet,  with  barn,  stable,  etc.,  for $  301 

Lot  No.  2,  75  by  131  feet,  with  the  orchard 201 

Lot  No.  3,  70  by  150  feet,  with  the  Presbytere,  kitchen  and  new 

house 501 

Lot  No.  4,  48  by  180  feet,  with  the  College 201 

Total   $1,204 

Father  Niel,  the  President  of  the  College,  was  the  purchaser j  and 
on  May  25,  1824,  conveyed  to  the  three  above-named  parties  the  same, 
except  the  College  building,  which  he  reserved  with  three  feet  of  ground 
around  the  same. 

Bernard  Pratte,  Auguste  Chouteau  and  Pierre  Chouteau  reconveyed 
to  Bishop  Joseph  Rosati,  July  1,  1828,  for  $4,748.28,  with  6  per  cent 
interest,  the  foregoing  church  property. 

The  old  brick  church  continued  to  be  occupied  as  such,  until  the 
completion  of  the  new  stone  structure  on  the  Walnut  street  front  of  the 
block,  which  was  opened  for  divine  service  in  October,  1834.  When  the 
old  one  was  abandoned  to  the  lessees  of  the  ground  on  which  it  stood  it 
was  used  as  a  warehouse  for  the  next  six  months  until  it  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  on  the  night  of  April  6,  1835.  "9 

The  erection  of  the  St.  Louis  College  on  the  site  of  the  old  Spanish 
church,  was  almost  coincident  with  the  building  of  the  Cathedral.  The 
moving  spirit  in  this  undertaking  was  the  young  curate  of  the  Cathedral, 
Francis  Niel.  The  beginnings  were  rather  humble,  to  be  extended  at  a 
future  period,  as  might  be  found  expedient  or  necessary. 

"With  that  view",  as  the  Annalist  of  St.  Louis  tells  us,  and  to  aid 
the  undertaking,  the  following  document  was  drawn  up,  and  received 
the  approval  and  signature  of  all  the  Catholic  householders  of  St.  Louis, 
including  a  few,  who  not  themselves  "Catholics,"  were  allied  to  Catholic 
families. 

"We,  the  undersigned,  inhabitants  and  property  holders  of  the  town 
and  parish  of  St.  Louis,  Territory  of  Missouri,  members  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion,  being  informed  that  the  Reverend  Francis  Niel,  Vicar 
of  this  parish,  by  the  authority  of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Guillaume  Du 


Billon,  "Annals  of  St.  Louis  in  Territorial  Days,''  pp.  418-420. 


276  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Bourg,  has  undertaken  to  erect  at  his  own  cost,  on  ;i  lot  forming  a  part 
of  tin'  yanl  of  the  Presbytere,  a  house  to  he  used  for  Lodging  the  Clergy 
of  our  Church,  and  the  keeping  of  a  school  for  the  education  of  youth; 
considering  the  various  useful  purposes  of  this  enterprise,  and  desiring 
to  protect  it  from  all  claims  or  molestation  on  the  part  of  persons  badly 
informed,  or  badly  disposed,  as  far  as  necessary,  we  hereby  express  our 
entire  approbation  of  the  building  of  such  a  house,  and  inasmuch  as  in 
our  said  capacities  we  might  have  a  right  to  dispose  of  the  lot  forming 
part  of  the  Presbytere,  we  warrant  the  free  use  thereof  for  the  purpose 
hereinabove  mentioned  to  the  clergy  of  our  communion  by  the  authority 
of  our  bishop. 

Made  and  executed  at  St.  Louis.  Territory  of  Missouri,  the  30th  Octo- 
ber, 1819." 

Bishop  Du  Bourg 's  College,  built  on  the  site  of  the  old  Catholic  log 
church,  on  Second,  below  Market,  in  1820:  had  the  following  faculty: 
Rev.  Francis  Niel,  curate  of  the  Cathedral,  president  ;  Rev.  Leo.  Deys, 
professor  of  languages;  Rev.  Andreas  Ferrari,  professor  of  ancient  lan- 
guages; Rev.  Aristide  Anduze,  professor  of  mathematics;  Rev.  Edmond 
Saulnier,  professor  of  languages;  Mr.  Samuel  Smith,  professor  of  lan- 
guages; Mr.  Patrick  Sullivan,  professor  of  ancient  languages;  Mr.  Francis 
C.  Guyol,  professor  of  writing  and  drawing;  Mr.  John  Martin,  prefect 
of  the  studies.10 

The  College  was  a  two-story  building  of  brick  and  had  about  sixty 
to  seventy  students.  Among  the  pupils  we  find  such  names  as  Wilson 
Primm,  Rene  Paul,  French  Strother,  Jesse  Benton,  James  O 'Toole, 
Lewis  M.  Clark  and  the  four  sons  of  Governor  McXair,  with  a  number 
of  others  who  later  on  attained  distinction,  as  Judges,  soldiers,  statesmen, 
and  merchants.  Elihu  H.  Shepard,11  who  taught  languages  at  the  College 
from  1823  to  1826,  in  his  Autobiography,  gives  a  few  pleasant  glimpses 
of  Father  Saulnier  and  the  other  Professors  of  the  first  College  estab- 
lished in  St.  Louis. 

In  connection  with  the  College  we  may  mention  Bishop  Du  Bourg 's 
very  elegant  and  valuable  library,  containing  about  8,000  volumes,  and 
which  was,  "in  the  language  of  one  of  the  Bishop's  visitors,  the  most  com- 
plete scientific  and  literary  repertory  of  the  western  country,  if  not  of 
the  western  world.  Though  it  is  not  public,  there  is  no  doubt  but  the 
man  of  science,  the  antiquary  and  the  linguist,  will  obtain  a  ready  access 
to  it,  and  find  the  Bishop  a  man  endowed  at  once  with  the  elegance  and 
politeness  of  the  courtier,  the  piety  and  zeal  of  the  apostle,  and  the  learn- 
ing of  a  Father  of  the  Church."12 


io     Billon,  op.  eit.,  pp.  4"Jn  s. 

n     Shepard,  Elihu  II.,  "Autobiography,"  ji]).  98-103. 

12     Edwards,  "The  Great   West,"  pp.  :!L':',  and  324. 


Bishop  Du  Bourg's  Difficulties  277 

The  lots  on  .which  the  church,  college  and  other  buildings  were  erected 
embrace  the  entire  square  between  Second  and  Third,  and  Market  and 
Walnut  street,  a  part  of  which  was  still  used  as  a  burial  ground. 

On  May  11,   1826  Bishop  Du  Bourg  advised  Jtosati  to  close  the 
'  school  because  there  were  no  priests  available  as  professors.    This  was 
done  on  the  Bishop's  last  visit  to  St.  Louis. 


Chapter  6 
FATHER    XI EL   AND   THE   CHURCH-WARDENS 


Bishop  l)u  Bourg's  project  of  making  their  little  town  of  two 
thousand  inhabitants,  on  the  frontiers  of  civilization,  an  episcopal  city 
with  a  costly  Cathedral  and  expensive  Cathedral  clergy,  must  have 
seemed  visionary  to  the  people  of  St.  Louis,  however,  strongly  it  may  have 
appealed  to  their  local  pride.  The  real  sentiments  of  the  ureal  majority 
were  reflected  in  I  he  curt  saying  i  I'  one  of  their  members  to  Bishop  Flaget : 
"We  have  a  parish  Church;  we  will  give  our  pastor  a  proper  salary; 
this  will  he  (pule  enough  for  our  share,  lint  as  to  the  Bishop,  we  are  not 
obliged  to  do  anything,  because  his  permanent  residence  belongs  alike  to 
all."  Nevertheless  the  pro-cathedral  was  built,  and  partly  paid:  the 
parish  residence  was  fitted  up  for  the  Cathedral  clergy.  Father  Francis 
Xiel  who  had  been  raised  lo  the  holy  priesthood  on  March  19th,  1818, 
was  appointed  assistant  to  Father  De  Andreis,  the  pastor  of  the 
Cathedral,  and  soon  followed  him  as  pastor  in  his  own  right. 

It  is  of  Father  Niel's  dealings  with  the  Church  wardens  and  parish 
meetings  this  chapter  would  give  a  few  particulars.1 

At  the  General  Meeting  of  the  Parishioners  held  on  March  7th,  1820, 
Charles  Besseron  was  elected  President  and  Mary  Philip  Leduc,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Building  Committee.  The  wardens  for  1821  were  Hubert 
Guion,  and  Louis  Brazeau.  On  .January  21st,  of  that  year  the  question 
of  the  pastor's  salary  came  up.  "  It  was  resolved  that  there  should  be  an 
allowance  to  the  Cure  of  the  city  of  a  sum  of  seven  hundred  piasters 
annually,  which  sum  shall  be  taken  from  the  funds  of  the  Church  and 
regulated  by  the  warden.  It  is  understood,  however,  that  this  payment 
must  not  affect  the  payment  of  the  debts  which  the  Building  Committee 
has  contracted  for  the  Construction  of  the  church." 

January  13th,  1822,  Joseph  Boju  was  elected  warden  in  place  of 
Hubert  Guion,  and  the  following  year  1823,  there  were  four  wardens: 
Joseph  Boju,  Thomas  McGuire,  J.  B.  Duchouquette  and  Michael 
Murphy:  The  purpose  of  this  appears  from  the  following  resolution: 
"The  wardens  shall  be  obliged  to  collect  the  debts  due  for  the  pews 
as  well  as  the  rent,  which  they  shall  remit  to  Rev.  Francois  Xiel  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  the  Church.     But,  in  the  meeting  held  on  April  1st,  1824, 


i  The  subject  mutter  of  this  chapter  was  derived  mainly  from  the  original 
"  Hegistrum  Ecelesiae  St.  Ludovici. ' '  the  Ms.  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  Archives 
of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis. 

(278) 


Father  Niel  and   the   Church-Wardens  279 

the  wardens  were  authorized  to  continue  to  pay  with  the  income  of  the 
church  the  debt  of  the  church  contracted  by  the  Committee."2 

The  question  of  Father  Kiel's  salary  still  unsettled,  there  arose 
another  question  of  serious  import  to  the  Wardens  of  the  Church  of 
St.  Louis.  In  February  1823,  the  trustees  of  the  town  of  St.  Louis 
passed  an  ordinance  prohibiting  the  burial  of  dead  within  its  limits. 
The  boundary  line  of  the  city  ran-  along  Seventh  Street :  The  old  Ceme- 
tery on  Market  Street  between  Second  and  Third  must,  therefore,  be 
abandoned  and  a  new  burying  ground  must  be  acquired. 

When  Laclede  -  Liguest  laid  out  the  village  of  Pain-Court,  soon 
to  be  known  as  St.  Louis,  he  assigned  an  entire  block  for  the  use  of 
the  Church.  Here  the  successive  churches  were  erected,  here  the  ministers 
of  God  had  their  home,  and  here  in  the  church-yard  were  laid  the 
sacred  remains  of  the  dead  as  seed-grains  of  the  harvest  of  eternity. 
The  first  burying  ground  in  St.  Louis  was,  therefore,  a  church-yard  in 
the  primitive  sense  of  the  term.  It  was  in  use  since  1770.  In  the  first 
two  years  forty-four  persons  were  buried  in  its  blessed  soil.  St.  Ange 
de  Bellerive  found  his  last  resting  place  here  on  December  27th,  1774. 
From  1776  to  1789  the  total  number  of  interments  were  three  hundred 
and  thirty-four,  sixty  of  negroes,  and  fifty-four  of  Indian  converts. 
Governor  De  Leyba  received  the  honor  of  being  buried  in  the  church 
itself.  A  list  of  prominent  people  laid  to  rest  in  the  Old  Cemetery 
was  published  in  the  Missouri  Republican  Weekly  of  September  29th, 
1837. 

The  old  was  giving  way  to  the  new :  as  the  old  church  had  passed 
away  so  the  old  grave  yard,  also,  was  doomed. 

On  March  17th,  1823,  a  parish  meeting  was  held  for  the  purpose  of 
meeting  the  emergency.  Father  Kiel  is  now  in  the  President's  chair, 
and  Gabriel  Paul  holds  the  position  of  Secretary.  The  President 
announced,  that  the  Cemetery  must  be  closed  before  the  first  day  of 
April  next  year,  1824,  and  that  it  was  an  urgent  matter  for  the  parish 
to  procure  a  suitable  plot  of  ground  for  a  new  cemetery.  A  committee 
of  four  was  appointed  to  investigate,  whether  the  parishioners  wish  to 
locate  their  new  Cemetery  on  the  common  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  or 
to  select  another  location,  as  convenient  as  possible. 

In  the  meantime  the  wardens  circulated  subscription  lists  among 
the  parishioners  to  raise  the  salary  of  Father  Kiel  by  voluntary  offer- 
ings. 


2  Father  Niel,  as  a  student,  had  come  to  St.  Louis  with  Bishop  Flaget  and 
Father  Badin,  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  in  St.  Louis  Cathedral,  March  19, 
1818,  became  its  pastor  and  at  the  same  time  President  of  the  St.  Louis  College,  was 
sent  to  Europe  in  March  1825,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  funds  for  the  mission, 
and  never  returned.  He  was  an  eloquent  preacher  and  published  in  French  a  book  of 
devotion.     "La  Voie  Du  Ralut,"  Par  M.  Abbe  F.  Niel,  Paris  1845. 


280  History  of  tht    Archdioces(   of  St.  Louis 

On  April  L3th,  1823,  the  Committee  appointed  to  make  inquiries 
for  a  plot  of  ground  for  cemetery-purposes  made  its  report  to  the 
parish  assembled  under  the  presidency  of  Father  Niel;  and  it  was 
resolved  <>n  motion  of  Rene  Paul,  thai  the  wardens  be  authorized  to 
accept  tlic  offer  of  Mrr  Stokes,8  who  proposed  to  transfer  the  title  to 
four  acres  of  land  on  the  St.  Charles  Road,  a  little  more  than  a  mile 
from  the  city-limits,  withoul  asking  any  consideration  except  the 
assignment  of  a  pew  in  the  Church.  The  wardens  were  requested  at 
the  same  time  to  report  on  the  advisability  of  a  wood,  stone  or  brick 
enclosure  for  the  proposed  cemetery  and  to  make  a  complete  list  of 
the  Members  of  the  Congregation  in  alphabetical  order.  The  question 
as  to  Father  Niel's  salary  was  referred  to  the  next  meeting. 

On  September  31st,  18215,  a  meeting  of  the  wardens  was  held  in 
the  parsonage  in  which  it  was  unanimously  resolved,  that  there  would  be 
reserved  all  around  the  new  cemetery  a  border  of  land,  about  twenty- 
one  feet  in  depth,  to  he  distributed  in  lots  for  those  who  might  desire 
a  burying  ground  for  their  families.  The  price  was  set  at  two  piasters 
a  foot  of  front.  Father  Niel  had  added  the  remark:  "Only  Catholics 
were  entitled  to  this  privilege,"  but  it  was  crossed  out  with  heavy 
strokes  of  the  pen:  hence  non-catholics  were  also  to  be  permitted  to 
purchase  such  lots  on  the  borders  of  the  Catholic  Cemetery,  The 
entry  is  signed  by  Father  Niel  and  Joseph  Boju,  C.  W.  and  Thos. 
McGuire,  2nd  C.  W. 

( hi  June  28th,  1824  the  trustees  of  the  Catholic  Church  gave 
notice  of  the  opening  of  their  new  Cemetery  about  one  mile  from  the 
limits  of  the  city,  or  rather,  of  the  border  around  the  Catholic  Cemetery 
open  to  non-Catholics  as  well  as  Catholics.  The  announcement  read 
as  follows.  "The  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity  are  made 
acquainted  that  a  public  graveyard,  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
wardens  of  the  Catholic  congregation,  and  adjoining  their  burial- 
ground,  is  now  open,  and  that  burials  may  hereafter  take  place  by 
conforming  with  the  following  resolutions  passed  by  the  committee: 
Applications  for  burial  to  be  made  to  the  warden  in  office  for  the  year. 
The  price  of  burial  to  be  ten  dollars,  five  dollars  for  children  under 
ten  years  of  age.  Persons  who  would  fence  in  a  particular  spot  for 
their  family,  each  burial,  to  be  twenty  dollars,  and  ten  dollars  for 
children  under  ten  years  of  age.  The  amount  of  burial  to  be  settled 
with  the  church  warden  before  the  burials  take  place.     No  grave  to  be 


3  William  Stokes  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  His  career  was  a 
really  romantic  one  full  of  the  ups  and  downs  of  fortune.  John  P.  Darby  in  his 
"Personal  Recollections''  devotes  Cull  twenty  pa^es  to  "Poor  Old  Stokes,"  pp.  Uti 
146.  Col.  John  O'Fallon  married  a  sister  of  Stokes.  It  is  to  Mr.  William  Stokes  the 
Church  of  St.  Louis  owes  its  second  burying-ground. 


Father  Niel  and   the   Church-Wardens  28] 

dug  bu1  by  the  digger  appointed  for  that  purpose,  and  according  to 
the  regulations  for  said  graveyard.  The  warden  in  office  for  this  year 
is  Mr.  J.  B.  Belcour."4 

The  question  of  Father  Niel's  salary  came  up  at  last  in  the  parish 
meeting  of  February  15th,  1824. 

In  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Catholic  congregation  held 
this  day  in  church  where  there  were  present  a  majority  of  parishioners, 
the  wardens  made  the  following  report : 

"We,  the  Wardens  of  the  parish  of  St.  Louis,  being  assembled  to 
take  into  consideration  the  situation  of  affairs  of  the  congregation  in 
general,  have  first  proceeded  to  the  inventory  of  all  the  articles  of  the 
church  committed  to  our  care. 

Having  taken  into  consideration  the  letter  which  the  Reverend 
Father  Niel  addressed  to  the  wardens  and  on  which  nothing  has  been 
stated  in  the  last  meetings  held  for  that  purpose ;  being  unanimously 
convinced  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  member  of  the  congregation  to 
contribute  alike  to  the  support  of  his  Pastor  in  order  to  have  an  equal 
right  to  the  practice  of  his  religion,  and  to  the  spiritual  assistance  of 
our  holy  religion,  we  have  agreed  that 

1.  The  annual  contribution  for  the  subsistence  and  maintenance  of 
the  Cure  of  this  Parish  cannot  be  less  than  two  piasters  for  each  head 
of  a  house  and  the  Catholic  proprietors  of  pews  in  the  church,  and  of 
one  piaster  for  the  bachelors  and  young  grown  people. 

2.  The  payments  to  begin  in  the  present  year  will  be  made  known 
semi-annually  the  first  of  March  and  of  September  of  each  year. 

3.  Every  contributor  who  will  refuse  to  pay  (unless  his  inability  to 
pay  is  known)  will  forfeit  by  this  act  the  rights  and  privileges  attached 
to  the  congregation  and  his  name  will  be  taken  from  the  list  of  the 
members  who  compose  it. 

4.  That  all  the  funeral  and  marriage  expenses  will  always  be  de- 
mandable   in   advance. 

The  said  four  articles  read  above  and  intelligible  in  French  and  in 
English  have  been  unanimously  approved." 

Then  the  question  of  the  Cemetery  was  taken  up  by  the  assembly 
and  the  resolutions  resolved : 

"We  being  also  assured  that  the  Bishop  of  Louisiana  has  found  it 
advisable  and  permitted  a  part  of  the  Catholic  cemeteries  to  be  used 
for  funerals  other  than  those  of  the  members  of  the  congregation, 
have  agreed  upon  the  following: 


*     Scharf,  "History  of  St.  Louis,"  pp.  1750  and  1751. 


282  History  of  tht    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

1.  The  presenl  Cemetery  will  be  enclosed  ;is  much  as  possible  in  its 
entirety,  and  it  will  include  a  section  of  One  hundred  i'eet  Square,  to 
receive  there  the  bodies  of  persons  who  do  not  belong. to  our  congregation, 
and  whose  relatives  or  friends,  will  request  their  burial  there. 

2.  The  remuneration  to  be  paid  for  such  interments  cannot  be  less 
than  twenty  gourdes. 

3.  Every  member  of  the  congregation  wdio  will  have  bought  and 
paid  for  a  family  lot  as  that  furnished  by  the  agreement  of  the  third  of 
last  September  can  bury  there  those  of  his  family  who  do  not  belong  to 
our  Catholic  Congregation  by  paying  to  the  church  the  final  remunera- 
tion by  the  tariff  for  interment  of  the  first  class. 

The  said  three  articles  read  in  French  and  in  English  have  been 
unanimously  approved. 

Resolved  further  that  the  list  of  persons  who  form  the  Catholic 
congregation  of  the  parish  of  St.  Louis  will  be  placed  on  a  special 
record  in  alphabetical  order  with  the  account  of  each,  open  for  the 
payment  of  the  contributions."5 

They  were  great  in  making  resolutions,  these  early  fathers  of  our 
diocese :  but  it  required  more  than  resolutions  to  get  on  the  highway 
of  success.  On  Sunday,  March  28th,  18124,  the  warden  in  charge 
announced  to  the  assembly  a  letter  of  Father  Niel's  offering  to  re-assign 
the  land  of  the  church  wdiich  he  bought.  This  refers  to  the  public  sale 
by  the  Sheriff  of  so  much  of  the  Church  Block  in  St.  Louis  as  was  not 
used  for  Church  and  Cemetery  purposes,  to  reimburse  the  Building- 
Commissioners,  Auguste  and  Pierre  Chouteau,  Bernard  Pratte  and  others, 
for  the  money  advanced  by  them  on  the  construction  of  the  pro-cathedral. 
Father  Niel,  probably  at  the  request  of  Bishop  Uu  Bourg,  had  bought 
the  lots  for  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  four  dollars.  He  was  now 
offering  to  turn  them  over  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  committee  as  part- 
payment  of  the  church  debt.  Only  the  lot  on  which  the  College  stood 
was  retained  by  its  President,  Father  Niel.  Yet,  the  matter  of  these 
church  lots  was  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  of  both  Bishops  Du  Bourg  and 
Rosati,  for  a  long  time  after. 

Father  Niel  now  insisted  on  the  payment  of  a  salary  of  five  hundred 
dollars  and  four  church  collections  a  year.  The  petition  was  granted, 
but  the  raising  of  the  amount  was  left  to  the  good  will  or  sense  of 
justice  of  the  parishioners. 

Gabriel  Paul  served  as  warden  in  charge  during  1825,  and  Passon 
Ifonore  was  elected  for  1826,  but  resigned  in  June  1827,  when  Louis 
Auguste  Iienoist  was  nominated  with  Manuel  Alvarez  as  his  assistant. 


5     Register,  passim. 


Father  Niel   and   the   Church -Wardens  283 

In  1828  Market  Street  was  widened.  In  consequence  a  part  of  the 
old  Cemetery  was  condemned,  and  all  those  who  had  relations  in  the  part 
which  was  given  up  were  ordered  to  leave  notice  with  the  Sexton  of  the 
Church  (the  Cathedral)  who  would  remove  them  without  charge.  This 
order  is  signed  by  Wm.  Carr  Lane  and  R.  Paul,  Board  of  Commissioners. 

In  the  meeting  of  January  3rd,  1830,  M.  Rodiez  was  elected  Warden 
for  the  year.    This  is  the  last  entry  in  the  Register. 

It  is  written  in  English,  and  signed  by  Father  Edmund  Saulnier, 
Father  Xiel's  successor  at  the  Cathedral,  Bernard  Pratte,  M.  P.  Leduc, 
Th.  Robidoux,  E.  De  Hodiamont  and  Manuel  Alvarez.  A  number  of 
leaves  have  been  cut  out  of  the  book ;  whether  they  contained  any 
writing  cannot  be  discovered. 

A  new  project  was  being  slowly  realized,  the  erection  of  the  new 
stone  Cathedral,  of  Bishop  Rosati,  in  our  days  designated  as  the  Old 
Cathedral.  In  order  to  obtain  means  to  carrv  out  this  for  the  times 
magnificent  plan,  the  landed  holdings  of  the  Church  in  St.  Louis  were 
reduced  to  a  minimum,  just  as  the  place  appears  today.  The  last 
vestiges  of  the  old  Cemetery  had  to  disappear.  But,  whenever  a 
Catholic  Cemetery  has  to  be  closed,  and  the  land  devoted  to  building 
purposes,  the  Church  with  tender  care  takes  up  the  remains  of  her 
departed  and  deposits  them  in  consecrated  ground.  This  act  of  piety 
was  extended  in  1831,  to  practically  all  the  dead  resting  in  the  old 
Cemetery  on  Market  Street. 

The  circumstances  of  the  event  are  given  by  Judge  Primm  in 
one  of  his  Sketches  of  Early  St.  Louis  Catholicity. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  parishioners  on  April  4th,  1830,  under 
1lie  presidency  of  Bishop  Rosati,  M.  Philip  Leduc  acting  as  secretary, 
it  was  resolved  to  build  a  new  Cathedral  and,  in  order  to  raise  funds 
for  the  undertaking,  to  lease  for  99  years  the  north  half  of  the  Church 
block  where  is  the  ancient  Cemetery  and  the  pld  Church  stands."  A 
committee  was  appointed  to  carry  out  these  resolutions.  A  loan  of  eight 
thousand  dollars  was  offered  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  and  gratefully 
accepted,  and  the  north  half  of  block  59  Avas  leased  to  George  Morton  and 
Joseph   C.   Lavelle.     This  lease   was  executed  on    August   25th,   1830.° 

The  contract  for  digging  up  the  graveyard  was  given  to  Benjamin 
Walker.  On  March  18th,  1831  the  president  of  the  Committee 
announced,    that    the    digging    of   the    graveyard    had    been    completed 


6  From  Wilson  Primm  's  "Retrospective  View  of  the  First  Religious  Establish- 
ment in  the  City  of  St.  Louis,"  read  before  the  Missouri  Historical  Society,  Septem- 
ber 16,  1875,  and  printed  in  "Church  Progress." 


284  History  of  tin    Archdiocest    of  St.  Louis 

according  to  contract,  measured  by  R.  Paul  and  round  to  be  46,020 
yds:  the  vault  14  yds.,  which  at  10%  cts.  per  yard  amounted  to  $499. 49. 
He  stated  moreover,  that  lie  had  paid  Benjamin  Walker  the  whole 
amount."7 

The  remains  dug  up  by  Benjamin  Walker  in  1831,  it  would  seem, 
were  deposited  in  a  vault  in  what  was  afterwards  called  "The  Bishop's 
Graveyard"  on  Jefferson  Avenue. 

"     Prinim,  1.  e. 


yiiiY  n£\y*  fixvivi+v\ijji£. 


First  Superior  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission  in  the  United  States 
and  Vicar  General  of  Upper  Louisiana. 


Chapter  7 
FATHER  FELIX  DE  ANDREIS 


Of  all  the  members  of  that  bright  galaxy  of  missionaries  that  con- 
tributed to  the  wonderful  success  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg  in  evangelizing 
the  diocese  of  Louisiana,  the  first  one  to  join  was  also  the  foremost  one 
in  regard  to  the  gifts  of  nature  and  of  grace,  the  gentle  son  of  St.  Vincent 
de  Paul,  the  saintly  Father  Felix  de  Andreis.  A  clear  and  deep  thinker, 
well  fitted  to  unravel  the  most  knotty  questions  of  divinity  and  natural 
science,  he  was  also  gifted  with  a  tenacious  memory,  that  treasured  up 
for  immediate  use  whatever  he  read  or  heard,  and  with  a  heart  full  of 
the  wisdom  that  the  love  of  God  alone  can  inspire,  he  was  an  ideal  Super- 
ior; his  counsel  and  advice  never  failed.  But  this  was  not  all.  Felix  de 
Andreis  was  a  mystic  of  the  school  of  St.  Bernard,  St.  Theresa  and  St. 
John  of  the  Cross,  striving  after  that  intimate  union  with  God,  which 
those  great  mystics  enjoyed,  and  breathing  forth,  now  in  prose,  now  in 
verse,  the  delights  of  the  visions  God  granted  to  him. amid  the  poverty, 
the  privations  and  the  sufferings  of  his  laborious  life. 

Only  forty-two  years  of  earthly  existence  were  granted  to  him,  but 
in  this  short  space  of  time  he  accomplished  many  great  things.  He  was 
a  learned  theologian,  a  profound  philosopher,  and  one  of  the  most  eloquent 
preachers  of  his  time.  Latin  he  spoke  fluently  and  with  elegance.  He 
was  well  versed  in  Greek  and  Hebrew.  Even  the  natural  sciences  were 
of  deep  interest  to  his  inquiring  mind.  If  he  had  devoted  himself  to  a 
literary  calling,  he  would  have  attained  distinguished  success,  as  the 
elegance  of  his  occasional  writings  testify.  Poetry  was  his  great  delight. 
A  volume  of  sacred  songs  written  by  him  in  moments  of  mystical  abstrac- 
tions was  found  among  his  numerous  manuscripts,  but  subsequently 
perished.  Yet,  though  highly  gifted  for  a  contemplative  life,  Father  de 
Andreis  was  called  to  an  active  life  in  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission. 
In  the  diocese  of  Louisiana  he  was  to  fill  the  office  of  Superior  of  his 
Congregation  and  the  still  more  arduous  office  or  Vicar-General  for  Upper 
Louisiana,  at  the  same  time  holding  the  position  of  Parish  priest  of  St. 
Louis  and  Director  of  the  Seminary  of  the  Diocese  and  the  Novitiate  of 
his  Order.  Work  enough  for  three  or  four  strong  men;  And  yet,  Father 
de  Andreis  was  never  strong  physically,  least  of  all  after  the  horrors 
of  the  journey  from  Baltimore  to  St.  Louis.  But  he  did  all  this  work 
with  remarkably  rich  results.  Quiet  and  unobtrusive  in  his  manner,  he 
went  about  doing  good.  If  these  his  charities  "that  soothe  and  heal  and 
bless, "  are  not  more  largely  stressed  in  the  accounts  of  the  servant  of 
God,  it  is  because  there  was  something  greater,  something  more  lovely  and 

(28."i) 


286  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

endearing  in  him;  he  was  one  of  the  chosen  vessels  of  sanctity  who  even 
in  their  lifetime  diffuse  all  around  them  the  beauty  and  fragrance  of 
paradise.  Felix  dc  Andreis  was  recognized  as  a  true  saint  by  all  who 
knew  him.  Dec))  humility,  the  broad  foundation  of  all  virtues,  and  sin- 
cere and  deep  love  for  God  and  God's  children  were  the  Alpha  and 
Omega  of  his  life  and  all  his  labors.  In  his  Soliloquy  No.  9,  he  says:  "  1 
see  very  clearly,  when  I  collect  my  thoughts,  that  Divine  Bounty  began 
to  call  me  to  the  sweet  intercourse  of  contemplation  from  my  very  child- 
hood. I  can  very  distinctly  picture  to  myself  the  unspeakable  delights 
which  I  once  felt  when  a  child,  while  listening  to  one  of  my  aunts,  who 
was  singing  some  hymns  on  the  love  of  God  and  the  infancy  of  Mary,  as 
Ave  walked  one  evening  in  the  gardens  of  Count  Berengar.  T  did  not 
then  foresee  what  would  be  the  result  and,  though  I  was  somewhat  ac- 
quainted with  the  writings  of  St.  Theresa  and  St.  John  of  the  Cross,  I 
had  no  precise  idea  of  the  treasures  hidden  in  their  mystic  works."1 

We  have  then  in  Father  Felix  de  Andreis  a  happy  union  of  the  con- 
templative and  the  active  life,  rich  in  results  both  for  time  and  eternity. 
We  have  in  his  memory  a  constant  inspiration  beautifully  symbolized  by 
his  luminous  star  that  shone  above  the  place  of  his  happy  death  in  broad 
daylight,  during  the  funeral  services  held  in  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis. 
Father  De  Andreis  died  on  the  Feast  of  St.  Theresa ;  his  earthly  remains, 
long  since  glorified  by  miraculous  occurrences,  are  the  greatest  treasure 
of  St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens. 

But  as  history  loves  to  dwell  on  the  deeds  and  vicissitudes  of  her 
heroes,  it  seems  to  be  time  to  recall  some  of  the  things,  either  accomplished 
or  attempted  in  St.  Louis  by  the  Vicar  General,  Superior,  Pastor  and 
Saint.  On  his  arrival  in  the  new  episcopal  See  of  St.  Louis,  Father  de 
Andreis  took  up  his  abode  with  the  Bishop,  in  the  "episcopal  palace," 
that  is,  the  old  stone  presbytere  built  in  1778  by  Father  Bernard  de 
Limpach.  Here  he  established  the  novitiate  of  his  congregation  with  three 
novices.  The  others  were  as  yet  with  Father  Rosati  in  St.  Thomas  Sem- 
inary, Kentucky,  but  were  soon  to  be  established  in  the  Seminary  at  the 
Barrens. 

"I  have  not  enjoyed  the  consolation  of  seeing  Father  Rosati  for  more 
than  a  year,"  wrote  Father  De  Andreis  at  this  time,  "nor  have  I  any  pros- 
pect of  being  soon  able  to  do  so;  for  the  ties  that  bind  us  both  to  our 
respective  duties  are  so  close,  that  they  will  not  allow  us  to  absent  our- 
selves under  any  pretext. '  '2 

One  of  his  novices  died,  Father  Joseph  Caretti,  a  virtuous  and  able 
priest,  only  twenty -eight  years  old.  "He  was  a  Canon  of  Porto  Maurizio, 
and  his  name  was  Joseph  Caretti"  writes  the  Master  of  Novices.  "1 
attended  him  in  his  long  illness,  which  was  consumption,  and  he  frequent- 


1  Letter  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

2  "Life  of  Father  De  Andreis,"  by  Bishop  Kosati,  p.  214. 


Father  Felix  Be  Andn  is  287 

ly  mentioned  to  me  his  desire  of  joining  our  Missionaries.  He  died  on 
the  Feast  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  our  great  protector,  at  the  very  moment 
that  I  left  his  bedside  to  receive  into  the  novitiate  his  worthy  companion 
a  priest  named  Andrew  Ferrari,  who  was  likewise  from  Porto  Maurizio.3 
At  the  same  time,  two  others  were  received:  Rev.  Francis  Xavier  Dahmen, 
a  deacon,  and  Rev.  Joseph  Tichitoli,  a  subdeacon.  Both  Ferrari  and 
Tichitoli  were  about  26  years  of  age ;  whilst  Dahmen  was  twenty-nine. 
They  were  all  excellent  subjects,  had  postulated  for  more  than  a  year, 
and  after  the  customary  spiritual  retreat,  were  admitted  into  our  novi- 
tiate and  seminary,  on  the  same  memorial  day,  December  3rd." 

But  Tichitoli  was  forced  to  leave  for  the  milder  climate  of  the  south, 
whilst  Father  Ferrari  was  needed  at  Vincennes,  and  Father  Dahmen  at 
Ste.  Genevieve,  Father  Acquaroni,  whom  Father  de  Andreis  had  called 
from  Kentucky,  was  sent  a  few  days  after  his  arrival,  to  take  charge  of 
St.  Charles,  Dardennes  and  Portage  des  Sioux.  Now  Father  de  Andreis 
was  alone  once  more,  as  the  Bishop  was  obliged  to  absent  himself  from 
home  a  good  part  of  the  time,  and  even  Brother  Blanka  was  transferred 
to  the  Barrens,  where  his  services  were  absolutely  necessary.  Yet  the 
brave  and  loyal  missionary  did  not  repine.  Indeed,  he  deeply  felt  this 
isolation  and  the  manifold  crosses  of  his  position.  "I  assure  you"  he 
wrote  to  Father  Baccari,  "That  when  I  think  of  Italy,  it  appears  to  me 
an  earthly  paradise,  in  comparison  with  America ;  and  I  cannot  con- 
ceive, how  so  many  Europeans  undergo  such  privations  and  trials,  for  a 
miserable  worldly  gain.  I  know  that,  were  it  not  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  salvation  of  souls,  I  Avould  not  stay  where  I  am  for  all  the  gold  in  the 
world."4 

The  love  of  God  and  of  immortal  souls  was  ever  the  Christian  hero's 
compelling  principle.  "You  tell  me"  he  writes  to  his  Superior  in  Rome, 
"you  tell  me  that  I  am  burdened  beyond  my  strength.  Perhaps  I  am, 
but  this  is  only  because  of  my  weakness.  I  must  however  tell  you  some- 
thing which  redounds  to  the  glory  of  God,  to  whom  alone  it  is  due :  the 
number  of  adult  baptisms  is  very  great.  I  have  sometimes  baptized 
entire  families  at  a  time,  during  High  Mass,  explaining  one  by  one, 
all  the  baptismal  ceremonies  to  a  crowd  of  people."5  As  Father  De  An- 
dreis tells  us  in  another  place,  it  was  customary  to  preach  on  the  occasions 
of  Baptisms  and  marriages  as  well  as  of  funerals.  The  'onus  praedicandi,' 
the  office  of  preaching,  was  a  real  onus  or  burden  to  Father  De  Andreis, 
because  it  had  to  be  done  in  either  English  or  French,  his  native  tongue 
being  the  liquid  Italian. 

In  one  of  his  letters  to  Father  Sicardi  he  writes:  "besides  the  dis- 
charge of  our  daily  duties,  we  are  obliged  to  labor  not  a  little  to  translate 


3     "Life  of  Father  De  Andreis,"  by  Rosati,  p.  215,  ef.  p.  201. 
*     Op.  cit.,  p.  197,  ef.  p.  163. 
5     Op.  cit.,  pp.  200  and  201. 


288  History  of  Hu   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

our  sermons  into  French  and  English  .   Our  greatest  difficulty  is  not  in 
writing,  bul   in  speaking  and  pronouncing  the  language."6 

Among  tlic  poignanl  sorrows  afflicting  Father  De  Andreis'  loving 
heart  was  the  decay  of  faith  and  morals  he  witnessed  all  around  him. 
Here  are  some  of  his  experiences:  "As  to  the  Catholics,  here  who  are 
the  "domestic]  fidei, "  they  have  the  first  right  to  the  zeal  of  the  mission- 
ary, yet,  on  account  of  their  ignorance  and  indolence  present  to  the  zeal 
and  vigilance  of  the  evangelical  laborer  a  sight  similar  to  that  formerly 
beheld  by  the  Prophet  Ezechiel,  a  vast  plain  covered  with  dry  bones, 
devoid  of  life.  This  is  a  spectacle  fit  to  discourage  the  most  active  zeal, 
for  really  one  knows  not  where  to  begin.  On  account  of  their  constant 
intercourse  with  sectarians  and  infidels  of  every  kind,  their  ideas  of 
the  first  and  most  essential  points  of  Christianity  have  become  distorted : 
and  unfortunately  they  show  very  little  inclination  to  reform  them. 

"For  example,  I  happened  to  be  in  a  place,  where  a  rich  merchant, 
who  enjoyed  the  credit  of  being  the  principal  supporter  of  Catholicity, 
treated  us  with  all  possible  attention  and  kindness.  But  one  evening  I 
went  to  visit  him,  he  began,  while  we  were  at  supper,  to  assert  that  one 
can  be  saved  in  any  sect,  provided  only  he  be  an  honest  man.  And  he 
held  so  tenaciously  to  his  opinion,  that  it  was  but  with  the  greatest 
trouble  I  convinced  him  that  out  of  the  Catholic  Church  there  is  no 
salvation.  Another  missionary  told  me  that  while  he  was  staying  in  the 
house  of  one  of  the  best  Catholics,  whose  wife  was  said  to  be  the  most 
excellent  Christian  in  these  parts,  this  fervent  lady  told  him  one  day 
that  she  highly  esteemed  the  custom  of  assisting  at  Mass  and  hearing 
Sermons,  but  as  to  confession,  it  Avas,  she  said,  a  most  abominable  prac- 
tice. We  meet  with  others  of  the  same  description,  who  are  not  well 
convinced  of  the  existence  of  hell,  and  who  are  ignorant  of  the  most 
essential  points  of  religion.  It  is  pretty  hard  work  to  remove  their 
prejudices."7 

How  very  familiar  these  ancient  objections  to  religion  must  appear 
to  the  advanced  thinkers  of  our  day,  inside  and  outside  of  the  Church. 
But  the  zealous  disciple  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  could  not  be  discouraged 
by  the  prevalence  of  these  vagaries. 

"We  can  do  the  most  good  with  the  youth  of  both  sexes  who  really 
are  a  consolation  to  our  hearts.  They  make  their  first  communion  with 
admirable  fervor,  and  afterwards  continue  to  frequent  the  sacraments 
and  attend  catechism.  The  young  girls,  especially,  delight  me  by  their 
candor  and  simplicity;  they  are  lilies  of  purity,  angels  in  human  form, 
and  their  piety  will  do  much  good  among  the  rising  generation. 

' '  Others  are  caught  on  their  death-bed,  at  the  latest :  we  have  some 
of  every  nation,  even  Italians,  who  know  how  to  pay  compliments,  but 


i;     "Life  of  ratlin-  De  Andreis,"  by  Rosati,  pp.  184  and    ill. 
"     Op.  cit.,  pp.    L90  an. I    L91. 


Father  Felix  De  Andreis  289 

who  are  in  reality,  perhaps,  more  estranged  from  religion  than  any 
other  people.  The  Irish  are  generally  very  fervent,  and  show  no  mercy 
towards  Protestants."8 

Whilst  in  Rome  Father  De  Andreis  had  witnessed  the  wonderful 
effects  of  the  devotion  of  the  Tre  Ore  and  introduced  it  among  his 
people  in  St.  Louis,  in  Holy  Week,  1818,  as  he  writes  to  his  friend 
Rosati :  "We  held  the  best  we  could  the  functions  of  the  Holy  Week  with 
the  help  of  Father  Prior  and  Father  Savine,  making  great  use  of  the  stuff 
brought  from  Europe.  The  Bishop  made  the  design  and  the  Brother  with 
a  carpenter  built  up  a  sepulchre  which,  without  exaggeration,  would  not 
have  been  out  of  place  in  Rome,  so  magnificent  were  the  draperies,  so 
many  the  lights  and  so  majestic  the  appearance  of  the  whole.  Two  Civic- 
Guards,  changing  every  hour,  kept  sentry-duty  day  and  night  before  the 
Sepulchre;  on  the  evening  there  was  vocal  and  instrumental  music  for 
the  Stabat  Mater  and  the  Hymn;  An  Sang  pui  mi  Dieu  va  repandre.  .  . 
On  Good  Friday  evening  we  had  the  function  called  the  Tre  Ore  carried 
out  in  every  detail ;  the  setting  was  magnificent  beyond  belief. '  '9 

There  is  one  more  gem  to  be  noticed  in  the  saintly  missionary's 
crown  of  merit,  although  it  was  but  a  desire  never  to  be  realized  by  him  • 
The  idea  of  a  missionary  life  among  the  Indians.  Even  before  he  set 
foot  upon  the  land  to  be  hallowed  by  his  labors,  whilst  preparing  himself 
for  his  life-work  under  the  roof  of  St.  Thomas  Seminary  at  Bardstown, 
he  gave  strong  expression  to  his  desires  and  hopes.  Writing  to  the  Vicar 
General  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Missions  at  Rome,  under  date  of 
January  5,  1817,  Father  De  Andreis  says:  "I  feel  strongly  impelled  to 
devote  myself,  in  a  particular  manner,  to  the  conversion  of  the  Indian 
tribes  who  live  beyond  the  Mississippi.  Here  (In  Kentucky)  no  trace  of 
them  remains,  while  on  the  contrary,  the  Mississippi,  which  serves  as 
a  boundary  to  the  United  States,  and  separates  them  from  the  immense 
wilderness,  which  extends  even  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  flows  by  St.  Louis, 
and  makes  of  it  the  central  point  of  all  these  savage  nations.  Among 
these  so  far,  the  light  of  the  Gospel  has  never  penetrated,  though  they 
seem  well  disposed  to  receive  it.  Wherefore  I  intend,  when  our  seminary 
is  well  established,  to  leave  Father  Rosati  at  its  head,  and  to  wend  my 
way,  in  Nomine  Domini,  along  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri 
preaching  the  gospel  to  these  poor  people.  Before  I  leave  St.  Louis  I 
will  have  the  Catechism  translated  into  their  language.  This  I  can  do 
with  the  assistance  of  some  Indians  who  come  from  time  to  time  to  St. 
Louis,  and  persons  of  the  place  who  are  pretty  well  acquainted  with  their 
Language.  I  have  received  from  men  of  experience  much  information, 
both  with  regard  to  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered  and  the  manner  of 


8  "Life  of  Father  De  Andreis,"  by  Rosati,  p.  192. 

9  Letter  to  Father  Rosati,  St.  Louis,  April  2,  1818.     A  copy  of  this  letter  is  in 
the  Archives  of  the  Chancery  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis. 


Vol.  I    in 


290  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

overcoming  them,  and,  with  the  help  of  God,  the  undertaking  seems 
as  easy  as  if  I  already  witnessed  its  execution.  I  shall  have  much  to 
suffer,  hut  of  this  I  do  not  think,  nor  will  I  allow  my  mind  to  rest  on  it 
one  moment."10 

This  was  not  a  mere  romantic  notion,  such  as  many  others  have 
entertained  since  the  days  of  Chateaubriand:  a  glorious  free  life  with 
nature  and  the  noble  red  man  of  the  forest  and  prairie.  No,  De  Andreis 
knew  better,  and  his  aspirations  were  immeasurably  higher. 

"To  tell  the  truth  the  Indians  are  uncivilized,  ferocious,  inconstant 
and  haughty.  They  habitually  lead  a  very  austere  life,  and  sometimes 
spend  several  days  without  taking  any  nourishment ;  but  then,  if  they 
chance  to  kill  a  buffalo  or  a  deer  in  their  hunt,  they  will  eat  it  all  at  once, 
almost  raw.  They  wear  very  little  clothes  and  torment  their  bodies  to 
please  'the  Great  Spirit.'  The  old  people  with  the  women  and  children 
remain  in  the  wigwams,  but  the  others  are  nearly  always  away  hunting 
beasts,  whose  skins  they  prepare  very  skillfully,  to  exchange  them  with 
the  Americans  for  provisions  and  strong  liquors.  They  are  exceedingly 
fond  of  liquor,  so  much  so,  that  this  propensity  constitutes  one  of  the 
principal  obstacles  with  whieh  the  missionary  has  to  contend,  in  the 
work  of  their  conversion."11 

And  a  little  later:  "They  acknowledge  one  only  God,  whom,  in 
their  language,  they  call  Chissemenetu,  which  means,  Father  of  Life ;  to 
him  they  address  their  prayers  and  offer  the  first  fumes  of  their  pipes. 
To  please  this  god  they  treat  themselves  most  cruelly.  Indeed,  their 
whole  religion  consists  in  these  practices,  some  of  which  are  too  horrible 
to  relate.  They  live  like  the  very  animals  of  which  they  are  constantly 
in  pursuit.  Their  chase  provides  them  with  food  and  scanty  clothing 
(for  they  go  almost  naked),  and  enables  them  to  trade  with  the  white 
people,  who  in  exchange  for  furs  and  venison,  give  them  powder,  spirits, 
paint  to  decorate  their  bodies  and  silver  rings  for  their  ears  and  nostrils. 
Their  aspect  is  frightful,  and  one  feels  almost  inclined  to  doubt  if  their 
reasoning  powers  be  fully  developed."12 

Such  a  companionship  was  naturally  repulsive  to  his  feelings :  but 
the  Indians  were  children  of  God,  and  bore  the  image  of  God  upon  their 
souls.  And  they  were  the  poorest  of  the  children  of  God,  and  his  heart 
went  out  to  them  in  love  and  tenderness. 

"These  poor  creatures"  he  writes  to  Father  Sicardi,  "seem  inca- 
pable of  forming  any  idea  of  spiritual  and  divine  things.  They  know 
that  there  is  a  God,  and  they  begin  all  their  employments  by  an  act  of 


i°  Op.  citv  p.  157.  It  was  the  common  opinion  at  the  time  that  the  "country 
to  the  westward  of  our  frontiers,  quite  to  the  Mississippi  was  intended  to  be  a  desert 
for  the  Indians  to  hunt  in  and  inhabit."    Baeroft,  vol.  V,  p.  64. 

ii     Op.  cit.,  p.  158. 

12     Op.  cit.,  pp.  179  and  180. 


Father  Felix  Be  Andreis  291 

worship  (a  fact  which  should  make  many  Christians  blush  with  shame). 
When  they  come  to  trade  with  the  white  people,  they  begin  to  smoke, 
and  directing  the  first  cloud  on  high,  they  say :  '  Anaregare  kii  chakanda ' 
which  means :  '  may  this  ascend  to  the  divinity. '  But  these  notions  only 
concern  the  present  life.  They  believe  that  God  has  given  them  a  religion 
different  from  ours,  and  if  they  are  told  of  a  future  life,  they,  under- 
stand nothing  about  it.  With  patience  and  time,  however  something  will 
be  made  of  them."13 

Always  hopeful  amid  a  thousand  discouragements,  and  consumed 
with  the  zeal  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  Father  De  Andreis  seemed  to  be 
on  the  point  of  attaining  his  purpose.  In  1820  Bishop  Du  Bourg  was 
preparing  to  visit  "those  immense  forests,"  and  Father  De  Andreis  was 
invited  to  accompany  him. 

' '  Alleluia  !  Deo  Gratias ! "  he  wrote  from  the  Barrens.  ' '  At  length 
we  are  to  commence  a  mission  among  the  savages.  I  am  to  have  the 
happiness  of  accompanying  the  Bishop  to  visit  these  unfortunate 
people!"14 

But  these  wishes  were,  as  Father  Rosati  wrote,  the  last  sparks  of  that 
flame  of  charity  which  burned  within  his  heart ;  for  he  was  soon  to 
depart  for  heaven,  for  which  he  constantly  sighed,  that  he  might  be  united 
forever  with  his  God.  Like  St.  Vincent,  who  was  not  able  before  his 
death  to  behold  the  establishment  of  his  missionaries  in  the  Island  of 
Madagascar,  for  which  he  so  ardently  longed  and  had  made  so  many 
sacrifices ;  like  St.  Francis  Xavier,  who  had  to  stop  on  the  threshold 
of  China  without  entering  the  kingdom,  because  God  called  him  to  Him- 
self, so  was  Father  De  Andreis  to  see  the  Indian  tribes,  and  to  approach 
them,  without  having  it  in  his  power  to  liberate  them  from  the  bands 
of  their  ignorance.  God  destined  others  after  his  death,  to  undertake 
this  work. 


13     "Life  of  Father  De  Andreis,"  by  Rosati,  p.  193. 
»     Op.  cit.,  p.  205. 


Chapter  8 
ST.  MARY'S  OF  THE  BARRENS  UNDER   FATHER  ROSAT1 


The  Ecclesiastical  Seminary  of  Louisiana,  St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens, 
had  a  remarkably  peculiar  origin.  At  the  command  of  Christ's  vice- 
gerent, Pope  Pius  VII,  it  sprang  into  being  in  the  Eternal  city,  when 
Father  Charles  Dominic  Sicardi,  Vicar  General  of  the  Congregation  of 
the  Missions,  and  Bishop  Louis  William  Du  Bonrg  came  to  an  agreement 
as  tn  the  establishment  of  a  mission  in  Louisiana  under  the  saintly 
Father  Felix  De  Andreis.  For  the  eighth  article  of  this  instrument  reads 
as  follows:  "They,  (the  Priests  of  the  Mission)  will  earnestly  strive  to 
promote  and  carry  out,  as  soon  as  possible  the  erection  of  a  Seminary."1 
The  organization  of  the  Seminary  was  at  once  completed.  Father  De 
Andreis  was  Rector,  Fathers  Joseph  Rosati  and  John  Baptist  Acquaroni, 
both  members  of  the  Congregation,  and  Father  Pereira,  a  postulant,  were 
the  professors;  and  Leo  Deys,  a  Propaganda  student,  represented  the 
student  body,  soon  to  be  augmented  by  Francis  X.  Dahmen  and  Casto 
Gonzalez.  The  small  but  vigorous  shoot,  was  transplanted  to  Bordeaux, 
where  it  was  tenderly  cared  for  by  the  Archbishop  of  that  city,  for  the 
space  of  four  months  and  a  half.  Here  the  Seminary  grew  and  prospered. 
As  Father  O'Malley  tells  us:  "All,  priests  and  students,  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  study  of  French,  which  they  knew  they  would  need  on  the 
Louisiana  Mission.  While  the  priests  exercised  the  functions  of  the 
ministry  according  to  the  Archbishop 's  dispositions,  the  three  students 
enrolled  for  the  American  Seminary  reviewed  a  part  of  their  philosophy 
under  the -direction  of  Father  Rosati.  English,  too,  was  added  to  the 
program  of  studies,  when  Father  De  Andreis  announced  the  astonishing 
news  of  the  Bishop's  abandonment  of  the  original  plan  of  going  to  New 
( )rleans  as  reasons  of  prudence  dictated  that  he  should  settle  in  St.  Louis. 
A  fitting  conclusion  to  the  Bordeaux  seminary  regime  came  with  the 
conferring  of  Minor  Orders  on  the  Feast  of  the  Ascension,  May  22. 
Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  reached  Bordeaux  the  day  previous  accompanied 
by  a  young  cleric  from  Como,  Mr.  Joseph  Tichitoli.  All  were  now  in 
high  spirits  and  at  once  preparations  Avere  made  for  sailing.  A  contract 
was  finally  entered  into  with  the  Master  of  the  American  brig  "The 
Banger;"  and  on  the  Feast  of  Corpus  Christi,  June  13,  the  company, 
thirteen  in  all,  the  priests  and  clerics  "in  short  dress  and  round  hats," 
climbed  up  the  ropeJadder  aboard  the  rough  sailing  vessel.    The  wind 


i     "Life  of  Father  De  Andreis,"  p.  60. 

(292) 


St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens  under  Father  Bosati  293 

was  in  their  favor,  the  sails  were  set,  the  anchor  weighed,  and  presently 
t  hey  had  left  Europe  for  the  sake  of  the  Master. '  '2 

The  thirteen  that  set  sail  for  America  were  :  Five  priests :  Fathers  De 
Andreis,  C.  M.,  Rosati,  C.  M.,  Acquaroni,  C.  M.,  Caretti  and  Ferrari ;  four 
clerics :  Messrs.  Deys,  Dahmen,  Gonzalez  and  Tichitoli ;  one  brother : 
Brother  Blanka,  C.  M.,  and  three  postulant  brothers:  Flegifont,  Boran- 
vanski  and  de  Latre.  On  board  the  Ranger  the  Seminary-life  and  work 
continued  as  at  Bordeaux.  At  the  journey's  end  the  growing  tree  was 
replanted  in  American  soil,  first  in  St.  Mary's  at  Baltimore,  then,  after 
a  toilsome  journey  across  the  mountains  and  down  the  Ohio  River,  at  the 
Seminary  of  St.  Thomas,  near  Bardstown,  where  Bishop  Flaget  sheltered 
and  fostered  it  for  a  year  or  more,  until  everything  should  be  prepared 
for  its  taking  root  in  the  fruitful  soil  of  Missouri. 

At  St.  Thomas  the  two  Seminaries  flourished  side  by  side.  Father 
De  Andreis  taught  Moral  Theology.  During  the  scholastic  year  1817-1  si  8, 
after  Father  De  Andreis'  departure  for  St.  Louis,  the  lion's  share  of  the 
ecclesiastical  training  fell  to  Father  Rosati.  The  two  daily  classes  of 
dogmatic  and  moral  theology,  the  ceremonies,  and  plain  chant,  the  direc- 
tion of  the  students — all  were  in  his  hands.  "There  are,"  he  writes  to 
his  brother  Nicola  in  Sora,  "among  my  pupils,  representatives  of  almost 
every  nation  of  Europe  :  Italians,  Frenchmen,  Germans,  Dutch,  Spaniards 
and  English-speaking  Americans.  In  class  we  speak  Latin,  but  quite 
frequently,  if  they  wish  to  propose  any  difficulty,  they  fall  into  Italian, 
French  or  English.  For  the  sake  of  practice,  I  answer  these  difficulties 
in  the  language  in  which  they  are  proposed."3 

On  the  2nd  and  3rd  of  December,  1817,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had 
brought  to  land  at  Annapolis  a  party  of  twenty-nine  new  recruits  for 
his  diocese,  thirteen  of  whom  were  students :  Louis  Betrand,  Auguste 
Jeanjean  and  Joseph  Valentine  (Subdeacons)  ;  Hercules  Brassac,  Des- 
moulins,  Philip  Hosten,  Francis  Niel,  David  De  Parcq,  Constantine 
Maenhaut,  Leo  De  Neckere,  Perrodin  and  Angelus  De  Geithre  (Clerics). 

There  were  six  priests  in  the  party,  among  them  Father  Anthony 
Blanc,  the  future  Archbishop  of  New  Orleans.  The  other  members 
were  Christian  Brothers  and  others  religious.  Bishop  Flaget,  "the  most 
holy,  learned,  humble  and  affable  man,  he  ever  knew,"  as  Father  De 
Andreis  said,  was  glad  to  take  this  little  army  in  his  safe-keeping  for  an 
indefinite  time,  and  in  addition,  volunteered  to  accompany  the  Bishop 
of  Louisiana  to  St.  Louis.  Only  Father  Stephen  Badin,  and  one  of  the 
Seminarians,  Francis  Niel,  accompanied  the  prelates  on  their  voyage 
down  the  Ohio  River  and  up  the  Mississippi  to  St.  Genevieve,  Kaskaskia 


-     O'Malley,    Eev.    Martin    J.,    "The    Centenary    of    the    St.    Louis    Diocesan 
Seminary,"  in  ''St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  I,  p.  43. 
3     Letter  to  Nicola   Rosati,  op.  cit.,  p.  46. 


294  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

and  St.  Louis.  They  Left  Bardstown  on  December  12th,  and  arrived  in 
St.  Louis  on  January  5th,  1818. 

Bishop  Du  Bourg's  first  care  after  the  glamour  and  excitement  of 
his  installation  had  subsided,  was  to  make  permanent  provision  for  his 
Seminary.  His  mind  had  been  apparently  to  place  it  in  St.  Louis,  but 
Providence  had  ordered  it  otherwise.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  a  dele- 
gation of  Catholics  of  English  descent,  from  the  Barrens,  a  settlement 
situated  about  eighty  miles  south  of  the  city,  and  twenty-four  miles  from 
Ste.  Genevieve,  waited  upon  the  Bishop  and  made  known  their  desire  to 
have  the  contemplated  Seminary  located  among  them.  They  had  been 
informed  about  the  proposed  institution  by  Father  Marie  Joseph  Dun- 
and,  the  Trappist  Monk  from  Florissant,  who  for  three  or  four  years  had 
been  ministering  to  their  spiritual  needs.  Father  Dunand,  they  said, 
had  also  counselled  them  to  offer  the  Bishop  a  tract  of  land  for  the  new 
foundation.  They  had  proposed  the  matter  to  Bishop  Flaget  in  October, 
1817,  on  his  visit  to  St.  Louis  as  the  Bishop's  ambassador,  and  with  his 
encouragement  they  had  acquired  a  tract  of  640  acres,  the  title  to  which 
they  would  convey  to  him,  as  soon  as  the  establishment  of  the  Seminary 
at  the  "Barrens"  was  agreed  upon.4 

On  further  inquiry,  the  Bishop  found  that  the  "Barrens"  was  an 
ideal  place  for  the  Seminary,  the  name  itself  being,  not  a  designation 
for  a  barren  and  unfruitful  piece  of  land,  but  rather  the  equivalent  of 
what  the  French  pioneers  were  wont  to  call  a  "beautiful  prairie"  amid 
the  surrounding  woods.  As  for  the  people  of  the  Barrens,  Father  Dun- 
and and  others  were  full  of  praise  and  admiration.  The  earlist  settlers, 
the  Tuckers  and  Moores  and  Laytons,  had  come  to  Missouri  in  1801  and 
1802,  and  a  constant  stream  had  followed  them  from  Maryland  and 
Kentucky."'  The  first  chapel  in  Perry  County  had  been  built  and  blessed 
in  1812  by  Vicar  General  Maxwell,  Pastor  of  St.  Genevieve,  who  also 
attended  the  congregation  until  his  death  in  1814. 

Prior  to  1812  Mass  had  been  said  occasionally  at  the  home  of  Old 
Joseph  Tucker.  After  1814  the  Trappist,  Marie  Joseph  Dunand,  had 
visited  Perryville  three  times  a  year,  from  his  home  at  Florissant,  as 
guest  of  Old  Joseph  Tucker,  who  had  eight  sons  and  one  daughter,  all, 
except  the  youngest,  married  and  settled  about  him  in  good  homes.6 

The  April  following,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  journeyed  to  the  "Barrens" 
in  company  with  Father  Dunand  to  meet  the  people,  to  learn  at  first 
hand  their  condition,  to  examine  personally  the  nature  of  the  soil,  to 
study  the  prospects  which  the  future  held  out.  He  found  the  people, 
honest  and  industrious:  "the  best  set  I  ever  knew,''7  the  ground  easy 


*     Dunand' 's  Diary  in  "Records  of  the  American  Catholic  Historical  Society," 
vol.  XXVII,  pp.  49  and  50. 

5  Letter  of  Isidor  Moore  in  Archives  of  the  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

6  Dunand  's  Diary,  1.  c,  p.  45. 

i     Letter  to  Father  Rosati,  April  22,   1818,   Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens  under  Father  Rosati  295 

of  cultivation,  the  climate  healthy.   He  decided  to  build  his  Seminary  at 
the  Barrens.    Thereupon  the  following1  resolutions  were  drawn  up : 

1.  A  tax  shall  be  levied  on  all  Catholics,  of  the  settlement  for  the 
purchase  of  the  section  of  land  destined  for  the  new  foundation  (the 
purchase  price  was  actually  $9000.00). 

2.  The  people  of  the  parish  engage  themselves  to  do  personally 
their  share  of  the  work  in  the  construction  of  the  building. 

3.  A  sum  of  $7500.00  shall  be  subscribed  by  the  people  of  the 
parish,  to  be  paid  in  five  yearly  instalments  of  $1500.00  each,  for  the 
the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  erection  on  the  premises  of  a  Seminary  of 
learning,  contributing  to  the  expense  of  the  church  services,  and  to  the 
maintenance  of  the  missionaries.  The  total  amount  once  paid,  the 
Catholics  of  the  settlement  shall  be  free  from,  all  further  obligation 
either  of  assuring  a  salary  to  the  priests,  or  of  extraordinary  contribu- 
tions. Thejr  shall,  in  return,  convey  the  title  of  the  property  to  the 
Bishop.  They  agree,  moreover,  to  feed,  during  the  first  year,  the  crew 
of  workmen  engaged  in  the  construction  of  the  buildings."8 

The  sum  of  $7,500  was  certainly  a  most  noble  offering,  made  at 
a  time  when  money  was  scarce  and  many  of  the  colonists  were  be- 
ginners. It  seems  to  have  been  considered  a  foundation,  the  interest 
on  which,  was  to  go  to  the  support  of  the  Church  and  clergy  forever. 
The  work  to  be  done  on  the  house  by  each  parishioner  was  an  extra 
burden  assumed  by  the  people.  It  is  perhaps  not  the  most  efficient  way 
to  build,  yet  it  was  and  is  the  usual  one  in  primitive  communities. 

Building  operations  were  begun  at  once.  Father  Charles  Lacroix 
was  appointed  architect,  to  draw  up  a  plan  for  a  house,  similar  to  St. 
Thomas  Seminary  at  Bardstown,  two  and  a  half  story  high,  with  a 
basement  containing  two  halls,  and  two  cellars  each  25x17  feet.  The 
building  eventually  turned  out  to  be  "a  kind  of  combination  of  log- 
house,  frame-house,  brick-house  and  stone-house,  having  a  little  of  every 
kind ;  it  was  to  be  plastered  and  decent  inside  and  outside. '  '9  The 
site  chosen  was  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  the  old  log-church  erected 
in  1814. 

The  building,  at  the  time,  seemed  a  vast  undertaking,  "and  it  was 
so  indeed.  But  the  Bishop,  nothing  daunted  by  the  manifold  difficulties 
that  arose,  threw  the  entire  force  of  his  personality  into  the  work, 
not  even  disdaining  to  help  the  laborers  in  carrying  lumber  and  re- 
maining the  whole  day  in  the  heat  of  the  sun.  On  April  22nd,  1818, 
the  Bishop  wrote  to  Father  Rosati,  at  Bardstown,  that  the  house  would 
be  ready  to  receive  his  now  homeless  colony  late  in  next  Fall.    But  this 


s     Archives  of  the  Procurator  Genera]  C.  M.  Rome — "America,"  p.  II,  quoted 
by  O  'Malley  in  ' '  St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review, ' '  vol.  I,  p.  48. 

9     De  Andreis  to  Rosati,  April  20,  1818,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


296  History  oj   tht    Archdiocesi    of  St,   Louis 

fond  hope  could  no1   be  realized.     The  anxious  prelate  was  forced   to 

confess  towards  the  end  of  July:  "Whatever  diligence  may  be  made, 
the  house  at  the  Barrens  will  not  be  ready  this  Winter.  Still  1  want 
to  keep  my  word,  and  to  have  all  here  in  October.  Accordingly  1 
have  rented  a  house  at  St.  Genevieve  for  six  months,  from  the  first 
of  October,  large  enough  to  house  almost  all  of  you.  Father  Pratte 
and  one  or  two  houses  of  the  Barrens  will  reeeive  the  rest."10 

Now,  whilst  patiently  though  eagerly,  awaiting  the  completion  of 
his  Seminary  Building,  the  Bishop  orders  the  exodus  of  the  Professors 
and  Seminarians  from  their  temporary  home  at  Bardstown.  The  letter 
of  instructions  for  the  journey  is  dated  "At  the  Barrens,  July  29th, 
1818."  Father  Rosati  and  one  companion  is  to  make  the  journey 
Ivy  land  over  Shawneetown :  Two  horses  of  the  Bishop  had  been  left  at 
St.  Thomas :  Old  Mr.  Joseph  Tucker  was  to  be  our  guide.  The  main  body 
of  the  caravan  and  the  baggage  were  to  come  to  St.  Genevieve  by  flat  boat. 
Some  of  the  party  were  to  remain  at  St.  Genevieve,  for  a  time,  among 
them  the  three  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools,  who  were  destined  for 
the  Academy  at  St.  Genevieve.  But  as  the  Bishop  sent  Father  Rosati 
several  supplementary  letters  of  instruction  as  to  the  journey,  some  of 
which  did  not  reach  the  leader  of  the  caravan,  some  misunderstandings 
arose.  Bidding  good  bye  to  their  friends  at  St.  Thomas,  the  Seminary  of 
Louisiana  entered  upon  its  final  remove  on  the  15th  of  September  1818. 
With  hearts  full  of  gratitude  for  the  kindness  of  their  old  friends  of 
Bardstown  but  looking  forward  with  glad  anticipations  of  the  peace  and 
joy  awaiting  them  in  their  destined  home  at  the  Barrens,  the  twenty- 
three  priests,  Seminarians  and  Brothers  started  out  on  their  last  journey, 
"the  last  of  danger  and  distress,"  as  they  fondly  hoped.  For  the  rest 
of  the  journey  and  its  happy  end  we  will  quote  the  words  of  Father 
O'Malley: 

"From  Louisville,  they  travelled  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  in  a 
flat-boat,  not  more  than  eighteen  feet  long  and  wide  in  proportion, 
which  scarcely  allowed  standing-room  for  the  twenty-three  passengers. 
It  leaked  so  badly  as  to  be  repeatedly  in  danger  of  sinking;  besides,  the 
roof,  in  a  very  heavy  rain  which  lasted  sometime,  proved  porous,  and 
for  several  days  they  had  to  bear  with  the  further  inconvenience  of 
wet  baggage  and  wet  clothes.  On  landing  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  which  was  in  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana,  a  cross  was  erected, 
and  with  gladsome  hearts  they  sang  the  Vexilla  regis  prodeunt.  A 
forced  delay  here  of  ten  days,  due  to  the  miscarriage  of  the  original 
plans  caused  them  added  suffering.  But  they  were  at  last  in  their  own 
ecclesiastical  "home,"  and  every  obstacle  vanished  into  air,  every  favor- 


10     Du    Bourg    to    Rosati,    Kaskaskia,    August    2,    1818,    Archives   of    St.    Louis 
\n-hdioeese. 


St.  Morn's  of  the  Barrens  under  Father  Bosatl  297 

able  circumstance  hardened  into  adamant.  The  six  horses  and  wagons 
sent  from  the  Barrens  finally  reached  them,  and  presently  the  caravan 
was  plodding  its  way  northward,  some  on  horseback,  some  on  foot. 
On  October  the  first,  they  reached  the  Barrens. 

For  some  unrecorded  reason,  the  plans  of  the  Bishop  had  been 
changed.  Instead  of  going  to  Ste.  Genevieve,  the  Seminarians  were 
conducted  to  the  house  (about  two  miles  from  the  Church)  which  Mrs. 
Sarah  Hayden,  a  pious  and  wealthy  widow  of  the  ' '  Barrens, ' '  had  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Bishop  until  the  Seminary  should  be  ready  for 
occupancy.  Here  were  the  Seminarians  housed :  here  was  the  Seminary 
begun.  The  Bishop's  hopes  had  been  fulfilled,  his  ambition  had  been 
realized,  his  plans  had  been  accomplished.  The  tree  was  planted.  The 
St.  Louis  Diocesan  Seminary,  whose  leafage  and  blossoming  and  fruit- 
age we  of  a  later  day  have  seen,  was  a  reality."11 

Indeed,  there  still  remained  much  work  to  be  done  ere  the  Seminary 
could  be  accounted  complete,  "numeris  omnibus  absolutum. " 

It  was  a  source  of  deep  regret  to  Father  De  Andreis  that  he  could 
not  take  part  in  the  erection  of  the  material  house ;  God  had  appointed 
him  the  special  work  of  forming  the  spiritual  edifice,  whilst  others, 
and  among  them  his  friend  and  favorite  disciple,  Father  Rosati,  were 
erecting  the  material  one.  The  Seminarians,  also,  devoted  their  time 
of  recreation  to  the  work  on  the  Seminary  building.  On  the  5th  of 
January,  1819,  Father  Francis  Cellini,  who  had  been  Canon  at  the 
celebrated  Hospital  de  St.  Spiritu  in  Rome,  arrived  with  two  com- 
panions and  was  sent  to  the  Barrens  to  make  his  novitiate  and  inci- 
dentally to  help  in  the  building  of  the  Seminary. 

Both  Father  De  Andreis  and  Father  Rosati  speak  of  Father 
Cellini  in  the  highest  terms  of  praise:  "Father  Cellini  has  given  the 
most  beautiful  proofs  of  attachment  to  the  Congregation  and  of  the 
virtues  which  must  be  in  a  missionary,''  writes  Father  De  Andreis,  and 
again  "Father  Cellini  has  to  be  occupied  with  many  things,  that  are 
rather  infavorable  to  recollection :  yet  Bishop  Du  Bourg  writes  to  me, 
that  he  is  a  valuable  subject,  and  Father  Rosati  is  most  pleased  with 
him."  In  his  letter  of  October  1920  Father  De  Andreis  advises  his 
Superior  in  Rome:  "Father  Cellini  has  made  his  vows  to  our 
mutual  satisfaction He  can  now  speak  English  sufficient- 
ly, and  exercises  the  holy  ministry.  Moreover  he  is  the  only  one  among 
us  who  has  any  understanding  of  temporal  affairs.  Accordingly,  I 
have  appointed  him  Procurator.  Father  Rosati 's  opinion  of  his  chief 
assistant  is  summed  up  in  a  few  pregnant  words :  ' '  Father  Cellini  is 
our   Procurator,   Physician,    Mailman,   Mason."      In   regard   to   Father 


u     O'Malley,  op.  cit,,  p.  49. 


298  History  of  Ihr  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

Cellini's  knowledge  and  skill  as  a  physician,  the  Rector  of  the  Seminary, 
Rosati,  writes,  October  18th,  1820:    "We  have  had  eight  of  us  sick  at 

the  same  time.  Divine  Providence  favored  us  by  sending  Father  Cellini. 
Be  is  quite  a  skillful  physician.  The  visit  of  the  nearest  doctor  would 
have  COSl  us  thirty  dollars."  It  is  Father  Rosati  who  gives  us  the 
following  pen  picture  of  Cellini's  humble  and  willing  spirit: 

"On  recreation  days  we  usually  do  not  indulge  in  any  other  diversion 
than  laboring  at  some  needed  work,  either  in  the  garden  or  the  fields. 
Father  Cellini  is  usually  the  leader.  That  man  knows  and  can  do  any- 
thing." From  his  post  at  the  Barrens  Father  Cellini  made  regular 
missionary  visits  to  the  ancient,  yet  sorely  neglected  parish  of  New 
.Madrid,  at  a  distance  of  more  than  two  hundred  miles  from  the  Seminary, 
where  he  not  only  kept  the  faith  alive,  hut  also  gained  a  number  of 
converts.12 

The  first  fruits  of  the  beautiful  tree  planted  and  reared  with  so 
much  labor  and  watered  by  the  tears  of  such  holy  men,  were:  Father 
Francis  Niel  (March  19th,  1818),  Michael  Portier,  the  future  Bishop  of 
Mobile  (September  29th,  1818),  Des  Moulins  and  Hercules  .  Brassac 
(November  1st,  1818),  Joseph  Tichitoli  (December  14th,  1818),  Eugene 
Michaud  and  Edmund  Saulnier  (September  22nd,  1822),  Martin 
(October  1822),  John  M.  Odin  and  John  Audizio  (May  4th,  1823). 
On  the  5th  of  September,  1823,  Louis  Tucker,  a  native  of  the  Barrens 
was  admitted  to  the  Seminary.  Elated  with  these  good  results,  Father 
Rosati  writes  home  from  the  Grand  Seminaire,  May  24,  1823:  "Our 
seminary  is  doing  very  well,  every  year  it  furnishes  a  few  priests  to 
the  diocese.  True,  up  to  the  present  time  we  have  received  students 
from  Europe ;  nevertheless,  we  have  some  belonging  to  this  country 
also,  who  give  us  great  hopes.  Time  was  needed  to  form  them.  We 
have  at  present  four  priests,  sixteen  ecclesiastics,  twelve  secular  boarders, 
and  twenty-five  day  scholars.  We  have  nine  brothers  of  our  Congrega- 
tion of  St.  Lazarus  who  work,  partly  in  the  fields  and  partly  in  the 
house.  Great  good  might  be  accomplished,  could  we  send  out  mission- 
aries among  the  Protestants  and  Catholics  scattered  over  a  vast  extent 
of  territory;  but  we  are  hard  pressed  with  all  we  have  to  do  at  home. 
For  besides  the  Seminary  in  which  we  are  obliged  to  conduct  a  great 
many  classes,  we  have  a  very  large  parish,  composed  of  excellent  Catholics 
who  approach  the  Sacraments  frequently  and  who  give  us  work  which 
is  not  without  fatigue,  hut  which  is  not  without  pleasure  either."13 


12  Cf.    Rothensteiner,    "Chronicles    of    an    Old    Missouri    Parish,''    passim,    and 
Holweek,  "Ein  Blatt  aus  alter  Zeit,"  in  "  Pastoral  Blatt,"  vol.  LIX,  p.  82  and  131. 

13  Archives  of  the  Procurator  General  C.  M.,  Rome,  apud  Rosati,  "Life  of  De 
Andreis,"  p.  193. 


St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens  under  Father  Rosati  299 

We  will  conclude  this  chapter  with  the  noble  praise  given  by  Father 
Rosati  to  the  people  of  the  Barrens.  It  is  more  than  a  patent  of 
nobility  to  the  Catholics  of  Perry  County:  "You  probably  know  what  a 
fine  population  we  have  in  this  country.  The  Catholics  number  more 
than  one  hundred  and  sixty  families.  All  approach  the  Sacraments 
frequently.  We  are  kept  busy  every  Sunday,  hearing  confessions, 
and  there  is  always  a  large  number  of  Communions.  There  are  no 
balls,  no  saloons,  no  luxury.  It  is  a  great  consolation  to  see  these  good 
people,  even  those  who  are  employed,  practicing  their  religion  with- 
out human  respect.  Judges,  representatives,  senators  are  not  ashamed 
to  kneel  before  a  priest  to  beg  his  blessing.  At  the  doorway  of  their 
court  house,  a  cross  bears  witness  that  they  glory  in  being  Catholics."14 


14     Letter  of  August  16,  1823,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Chapter  9 
THE  LADIES  OF  THE  SACRED   HEART 


Among  the  followers  and  helpers  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg  in  estab- 
lishing religion  on  a  firm  basis  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  there  were 
two  persons  who,  even  in  their  life-time,  were  regarded  as  true  saints. 
Father  Felix  De  Andreis  CM.  and  Mother  Phillipine  Duchesne  S. 
de  S.S.C.  Both  considered  themselves  as  failures;  and  yet  the  saintly 
lives  of  both  are  now  recognized  as  the  chief  inspiration  of  those  un- 
propitious  days  of  the  early  dawn.  Both  were  drawn  together  in 
holy  friendship  such  as  that  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales  and  St.  Frances 
de  Chantal,  and  both  are  now  proposed  to  holy  Church  for  the  honors 
of  Beatification. 

Of  Felix  de  Andreis  we  have  Avritten  a  chapter,  all  too  meager, 
indeed,  compared  with  his  greatness  and  nobility.  Of  Mother  Phillipine 
Du  Chesne  we  must  now  give  a  brief  account. 

Four  years  after  the  foundation  of  the  Society  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  by  Madeleine  Louise  Sophie  Barat,  now  a  canonized  Saint,  Rose 
Phillipine  Du  Chesne,  who  had  been  a  novice  at  the  Visitation  Convent 
of  Saint  Marie  D'en  Haut,  but  whom  the  terrors  of  the  revolution 
had  prevented  from  making  the  solemn  vows,  applied  to  Madam  Barat 
for  admission  to  the  new  Society,  and  offered  her  the  rather  dilapidated 
convent  which  her  family  had  secured  for  her. 

Mother  Barat  gladly  accepted  the  offer,  and  leaving  the  house  at 
Amiens  in  the  care  of  Madame  Bandemont,  set  out  with  two  companions 
to  found  the  new  house  of  her  Society  at  Grenoble.  Here  in  the  weather- 
worn convent  of  Saint  Marie-d'en-Haut  she  found  Madam  Duchesne, 
her  ever  dear  Phillipine,  with  an  assembly  of  other  religious  belonging 
to  several  Orders,  and  assumed  the  direction  of  the  community.  Follow- 
ing the  rule  "Firmness  sometimes,  harshness  never,  charity  and  gentle- 
ness everywhere  and  always,"  Mother  Barat 's  gentleness  conquered  all 
hearts  and  bound  them  together  in  the  love  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  In 
due  time  Mother  Duchesne  made  her  solemn  vows,  served  at  various 
places  and  was  finally  elected  Secretary  General  to  Mother  Barat,1  But 
the  aspirations  of  the  gentle  Phillipine  were  for  a  very  different  manner 
of  life.     From  her  earliest  years  her  desire  had  been  to  carry  the  gospel 


1  On  the  early  days  of  Mother  Du  Chesne,  Cf.  the  Life  written  by  L.  P.  .) . 
Baunard,  translated  by  Lady  Pullerton,  and  the  recent  publication  by  Marjory 
Erskine,  1926.  " Baunard 's  Life  of  Mother  Barat,"  chapters  VI,  VII,  XVI  and 
XXIX,  contain  the  story. 

(300) 


The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  301 

to  the  poor  Indians  across  the  sea.  For  this  she  had  prayed  and  this 
she  asked  as  the  greatest  favor  from  Mother  Barat.  Now  the  position 
as  Secretary  General  seemed  to  preclude  all  hope  of  her  ever  attaining 
her  heart's  desire.  But  Providence  found  a  way  when  all  hope  seemed 
to  be  at  an  end.  On  the  14th  of  January  1817,  Mgr.  Du  Bourg,  Bishop 
of  Louisiana,  called  on  Mother  Barat  at  the  Convent  in  Paris,  and  asked 
for  a  colony  of  Sisters  for  his  wild-west  diocese.  Mother  Duchesne 
heard  of  it,  and  at  once  began  to  importune  her  Superior  to  send  her 
to  the  missions.  Mother  Barat  reluctantly  consented.  For  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  would  not  take  a  refusal,  and  of  all  her  sisters,  Madame 
Duchesne  seemed  best  fitted  for  the  onerous  task.  Matters  were  now 
quickly  arranged  with  the  Bishop,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  following 
spring  Mother  Duchesne  and  her  companions  should  start  for  Louisiana. 
Two  choir-sisters,  Octavie  Berthold  and  Eugenie  Aude,  and  two  lay- 
sisters.  Catherine  Lamarre  and  Marguerite  Manteau,  were  chosen  from 
a  crowd  of  applicants  to  accompany  Mother  Duchesne.  On  the  21st  of 
March  1818,  Holy  Saturday,  they  left  the  shores  of  France  in  a  small 
sailing-vessel,  the  Rebecca.  Father  Martial,  one  of  the  Louisiana  Priests, 
accompanied  them.  On  the  25th  of  May,  the  stout  little  ship  entered 
the  muddy  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  and  on  Friday  the  29th,  the  Feast 
of  the  Sacred  Heart,  landed  its  passengers  in  New  Orleans.  The  way- 
worn pilgrims  were  hospitably  entertained  at  the  Ursuline  Convent. 
After  a  long  delay  catised  by  the  lack  of  instructions  from  the  Bishop, 
they  set  out  for  St.  Louis.  Mgr.  Du  Bourg 's  episcopal  city,  and  arrived 
there  on  August  the  22nd.  Here  they  were  informed  that  their  real 
destination  was  the  town  of  St.  Ferdinand  de  Florissant  on  the  Missouri 
River,  where  a  tract  of  land  was  bought  for  their  use.  But  as  their 
convent  there  was  not  built  as  yet,  and  as  the  Bishop  was  then  fully 
occupied  with  his  Cathedral  and  Seminary,  they  were  to  take  up  their 
abode  in  the  city  of  St.  Charles,  in  a  house  belonging  to  Mrs.  Duquet.2 
Their  Father  Confessor,  Benedict  Richard,  was  to  have  his  residence  in 
the  same  house,  and  also  to  take  charge  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Charles. 
Father  Benedict  Richard  had  accompanied  the  nuns  from  La  Fourche 
in  Louisiana  to  St.  Louis.  At  Kaskaskia  the  chief  of  the  Illinois  and 
his  daughters  came  with  other  Indian  braves  to  welcome  him  and  his 
companions.  "They  were  on  horseback,  and  dressed  in  beaded  gar- 
ments and  so  presented  an  imposing  and  interesting  spectacle,"  wrote 
Mother  Duchesne.3  Father  Richard  was  not,  it  seems,  entirely  suited 
to  fill  the  office  of  the  Spiritual  Director  of  a  newly-founded  Community 
of  Sisters.  A  man  of  more  cheerful  disposition  like  Father  Martial 
would  have  been  preferable.     The  kindly  and  humble  Madame  Duchesne 


2  The   house   was  at   one  time   the   residence   of   the   Spanish    Commandanl    of 
St.  Charles. 

3  Erskine,  op.  eit.,  p.  154,  lot;,  and  IM. 


302  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

seems  to  imply  this  in  her  little  pen-picture  of  Father  Richard:  "Mr. 
Richard,"  she  wrote  "like  his  name-sake,  the  apostle  of  Michigan,  is 
a  true  priest,  according  to  the  heart  of  God.  His  large  and  emaciated 
frame,  his  meditative  and  austere  face,  lend  him  the  appearance  of  an 
anchoret,  rendering  him  better  calculated  to  inspire  respect  than  to 
elicit  affection.  For  all  that,  he  is  none  the  less  an  excellent  man,  and 
a  full  noble  character  who  hides  beneath  his  extreme  reserve  of  words 
and  manner  a  devoted  heart."4 

The  sisters  felt  disappointed  in  the  place  assigned  to  them;  and 
the  priest  could  do  but  little  to  dispel  the  gloom.  They  had  hoped  to 
found  a  school  for  girls  in  the  episcopal  city,  where  they  might  enjoy 
the  opportunities  for  spiritual  aid  and  counsel,  as  well  as  of  a  larger 
sphere  of  helpfulness  to  the  children.  Yet,  in  the  spirit  of  humble 
submission,  they  opened  an  educational  institution  in  St.  Charles,  the 
boarding  school  numbering  but  three  pupils ;  the  day  school  doing  fairly 
well. 

One  precious  consolation  came  to  the  much  harassed  Superior  in 
the  form  of  the  hearty  approval  of  her  undertaking  by  the  reigning 
Pontiff,  Pius  VII:  Cardinal  Fontana's  letter  read:  "His  Holiness  has 
been  delighted  to  see  how  these  courageous  nuns,  abandoning  everything 
to  follow  Christ,  and  rising  above  the  weakness  of  their  sex,  have  not 
been  afraid  of  crossing  the  wide  ocean  in  order  to  transport  their  pious 
Institute  into  savage  countries,  and  thus  to  devote  themselves  to  the 
greater  glory  of  God,  the  honor  of  the  Church,  and  the  salvation  of 
souls.  His  Holiness  wishes  them  the  most  prosperous  success,  and  gives, 
in  the  most  affectionate  terms,  his  apostolic  benediction,  not  only  to 
those  already  in  America,  but  also  to  all  who  are  preparing  to  join 
them."5  Such  words  of  praise  and  encouragement  were  indeed,  a  God- 
send, falling  like  heavenly  dew  on  parched  land. 

Among  the  difficulties  encountered  by  the  sisters  during  their  stay 
at  St.  Charles,  the  historian  of  Florissant  recounts  the  following : 
"Scarcity  of  wholesome  food,  of  firewood  and  of  hired  labor  for  the 
rougher  household  tasks,  the  disorderly  and  dissolute  ways  of  a  frontier 
town,  the  prairie-fires  which  stole  up  to  the  very  edge  of  the  settlement, 
alarming  the  timid  nuns,  and  above  all,  the  utter  lack  of  prospect  that 
the  school  would  ever  develop  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  it  a  means 
of  support  for  the  community."6 

Mother  Barat  also  was  dissatisfied  with  the  choice  of  St.  Charles  as 
the  home  of  the  Sisters.     "How  much  I  regret,  my  dear  daughters,  that 


4  "History  of  Florissant,"  Conway,  35.    Cf.  Erskine,  p.  190. 

5  "Life  of  the  Venerable  Madeleine  Louise  Sophia  Barat,"  Roehampton,  1900, 
p.  199. 

6  Father  Gilbert  J.  Garraghan,  in  his  beautiful  history  of  "Saint  Ferdinand 
de  Florissant,"  p.  127. 


The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  303 

Monseigneur  has  established  you  in  a  place  so  little  suited  for  your 
-works.  In  a  village  and  so  far  from  the  families  who  would  be  inclined 
to  send  their  daughters  to  your  school,  it  can  never  get  on. '  '7  The  Bishop 
himself  became  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  a  change  of  location  when 
he  heard  Mother  Duchesne,  the  ever-patient  soul,  complain:  "We 
merely  vegetate  in  this  place  and  forego  the  good  we  might  do  elsewhere." 
This  circumstance,  and  the  fact  that  the  lease  of  the  house  was  about 
to  expire  seemed  to  call  for  a  removal.  Florissant  was  suggested  by 
the  Bishop.  In  company  with  Monseigneur  and  Father  De  Neckere, 
Mother  Duchesne  and  Madam  Berthold  visited  the  place  and  accepted 
the  offer  of  the  site.  Arrangements  were  made  with  Father  Dunand, 
the  Pastor  of  Florissant,  for  the  erection  of  a  brick-building8  for  the 
nuns.  As  a  temporary  home  the  Bishop  assigned  the  nuns  his  farm  near 
Florissant,  where  on  a  little  knoll  near  the  river,  there  stood  a  few  log 
cabins  of  the  most  primitive  kind.  The  community  was  to  occupy  these 
cells,  whilst  Father  Charles  De  La  Croix,  supervisor  of  the  "Bishop's 
Farm,"  chose  the  corn-crib  for  his  temporary  shelter. 

September  5th  was  set  for  the  migration  of  the  Religious  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  with  their  pupils  and  their  belongings,  from  St.  Charles 
to  the  Bishop's  Farm.  Like  the  landing  of  the  Trappists,  tenyears  before, 
the  landing  of  the  Nuns  was  effected  at  the  Charbonnier,  a  hill  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Missouri,  near  St.  Ferdinand.  Mother  Duchesne  has 
recorded  in  her  Journal  some  of  the  picturesque  incidents  of  this  migra- 
tion, illuminating  what  was  unpleasant  and  sordid  with  the  quiet  golden 
gleams  of  Humor;  "Sister  Octavie  and  two  of  our  pupils  next  embarked. 
I  was  to  close  the  march  in  the  evening  with  Sister  Marguerite,  the  cows 
and  the  hens.  But  the  cows  were  so  indignant  at  being  tied,  and  the 
heat  was  so  great,  that  we  were  obliged  to  put  off  our  departure  to  the 
cool  hours  of  the  Morning.  Then  by  dint  of  cabbages,  which  we  had 
taken  for  them  in  the  cart,  they  were  induced  to  proceed.  I  divided 
my  attention  between  the  reliquaries  and  the  hens.  AVe  crossed  the 
Missouri  opposite  Florissant.  On  landing  Marguerite  and  I  drew  up 
our  charges  in  line,  she  the  cows,  and  I  the  hens,  and  fed  them  with 
motherly  solicitude.  The  Abbe  de  La  Croix  came  on  horseback  to  meet 
us.  He  led  the  way  galloping  after  our  cows,  when  in  their  joy  at 
being  untied  they  darted  into  the  woods."9  Father  De  La  Croix,  the 
mananger  of  the  Bishop's  Farm  had  vacated  his  cabin  in  favor  of  the 
Sisters,  so  that  room  could  be  made  for  about  ten  to  fifteen  persons.  An 
addition  of  rough  boards  was  made  to  Father  De  La  Croix's  corn-crib 


t     Garragkan,  op.  eit.,  p.  127.     Baunard,  p.  190. 

8  Father  Dunand  finished  the   Sisters'   Convent  before  he  set  out   for  Prairie 
du  Chien,  about  1920. 

9  Baunard,  op.  cit.,  p.  192. 


304  History  of  tfu    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

residence,  and  a  small  chapel  was  also  hastily  constructed.  Father  De  La 
Croix  now  served  as  the  Sisters'  chaplain  and  confessor:  during  his  mis- 
sionary trips  to  the  Indians  on  the  Gasconade  and  the  Osage  Rivers  the 
saintly  Father  De  Andreis  supplied  his  place:  In  December  1819,  the 
latter   conducted   a   spiritual   retreat   for   the   nuns   and   their   pupils. 

Whilst  the  gentle  Ladies  were  busy  with  their  school  and  the 
manifold  duties  of  farm-life,  their  building  in  the  nearby  town  of  St. 
Ferdinand  was  making  steady  progress.  At  last  the  "Holy  Land,''  as 
Father  Dunand  called  the  new  establishment,  was  ready  to  receive  the 
community.  It  was  toAvard  the  end  of  December  that  the  transfer  was 
made,  in  bitter  cold  and  driving  snow.  But  on  Christmas  eve  all  the 
members  of  the  institution,  sisters  and  pupils,  were  reunited  in  their 
Convent  at  the  village,  and  assisted  at  the  mid-night  Mass,  Father  De  La 
Croix  celebrated  for  them.     All  were  full  of  gratitude  and  holy  joy. 

But  the  climate  of  early  Missouri,  so  changeable  and  severe  in  heat 
and  cold  proved  a  sore  trial  to  the  ladies  accustomed  to  the  mild  and 
equable  climate  of  France.  In  1820  all  the  sisters  became  seriously  ill, 
but  the  boarding-school  they  had  established  grew  apace,  numbering  in 
May  1820,  twenty-one  students.  A  Novitiate  of  the  Order  was  established 
and  soon  brought  most  happy  results.  It  was  urged  by  some,  Bishop  Du 
Bourg  among  them,  that  American  girls  could  not  be  won  for  the  re- 
ligious life  as  practiced  by  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart :  Mother 
Barat  and  Mother  Duchesne  were  of  the  contrary  opinion  and  refused 
to  accept  any  change.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  then  approved  the  Rule  for 
his  entire  diocese.  In  their  effort  to  gain  recruits  in  America,  the 
sisters  Avere  assisted  by  Father  Dunand.  On  December  22,  1820,  Mary 
Layton,  a  Native  Missourian  from  Father  Dunand 's  favorite  parish  at 
the  Barrens,  received  the  habit  of  a  lay-sister.  It  was  the  first  Sisters '  re- 
ception in  Upper  Louisiana  since  the  beginning  of  the  world.  Other  de- 
vout and  earnest  souls  soon  followed :  Emilie  Saint  Cyr  and  Mary  Anne 
Summer  then  Eulalie  Hamilton  and  Matilda  Hamilton  of  Kaskaskia. 
Illinois.  "They  are  more  pious  than  we  are  when  they  are  Catholics,  and 
more  constant  in  their  resolutions,"10  wrote  Mother  Duchesne  in  the  joy 
of  her  heart  at  seeing  a  beautiful  future  assured  to  her  Society. 

Another  precious  consolation  came  to  the  much  harassed  superior  of 
the  struggling  community  in  the  form  of  generous  gifts  from  her  old- 
world  friends  in  Paris  and  Grenoble.  Her  brother  wished  to  send  her 
money  in  order  to  bring  her  back  to  France.  "Tell  him,"  she  wrote  back, 
"that  I  beg  him  to  give  that  sum  for  the  travelling  expenses  of  two 
more  nuns  for  Louisiana."11  No  regrets,  no  misgivings,  amid  all  the 
destitution  and  endless  labor;  "We  are  very  happy  in  our  brick-built 


io     Baunard,  op.  cit.,  p.  214. 
ii      Erskine,  op.  cit.,  p.   227. 


The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  ;J05 

house,"  wrote  Madeline  Berthold.  "In  Madame  Duchesne  we  have  an 
example  of  every  virtue."  And  in  the  love  of  the  Sacred  Heart  all 
found  their  comfort  and  joy. 

It  had  been  one  of  the  pious  dreams  of  Mother  Duchesne  to  erect 
a  monument  to  the  Sacred  Heart  in  the  form  of  a  public  oratory. 
Bishop  Du  Bourg  helped  to  realize  her  desire  by  dedicating  the  new 
Church  of  Florissant  to  the  Sacred  Heart  under  the  invocation  of  St. 
Ferdinand  and  St.  Francis  Regis.  On  the  19th  of  February  1821,  the 
cornerstone  was  laid  by  Father  De  La  Croix.12  In  the  same  year  three 
more  missionary  sisters  arrived  from  Paris.  The  Institute  thus  en- 
larged and  strengthened  was  now  ready  to  send  out  new  shoots  into 
other  parts  of  the  diocese.  The  first  colony  of  the  Nuns  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  was  established  at  Opelousas,  in  Lower  Louisiana,  about  900  miles 
south  of  St.  Louis,  where  a  Mrs.  Mary  Smith,  a  wealthy  convert,  had 
offered  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg  a  tract  of  land  on  her  estate  at  Grand 
Coteau  and  a  Convent  school  to  be  built  and  provided  at  her  expense, 
for  the  purpose  of  educating  girls  and  young  ladies.  The  outlay  also 
for  bringing  the  sisters  there  was  to  be  borne  by  the  foundress.  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  was  pleased  with  the  offer  and  at  once  communicated  its 
tenor  to  Mother  Duchesne,  who  was  delighted  with  the  prospect  that 
opened  before  her.  "A  hundred  years  might  elapse  before  Ave  received 
such  another  offer  in  a  country  like  this,"13  she  wrote  to  Mother  Barat. 
As  Mother  Barat  approved  the  plan,  Mother  Duchesne  proposed  Madam 
Eugenie  Aude  as  the  superior  of  the  new  establishment.  "God  made 
her  to  be  a  superior,"  she  wrote,  "There  is  no  one  in  the  Community 
who  has  an  equal  power  of  attracting  both  mothers  and  children."14 
Mother  Eugenie,  accompanied  by  Sister  Mary  Layton,  embarked  on  the 
Steamer  Rapid  for  the  South,  on  August  5th.  At  Plaquemine  the  steamer 
grounded.  All  passengers  were  landed,  the  Sisters  had  to  continue  their 
journey  in  a  cart,  and  then  on  horse-back.  At  last,  on  the  25th  of 
August,  they  arrived  at  the  house  of  their  benefactress,  Mrs.  Mary 
Smith.  They  were  anxious  to  resume  the  regular  order  of  religious 
life  in  their  own  house,  which,  however,  was  not  ready  for  occupation. 
The  Parish  Priest  of  St.  Landry  was  Father  Hercules  Brassac.13 

It  could  not  be  expected  that  no  trials  would  attend  the  first  days  of 
this  new  establishment.  Sister  Mary  became  ill,  and  the  superior  had  to 
take  over  her  duties.     She  herself  began  to  suffer;  a  malignant  fever 


12     Erskine,  op.  cit.,  p.  226. 
is     Baunard,  op.  cit.,  p.  220. 
i*     Baunard,  op.  cit.,  p.  220. 

15     Cf.  Messrner,  S.,  Archbishop,  Hercules  Brassac,  in  "Cath.  Hist.  Review,"  vol. 
III.  pp.  392  ss. 


306  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

brought  her  to  death's  door.  Her  faith  in  the  power  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  restored  her.  Mrs.  Smith  expected  to  live  in  the  community, 
without  becoming  a  member;  which  Madam  Aude  could  not  permit.  The 
unpleasantness  caused  by  this  misunderstanding  was  soon  overcome  by 
the  prudence  and  gentleness  of  Mother  Aude.  In  the  meantime  the 
sisters  sent  from  France  had  arrived  at  Florissant.  They  were  but  two : 
Madame  Matheson  and  Madame  Murphy.  Madame  Murphy,  an  Irish 
lady  of  a  generous,  amiable  and  candid  disposition,  was  destined  for 
Grand  Coteau,  whilst  Madame  Lucille  Matheson  remained  at  Florissant. 
Grand  Coteau  soon  supplied  its  share  of  recruits  to  the  little  band  of 
missionaries.  Two  novices,  Madame  Gerard  and  Madame  Carmelita 
Landry,  received  the  habit  in  1822.  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  who  had  been  at 
Opelousas,  requested  that  two  Sisters  from  the  novitiate  at  Florissant, 
Josephine  Saint  Cyr  and  Mary  Mullanphy,  should  be  sent  to  Grand 
Coteau.  Mother  Duchesne  accompanied  them  to  their  destination.  On 
the  return  voyage,  the  dread  scourge  of  the  south,  Yellow  Fever,  attacked 
the  travellers  on  board  the  Hecla.  Madame  Duchesne  here  became  a 
true  Sister  of  Charity  to  the  afflicted,  until  her  strength  was  gone.  She 
and  her  companion  were  landed  on  the  shore  near  Natchez  and,  being 
denied  admittance  to  the  city,  at  last  found  a  refuge  with  a  good 
Catholic  family  across  the  river.  Only  after  months  she  found  herself 
strong  enough  to  continue  her  journey  homewards  on  the  steamer  Cin- 
cinnati.   She  arrived  at  St.  Louis  on  the  28th  of  November  1822. 

The  Society  of  the  Sacred  Heart  was  now  firmly  established  on 
American  soil;  after  many  dangers  encountered,  sorrows  and  privations 
borne,  and  contradictions  endured,  the  little  tree,  planted  by  the  waters 
of  tribulation,  was  beginning  to  stretch  forth  its  branches  over  all  the 
land.  But  the  fervent  though  now  silent  wish  of  Mother  Duchesne,  the 
work  of  converting  the  Indians,  seemed  as  far  from  fulfilment  as  when 
she  uttered  it  first  to  Madam  Barat.  The  romantic  glamour  of  the  plan 
had,  indeed,  vanished  now:  "Formerly  we  entertained  the  pleasing 
thought  of  instructing  docile  and  innocent  savages,  but  the  women  as 
well  as  the  men  are  idle  and  addicted  to  drinking.  Moreover  we  have 
half-castes  who  unite  all  the  moral  miseries  of  the  two  races. '  '16 

Yet  in  spite  of  this  saddening  knowledge,  she  still  held  sacred  the 
ideal  of  her  youth.  Not  now,  not  for  a  long  time  to  come,  will  she 
be  permitted  by  Providence  to  gratify  her  yearning  for  the  labors  and 
perils  of  the  missionary  life  among  the  children  of  the  forest  and  prairie. 
There  is  work  to  be  done,  there  are  prayers  and  sacrifices  to  be  offered 


is     Baunard,  op.  eit.,  p.  183. 


The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  307 

up,  there  are  tears  to  be  shed  for  the  immigrant  from  the  Eastern  states 
and  from  all  the  countries  of  Europe,  the  material  for  the  rising  walls 
of  the  Church  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The  care  for  the  Indians 
was  reserved  as  the  reward  of  her  life-work,  the  crown  of  all  her  labors. 
And  the  means  of  accomplishing  it  were  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  who  came 
from  far-off  Maryland  to  establish  their  home  on  the  Bishop's  Farm  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood  of  her  convent  in  Florissant. 


Chapter  10 

FATHER  CHARLES  NERINCKX  AND  JUS  RELATIONS 
WITH  ST.  LOUIS 


The  Reverend  Charles  Nerinekx  is  one  of  the  most  admirable 
characters  in  the  early  annals  of  the  Western  Church.  His  works  and 
words  have  been  recorded  by  some  of  our  most  distinguished  writers, 
Archbishop  Martin  Spalding  of  Baltimore,  Bishop  Maes  of  Covington, 
Father  De  Smet,  the  great  apostle  of  the  Indians,  Rev.  W.  J.  Howlett 
and  others  of  note.  Being  next  to  Father  Stephen  Theodore  Badin,  the 
earliest  priest  to  foster  and  spread  the  faith  in  the  wilderness  of 
Kentucky,  and  furthermore  being  the  founder  of  the  illustrious  Society 
of  the  Lorettines,  properly  styled  "The  Friends  of  Mary  at  the  Foot 
of  the  Cross,"  Father  Charles  Nerinekx  deserves  a  memorable  page  in 
our  record  of  the  Church's  early  struggles  and  triumphs  in  Kentucky. 
A  place  of  honor  is  due  to  him  also  in  the  history  of  the  Diocese  of  St. 
Louis.  It  was  through  his  instrumentality,  that  the  Lorettine  Sister- 
hood was  planted  in  the  state  of  Missouri ;  and  that,  what  is  perhaps 
the  grandest  of  all  our  religious  institutions,  the  Society  of  Jesus,  was 
brought  to  the  West.  Father  Nerinekx 's  part  in  these  two  far  reaching 
events  deserves  more  than  a  passing  notice  in  our  History. 

Charles  Nerinekx  was  born  on  October  2nd,  1761,  in  the  village  of 
Herft'elingen  in  Brabant.  He  was  the  oldest  of  a  family  of  seven  brothers 
and  seven  sisters,  the  majority  of  whom  had  the  happiness  of  becoming 
priests  or  religious.  After  a  regular  college  course,  the  youthful  Charles 
entered  the  Seminary  at  Mechlin  to  prepare  himself  for  the  priesthood 
and  was  there  ordained  on  November  4,  1785. 

During  his  stay  of  eight  years  at  Mechlin,  the  zealous  priest  had 
every  opportunity  of  studying  the  undercurrents  of  life  among  the  rich 
and  the  poor,  the  pride  and  covetousness  of  the  one,  the  human  frailty 
and  contempt  of  authority  of  the  other  class.  What  wonder  then,  that 
Father  Nerinekx,  like  so  many  other  priests  of  the  revolutionary  time, 
became  a  stern  and  uncompromising  advocate  of  justice  and  right,  to 
such  a  degree,  as  to  incur  the  charge  of  Jansenism.1 

The  invasion  of  the  Netherlands  by  the  French  revolutionary  armies 
under  Dumourier  and  Pichegru  in  1793,  changed  the  entire  course  of 
Father  Nerinekx 's  life.    Being  condemned  to  death  by  the  revolutionary 


1  Not  the  heresy  of  Jansenism,  but  a  certain  rigorism  which  savored  of  the 
spirit  of  Jansenism.  The  quarrel  of  Fathers  Nerinekx  and  Badin  with  the  Dominicans 
is  exhaustively  treated  by  Father  O'Daniel  in  the  "Catholic  Historical  Review," 
vol.  VI,  pp.  15-45. 

(308) 


Father  Charles  Nerinckx  and  His  Relations  with  St.  Louis     30<J 

tribunal,  he  was  obliged  to  hide  and  eventually  to  turn  his  eyes  toward 
the  struggling  Church  of  America.  "On  the  2nd  day  of  July  1804,"  he 
writes,  "having  left  my  parents  and  friends  in  ignorance  of  my  de- 
parture, I  started  from  the  Hospital  of  Dendermonde,  where  I  have 
remained  concealed  from  the  world."2  His  destination  was  America. 
He  arrived  at  Baltimore  on  the  14th  day  of  November,  1804,  and  on 
the  Feast  of  Pentecost,  June  2nd,  1805,  he  left  Georgetown  for  Baltimore, 
and  thence  travelled  with  a  company  of  Trappists3  to  his  appointed 
missionary  field.  On  the  2nd  day  of  July,  1805,  he  arrived  at  St. 
Stephens,  the  home  of  Father  Badin,  who,  at  that  time,  was  the  only 
priest  in  all  the  wide  territory  of  Kentucky. 

In  1808,  Pope  Pius  VII  wished  to  appoint  Father  Nerinckx  Ad- 
ministrator Apostolic  of  Louisiana,  Upper  and  Lower,  and  the  good 
Father  would  undoubtedly  have  become  bishop  of  that  vast  diocese, 
including  St.  Louis  as  well  as  New  Orleans,  if  his  humility  and  distrust 
of  himself  had  not  prevented  the  promotion.4  What  Father  Nerinckx 
desired  was  an  appointment  as  missionary  in  Upper  Louisiana,  where 
the  Church  seemed  poorer  and  more  in  need  of  priests,  than  it  was  in 
Kentucky,  and  where,  he  hoped  to  realize  his  life-long  dream,  the  con- 
version of  the  Indians.  Bishop  Carroll  of  Baltimore  at  that  time  held 
jurisdiction  over  all  Louisiana,  and  so  could  have  given  Father  Nerinckx 
the  desired  faculties  and  instructions  for  the  missions  near  St.  Louis, 
of  which  he  writes  in  his  petition  in  1809. 

1.  There  are  two  villages,  St.  Louis  and  St.  Charles,  about  twenty 
miles  from  each  other,  which  have  a  population  of  about  200  families, 
and  are  fifty  miles  from  the  nearest  priest. 

2.  There  is  a  congregation  called  Tucker's  Settlement  of  about 
60  families,  seventy  miles  away  from  the  former  place.  (St.  Louis),  and 
another  called  Fenwick,  twenty  families  and  thirty  miles  away  from 
Tucker's. 

3.  Many  heathen  Indians  live  in  the  vicinity,  and  it  is  asserted, 
that  my  labors  among  them  would  not  be  without  fruits. 

4.  This  extensive  field  is  never  visited  by  a  priest. 

5.  There  are  but  two  priests  in  the  entire  region.  One  is  Rev.  Mr. 
Olivier,  a  very  pious  man,  but  old  and  totally  ignorant  of  English.  The 
other  priest,  Rev.  Mr.  Maxwell  is  sufficiently  known.  He  resides  seventy 
miles  from  Tucker's  Settlement."5 


2  Maes,  1.  eit.,  p.  42. 

3  The  Trappists  of  Abbot  Guilet  and  Joseph  Marie  Dunand. 

4  Letter   of   Bishop   Carroll,    September   5,    1809,   Maes,   "Life   of   Nerinckx," 
p.  195. 

8     Father   Maxwell   of   Ste.    Genevieve.     The    Petition    can    be    found    in    Maes, 
Camillas,  "Life  of  Charles  Nerinckx,"  p.  202. 


310  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

This  request  of  Father  Nerinckx  seemed  just  and  proper :  yet  it  was 
not  granted,  as  Bishop  Carroll  did  not  wish  to  embarrass  the  newly 
appointed  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  Benedict  Joseph  Flaget.  Under  this 
saintly  Prelate  the  untiring  missionarj7  was  yet  to  reap  his  most 
abundant  harvests  in  the  old  field  of  Kentucky.  By  Bishop  Flaget 's 
order  he  took  charge  of  the  Parish  of  Hardin's  Creek,  with  a  missionary 
field  extending  from  Washington  County  to  Union  County  and  embrac- 
ing about  half  the  State  of  Kentucky.  What  his  piety  and  zeal  accom- 
plished here  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  upbuilding  of  a  staunch 
Catholicity,  is  extraneous  to  our  subject.  Only  two  great  and  loyal 
deeds,  that  have  a  bearing  on  the  history  of  St.  Louis  Diocese,  shall 
occupy  our  attention  in  this  chapter. 

As  Father  Nerinckx  was  not  permitted  to  serve  in  the  ranks  of 
the  consecrated  hosts  that  were  to  establish  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  he 
welcomed  the  opportunity  of  sending  others  in  his  place.  The  Society 
of  Jesus  which,  in  spite  of  the  decree  of  dissolution,  had  been  permitted 
to  continue  its  canonical  existence  in  Russia  and  Prussia,  was  re-estab- 
lished everywhere  by  affiliation  with  the  Russian  Province.  In  1803, 
Bishop  Carroll  of  Baltimore  took  the  first  steps  in  the  matter,  and  in 
May  1805,  the  former  Jesuit  Fathers  of  Maryland  reassumed  corporate 
existence.  They  at  once  established  Georgetown  College,  and  a  Novitiate 
of  the  Order,  which  in  1819  was  removed  to  Whitemarsh,  Maryland. 

Father  Nerinckx,  eleven  years  after  his  arrival  in  Kentucky,  made 
a  visit  to  his  old  home  in  Belgium,  then  a  part  of  the  Netherland  King- 
dom. He  there  published  a  pamphlet  in  Flemish  on  the  American 
Missions,  which  had  a  wonderful  effect  on  the  youthful  ecclesiastics 
of  Brabant.  Nine  young  men  volunteered  to  go  with  the  American 
missionary  to  the  wilds  of  America,  three  of  them  were,  in  the  course 
of  time  to  find  their  way  to  St.  Louis ;  John  Oliver  Van  de  Velde,  Peter 
Joseph  Timmermans  and  Peter  de  Meyer.  All  of  them  with  one  excep- 
tion, however,  were  won  by  Father  Nerinckx  for  the  Society  of  Jesus. 
On  May  16th,  1817,  the  company  embarked  at  the  Island  of  Texel,  on 
the  brig  Mars.  They  had  an  eventful  and  perilous  voyage.  Pirates 
boarded  the  ship  but  would  not  do  harm  to  any  one,  as  they  saw  how 
poor  the  passengers  were,  a  storm  of  the  most  violent  kind  assailed  them 
and  threatened  shipwreck,  but  owing  to  the  ceaseless  labor  of  all, 
passengers  and  crew,  no  harm  was  done ;  lack  of  food  and  water  reduced 
the  voyagers  to  the  last  extremities,  but  favorable  winds  at  last  sped 
them  on  to  their  destination,  Baltimore  and  the  Jesuit  home  at  George- 
town. 

In  1820,  Father  Nerinckx  made  a  second  trip  to  Belgium  with  even 
greater  results,  both  for  the  Society  of  Jesus  and  the  Diocese  of  St. 
Louis.  On  his  return  in  1821,  he  had  in  his  party  most  of  the  young  men, 
who  two  years  later,  were  to  emigrate  from  Maryland  to  the  West  under 


Father  Charles  Nerinckx  and  His  Relations  with  St.  Louis     311 

the  leadership  of  Father  Charles  Felix  Quickenborne  and  there  lay  the 
foundations  of  the  Missouri  Province  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 

On  his  way  to  Europe  Father  Nerinckx  paid  a  brief  visit  to  the 
Jesuits  at  Georgetown,  Maryland,  and  there  met  Father  Van  de  Velde, 
one  of  the  companions  of  his  former  journey,  who  handed  him  a  letter 
intended  for  a  friend  and  former  pupil,  Jodocus  Francis  Van  Assche, 
then  a  student  in  the  Seminary  of  Mechlin.  Young  Van  Assche  would 
have  gladly  gone  with  Van  de  Velde,  if  too  great  youth  and  lack  of 
means  had  not  prevented  him.  But  his  desire  of  joining  the  Jesuits  in 
America  still  persisted.  Father  Nerinckx  delivered  the  letter  at  Van 
Assche 's  home,  and  the  father  of  the  young  man  took  it  to  his  son  in 
Mechlin.  The  heart  of  Jodocus  took  fire  at  once.  For  a  time  he  could 
not  get  into  communication  with  Father  Nerinckx,  who  was  obliged  to 
conduct  his  affairs  in  utmost  secrecy,  as  the  government  was  unfriendly 
to  all  Catholic  endeavors,  and  would  surely  have  arrested  the  missionary 
from  America  on  one  plea  or  another.  In  his  search  for  Father  Nerinckx, 
Van  Assche  was  accompanied  by  John  Baptist  Elet,  a  student  of  the 
Grand  Seminary  at  Mechlin.  At  last  they  found  Father  Nerinckx,  who 
told  them,  when  and  from  what  part  he  would  start  again  for  America. 
On  the  reopening  of  school,  Elet  communicated  his  and  Van  Assche 's 
plan  of  going  to  American  to  John  Baptist  Smedts,  a  college  friend, 
and  won  him  over  to  the  pious  and  romantic  project.  A  layman  of 
Tournhout,  Pierre  de  Nef,  gave  the  young  men  a  large  contribution 
for  the  voyage  and  letters  of  introduction  to  a  number  of  well-disposed 
people  of  his  acquaintance.  Now  Peter  Verhaegen,  a  Professor  at  the 
Petit  Seminaire  at  Mechlin,  Felix  Levinus  Verreidt  of  Diest,  Francis 
De  Maillet  of  Brussels,  Van  Horzig  of  Hoogestraten,  all  students  of 
the  Grand  Seminaire ;  and  a  little  later,  Peter  De  Smet  of  Termonde, 
were  made  partners  iu  the  enterprise.  A  certain  merchant  of  Mechlin 
named  Ketelaer,  the  confidential  agent  of  Father  Nerinckx,  kept  the 
company  informed  regarding  the  vessel  in  which  Father  Nerinckx  in- 
tended to  sail.  In  his  house  they  stored  their  baggage  and  deposited 
their  funds.  At  last  the  news  came  that  their  guide  and  protector  would 
sail  from  Amsterdam  in  August.  Thereupon  they  started  for  that  city, 
but  hid  their  identity  as  much  as  possible  for  fear  of  being  detained 
for  evading  military  service.  They  then  crossed  the  Zuider-Zee  for 
Texel,  the  place  of  embarkation,  where  M.  Ketelaer  had  made  arrange- 
ments for  their  stay.  Meanwhile  Father  Nerinckx  himself  had  arrived, 
incognito,  upon  the  island,  accompanied  by  Charles  Gilbert  of  London, 
and  James  Van  Rysselberghe,  both  of  whom  wished  to  become  lay- 
brothers.  Father  Nerinckx  had  some  trouble  in  dampening  the  effer- 
A'escent  zeal  of  the  young  men,  that  threatened  to  bring  ruin  to  the 
enterprise. 


312  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

At  last  their  long  expected  ship,  the  Col  inn  bin,  was  announced. 
They  hastened  to  take  their  seats  on  the  pilot-boat  and  boarded  the 
vessel.     Father  Nerinckx  appeared  among  them  a  little  later. 

It  was  on  Assumption  Day,  August  15th,  1821,  that  the  voyage  start- 
ed, and  Sunday,  September  23rd,  that  it  came  to  a  close  at  Philadelphia. 
On  Monday  they  resumed  their  journey  for  Baltimore,  where  two  of  the 
party  were  prevailed  upon  to  stay :  the  remaining  seven,  Van  Assche,  Elet, 
De  Smet,  Verreidt,  Verhaegen,  Smeedts  and  De  Maillet,  hastened  on  to 
Georgetown  College,  to  be  admitted  into  the  Society  of  Jesus  by  Father 
Anthony  Kohlman.  On  October  6th,  1821,  they  began  the  period  of 
their  probation,  under  their  fellow  countryman,  Father  Charles  E.  Van 
Quickenborne,  who  had  come  to  America  a  few  years  before.  Father 
Nerinckx,  having  magnificently  fulfilled  his  promise  to  Father  Kohlman, 
to  bring  him  fresh  accessions  from  Belgium,  now  retraced  his  steps  to 
his  old  missionary  field  in  Kentucky.  As  to  the  ultimate  destiny  of  his 
•Jesuit  proteges  the  following  chapter  of  our  History  will  give  all  neces- 
sary information. 

During  the  period  that  elapsed  between  his  first  and  second  recruit- 
ing expedition  across  the  sea,  Father  Nerinckx  met  the  great  opportunity 
of  his  life,  to  found  a  religious  Sisterhood,  that  was  to  furnish,  under 
God's  Providence,  many  of  our  most  successful  educational  institu- 
tions, the  Sisters  of  Loretto.  In  the  year  1812  Miss  Mary  Rhodes,  a 
native  of  Maryland,  asked  permission  of  the  Pastor  of  St.  Charles  to 
open  a  school  for  girls.  Her  request  was  readily  granted.  Soon  two 
other  young  ladies  offered  their  services  as  teachers.  We  will  let 
Father  Nerinckx  finish  the  story:  "The  sight  of  three  young  women 
joined  in  the  same  work  revived  the  old  idea  of  a  convent,  and  it 
was  thoroughly  talked  over.  The  project  was  laid  before  Rt.  Rev. 
Benedict  Joseph  Flaget,  and  he  willingly  consented  to  the  plan.  Miss 
Nancy  Rhodes,  Mary's  sister,  who  was  afterwards  the  first  Superior, 
bought  the  small  tract  of  land  on  which  Loretto  is  built,  for  75  dollars, 
and  gave  her  negro,  who  was  sold  for  $450.00.  A  subscription  of  some 
hundred  dollars  was  made  up,  and  the  congregation  was  called  upon  to 
assist  in  building  a  more  convenient  house.  In  the  beginning  of  July 
1812,  the  first  log  was  cut  for  the  new  convent.  Great  difficulties,  hard- 
ships and  labors  were  met  at  every  step.  The  nuns  increased,  the  houses 
grew  in  number,  the  schools  continued,  yet  they  had  nothing  to  depend 
upon  but  the  sole  providence  of  God  and  the  gracious  protection  of  the 
Blessed  Sorrowful  Mother  Mary.  "G 

The  Society  was  at  first  governed  according  to  the  Rule  devised  by 
Father  Nerinckx  and  approved  by  Bishop  Flaget.   But  Rome  considered 


6     Father  Nerinckx  Journal  in  "  Howlett, "  p.  246. 


Father  Charles  Nerinckx  and  His  Relations  with   St.  Louis     313 

some  portions  of  it  too  rigid  and  made  some  changes,  which  were  of 
course,  readily  accepted  by  Father  Nerinckx  and  his  sisterhood.  This 
rule,  corrected  and  approved  by  Rome,  still  seemed  rather  severe  to 
many,  but,  as  Father  Nerinckx  repeatedly  stated,  the  sisters  loved  its 
austerities,  and  were  happy  under  its  severity.  In  fact,  they  regretted 
the  mitigations  made  by  Rome,  whilst  they  loyally,  as  good  religious, 
accepted  them. 

In  the  winter  of  1822  Bishop  Du  Bourg  wrote  to  Father  Nerinckx. 
requesting  a  colony  of  Lorettines  for  his  diocese  of  St.  Louis.7  Father 
Nerinckx  gladly  acquiesced  and  expressed  his  deep  satisfaction  on  hear- 
ing that  Father  Rosati,  Superior  of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Mary  at  the 
Barrens,  was  willing  to  accept  the  direction  of  the  young  colony  of  sisters. 
The  first  letter  of  Father  Nerinckx  in  regard  to  the  Lorettines  to  be 
sent  to  Missouri,  was  written  to  Father  Joseph  Rosati,  C.  MD.,  at  the 
Barrens,  dated  Loretto,  15  January,  1823.  In  this  letter  Father  Nerinckx 
expresses  his  readiness  to  send  on  a  band  of  nine  sisters  to  the  Barrens, 
and  asks  that,  beside  the  log-house  which  they  are  to  inhabit,  they  should 
have  a  chapel  of  their  own.  He  declares  his  wish  to  have  the  new-house 
distinguished  by  some  name  that  bore  some  relation  to  the  sufferings  of 
Our  Lord  and  his  Blessed  Mother.  The  foundation  was  named  Bethle- 
hem.8 

In  the  meantime  Father  Rosati  had  been  appointed  Coadjutor  to 
Bishop  Du  Bourg.  There  is  a  note  of  anxiety  in  Father  Nerinckx 's  letter 
as  to  the  alterations  that  might  possibly  be  made  in  the  rules  and  prac- 
tices of  his  dear  Lorettine  Sisterhood :  changes,  as  he  believed,  not  for 
the  better  but  for  the  worse,  Father  Nerinckx  may  have  been  too  fearful 
in  the  matter,  yet  in  principle  he  was  certainly  right.  There  is  no  greater 
danger  to  the  religious  life,  than  a  lax  Rule  or  lax  observance  of  the 
Rule. 

All  preparations  for  the  exodus  were  now  completed  and  a  long  and 
interesting  letter  was  despatched  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg  giving  brief  char- 
acter-sketches of  the  thirteen  sisters  that  made  up  the  colony  of  the 
future  Bethlehem  in  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis.  Father  Nerinckx  reiterates 
his  injunctions  as  to  the  necessity  of  maintaining  the  Rule.  There  are 
now  six  house  with  one  hundred  and  thirty  Sisters.     "Our  only  aim," 


"  Our  account  of  this  later  phase  of  Father  Nerinckx 's  life  is  based  on  the 
original  letters  addressed  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  Rosati,  preserved  in  the  Archives 
of  the  St.  Louis  Archdiocese  and  first  published  in  Rothensteiner 's  "Father  Charles 
Nerinckx  and  his  Relations  to  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis, ' '  in  St.  Louis  Cath.  Hist. 
Society,"  vol.  I.  pp.  157  ss. 

8     Rothensteiner,  1.  eit.,  p.  160. 


314  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

he  says,  ' '  in  starting  the  poor  institute  was  to  provide  a  Catholic  School 
for  girls  of  the  lower  classes. '  '9 

The  Convent  of  Bethlehem  was  now  established;  the  sisters  were 
happy  amid  their  hardships,  and  sent  glowing  accounts  of  their  new 
home  to  the  Sisters  at  Loretto.  Father  Nerinckx  felt  relieved  and  very 
grateful.  He  wrote  a  touching  letter  in  excellent  Latin,  to  Bishop  Rosati, 
Dated  September  24,  1823,  in  which  he  gratefully  acknowledges  the 
paternal  solicitude  rendered  to  his  one  time,  "  Lorettines, "  now  Bishop 
Rosati 's  ' '  Bethlehemites. '  '10 

Father  Nerinckx 's  life  was  drawing  to  a  close,  as  he  himself  ex- 
pressed it.  But  the  storm  was  already  brewing  that  was  to  drive  him 
away  from  the  scene  of  his  long  and  fruitful  labors,  A  Brother  Priest, 
Father  Guy  Chabrat,  the  Confessor  to  the  Lorettines  at  Bethania  Church, 
was  the  prime  mover  of  an  attempt  to  change  that  which  was  dearest  to 
the  heart  of  Father  Nerinckx,  the  Rule  of  the  Friends  of  Mary  at  the 
Foot  of  the  Cross.  Father  Nerinckx  resented  this  uncalled-for  interfer- 
ence and  strenuously  resisted  the  attempt.  The  piety  of  Father  Ner- 
inckx was  described  by  Father  Chabrat  as  visionary,  his  government 
as  too  rigorous,  the  practices  he  prescribed  as  too  austere.  But  a  valiant 
fighter  as  Father  Nerinckx  was  in  the  cause  of  righteousness  and  justice, 
he  would  not  give  scandal  by  continuing  the  quarrel,  in  which  he  saw 
Bishop  Flaget  on  the  side  of  his  opponent.  The  desire,  long  repressed 
of  going  among  the  Indians,  or  of  leading  the  life  of  a  hermit  in  the 
wilderness  of  Missouri,  filled  his  heart  to  overflowing.11 

Bishop  Rosati  was  glad  to  make  such  an  acquisition  for  St.  Louis, 
as  was  offered  in  the  person  of  Father  Nerinckx ;  and  he  wrote  to  him 
about  a  tract  of  land  which  he  thought  suitable.  Father  Nerinckx 's 
answer  is  dated  Loretto,  Ky.,  January  1824.  Bishop  Flaget,  however, 
was  not  willing  to  let  the  grand  old  man  and  missionary  leave  his  diocese. 
Yet,  Nerinckx  held  that  he  was  justified  in  his  proposed  course  to  seek 
a  new  home  in  the  woods. 

Among  other  causes  for  his  desire  to  withdraw  from  the  cares  of 
the  public  ministry,  the  good  Father  touches  on  a  question  of  Theology 
which  has  since  that  time  exercised  and  disturbed  many  a  mind  and 
heart,  the  question  of  usury  or  taking  interest  on  money  lent.  The  Church 
had  always  held  that  money  was  unproductive  and  should  not  bear 
interest.    Usury  in  all  its  ramifications  was  sinful.    But  the   opinion 


9     Kothensteiner,  1.  cit.,  p.  163. 

10  Kothensteiner,  1.  cit.,  p.  166. 

11  Father  Guy  Chabrat,  the  second  Superior  of  the  Lorettine  Sisterhood,  in 
June,  1826,  moved  the  MotheThouse  from  Hardin's  Creek  to  the  Farm  of  St.  Ste- 
phen's. This  is  the  new  Loretto.  The  Sisters  themselves  on  their  departure  set  fire 
to  the  old  Loretto  Convent. 


Father  Charles  Nerinckx  and  His  Relations  with  St.  Louis     315 

gradually  prevailed  that  modern  conditions  of  business  had  made  a 
change  imperative,  and  that  a  reasonable  rate  of  interest  was  permissible, 
so  that  the  word  usury  would  apply  only  to  an  excessive  rate  of  interest. 
Father  Nerinckx's  remarks  on  this  vexed  question  may  seem  strange  in 
our  capitalistic  age :  but  they  are  based  on  facts,  and  so  merit  our  atten- 
tion.12 

In  conclusion  Father  Nerinckx  touched  upon  a  new  St.  Louis  pro- 
ject. 

As  early  as  1823  a  "Female  Charitable  Society,"  consisting  of 
ladies,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  French  and  American,  had  been  founded 
in  St.  Louis,  intended  to  "ameliorate  the  conditions  of  the  poor  and  sick 
and  the  orphans.  In  consequence  of  the  exertions  of  these  good  ladies 
a  movement  was  inaugurated  to  obtain  a  colony  of  the  Lorettines  for 
the  purpose  of  caring  for  the  sick  and  the  orphans.  Father  Nerinckx 
heard  of  this  plan,  and  expressed  his  willingness  to  further  it.  Nothing 
came  of  the  matter  at  that  time.  A  project  of  far  greater  importance 
began  to  agitate  the  old  lion's  soul.  Bishop-elect  Rosati  had  notified 
Father  Nerinckx  of  his  coming  consecration  as  Bishop  of  Tenagra  and 
Coadjutor  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  which  was  to  take  place  at  Donaldson- 
ville,  on  March  25th,  1824.  Hereupon  Father  Nerinckx  sent  a  letter  of 
hearty  congratulation,  and  at  the  same  time  offered  to  bring 'all  his 
sisters  to  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  This  letter  is  the  last  one  addressed  to 
Bishop  Rosati  from  Loretto.  It  is  dated  January  24th,  1824»  Alluding 
to  the  grave  misunderstanding  that  had  arisen  between  him  and  Bishop 
Flaget,  he  says : 

"It  will  cause  me  to  make  still  more  diligence  in  leaving  these  parts. 
The  Bishop  told  me,  if  I  went,  I  could  take  the  sisters  along  with  me. 
I  know  not  whether  he  was  in  earnest,  but  supposing  he  was  and  they 
would,  perhaps  some  might  have  the  notion  to  follow  such  a  poor  leader, 
could  they  find  a  place,  or  be  received  in  your  diocese  or  anywhere  in 
your  parts?  What  number?  And  what  means  to  transport  them?  I 
have  some  money  to  bear  expenses,  but  then  to  find  a  place.  I  would 
decline  to  be  their  director  except  for  a  while,  if  I  should  suit.  Provi- 
dence perhaps,  which  permits  this  little  change,  might  provide.  I  wish 
before-hand  to  come  to  your  parts,  unless  you  could  and  would  give 
sufficient  information  by  writing,  which  by  this  present  I  humbly  re- 
quest you  to  do  as  soon  as  possible.  I  wish  your  Lordship  to  recommend 
this  affair  to  the  Sisters  of  Bethlehem,  that  the  Lord  may  be  honored  by 
it."13 


12  Eothenstciner,  1.  c.  p.,  169. 

13  Eothensteiner,  1.  c,  p.  171. 


•>16  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

This  desperate  plan  of  removing  the  entire  Sisterhood  of  more  than 
two  hundred  persons  from  Kentucky  to  Missouri  was,  of  eourse,  impos- 
sible, yet,  Bishop  Plaget's  hasty  word  rankled  in  the  good  Father's 
heart.  Besides,  the  Bishop  had  informed  him  as  to  complaints  urged 
against  him.  There  was  no  alternative  but  to  leave  Kentucky.  On  the 
29th  of  May  1824,  he  wrote  the  farewell  letter,  "to  the  dear  Mother, 
Mothers  and  Sisters  of  the  Loretto  House  and  Society,"  in  which  he 
gives  a  brief  account  of  his  life  and  states  the  three  great  causes  for  his 
departure : 

1.  The  impossibility  of  holding  out  for  want  of  temporals,  having 
no  help  but  from  Europe ; 

2.  The  sake  of  peace  which  is  already  somewhat  interrupted : 

3.  The  rest  and  tranquillity  of  conscience,  "which  I  cannot  have 
here  on  account  of  difficulties  in  practice,  which  are  lately  come  and 
surely  increased,  for  which  it  seems  no  remedy  can  be  obtained.  These 
are  the  main  motives. ' ni 

On  the  16th  day  of  June  1824,  Father  Nerinckx  left  Loretto  and  on 
July  2nd,  1824,  he  arrived  at  Bethlehem  near  St.  Mary's  Seminary. 
Perry  County,  Missouri. 

"The  Sisters  were  not  expecting  him,"  says  Sister  Eulalia,  "he 
stepped  into  the  hall  and  thus  took  them  by  surprise."  Going  to  the 
chapel  he  gave  benediction  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  and  then  departed 
for  the  Seminary,  where  he  remained  a  few  weeks.  On  the  26th  of  July, 
he  left  the  Barrens,  said  Mass  for  the  last  time  in  the  Sister's  chapel  at 
Bethlehem,  and  then  rode  away  to  St.  Louis.  From  St.  Louis  he  made 
a  visit  to  his  friends,  the  Jesuit  Fathers  at  Florissant ;  thence  he  returned 
to  St.  Louis,  made  arrangements  with  the  Indian  agent  in  regard  to 
sending  twelve  Indian  girls  to  Bethlehem.  On  the  2nd  of  August  he 
set  out  for  Bethlehem  convent,  full  of  glad  anticipations  in  regard  to 
his  Indian  venture.  On  his  way,  however,  he  stopped  at  a  little  village,1"' 
where  he  preached,  heard  confessions,  and  said  Mass,  and  even  started 
a  building  fund  for  a  new  church.  But  the  exertions  undergone  by  the 
noble  priest  brought  on  a  fever.  In  company  of  Mr.  James  Van  Ryssel- 
berge,  Father  Nerinckx  set  out  for  Ste.  Genevieve,  where  he  was 
received  with  great  kindness  by  the  Pastor,  Father  Dahmen,  C.  M.  On 
Sunday,  August  8th,  Brother  James  assisted  him  into  the  chapel.  Unable 
to  say  Mass,  he  would  at  least  attend. 

On  August  12th,  1824,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  Father  Nerinckx 
expired  in  the  63rd  year  of  his  age.  His  remains  were  buried  in  the 
humble  church-yard  of  Bethlehem.    Bishop  Rosati  performed  the  last 


14  Maes,  op.  cit.,  pp.  521  and  522. 

15  French  Village,  also  called  Little  Canada. 


Father  Charles  Neritickx  and  His  Relations  with  St.  Louis     :>17 

sacred  rites.  In  December  1833,  the  remains  of  Father  Nerinckx  were 
translated  to  Loretto  and  reinterred  in  the  Sisters'  Cemetery,  where  a 
beautiful  monument  was  erected  over  his  tomb. 

A  most  beautiful  and  touching  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  Apostle 
of  Kentucky  was  rendered  by  Bishop  Flaget,  and  published  in  the 
Ignited  States  Catholic  Miscellany,  Wednesday,  December  8th,  1824. 

One  hundred  years  have  elapsed  since  Father  Charles  Nerinckx 
passed  to  his  eternal  reward.  But,  as  Bishop  Flaget  wrote,  "he  still  lives 
amongst  us  in  his  works,"  and  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis  may  well 
be  proud  of  its  early  intimate  relations  to  the  saintly  Founder  of  the 
Friends  of  Mary  at  the  Foot  of  the  Cross,  and  the  resourceful  pathfinder 
for  the  Jesuits  to  their  earlier  field  of  glory  on  the  banks  of  the  Miss- 
issippi River. 


Chapter  11 
THE  INDIAN  MISSIONS  AND  THE  JESUITS 

In  answer  to  some  of  his  friends  in  Europe  who  had  gently  disap- 
proved of  his  waste  of  time  and  energy,  and  money  on  foreign  lands 
which  might  be  more  profitably  spent  on  France  itself,  the  Bishop  of 
Louisiana  pointed  out  the  essential  humanity  of  educating  and  chris- 
tianizing the  Indians. 

"Turn  then  your  eyes,  "he  wrote/'  on  hundreds  of  Indian  tribes 
that  seem  but  to  wait  for  instruction  in  order  to  embrace  the  faith. 
How  touched  you  would  be  if  you  could  see  the  frequent  deputations 
which  I  receive  from  them,  the  religious  respect  which  they  testify  to 
me,  and  the  urgent  prayers  which  they  address  to  me,  to  be  their 
father,  to  visit  them,  and  to  give  them  men  of  God.  In  the  midst  of 
the  great  sadness  which  the  view  of  so  many  of  my  neglected  children 
causes  me,  I  am  beginning  to  experience  the  consolation  of  seeing  the 
seed  of  the  word  bear  fruit."1 

Father  Eugene  Michaud,  who  came  to  the  American  Mission  with 
Odin,  J.  B.  Blanc,  Audizio,  Peyretti  and  Caretta  in  1822,  and  was 
raised  to  the  priesthood  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  on  September  22nd,  of  the 
same  year,  "a  pious  and  learned  young  man,  with  an  excellent  character, 
and,  above  all,  very  good  judgment,"  wrote  a  few  letters  for  the  Annals 
of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  concerning  the  Louisi- 
ana missions.  We  cull  from  his  account  the  following  passages  in  regard 
to  the  early  missionary  activities  among  the  Indians  of  the  Western 
Plains. 

"In  1820,  a  number  of  chiefs  of  the  Osage  nation  came  to  St.  Louis 
by  the  order  of  the  Indian  agent.2  Sans-Nerf  (principal  chief  of  this 
nation)  was  at  their  head.  They  all  visited  our  Bishop,  whom  they  call 
the  'Chief  of  the  Black  Robes'.  As  they  have  a  high  opinion  of  him, 
and  as  respect  for  priests  seems  natural  to  them,  since  they  know  by 
tradition  that  'Black  Robes'  visited  their  forefathers,  they  came  in  full 
dress.  Their  copper-colored  bodies  were  coated  with  grease,  their  faces 
and  arms  were  striped  in  different  colors,  white  lead,  Vermillion,  ver- 
digris and  other  colors  formed  a  great  variety  of  furrows,  all  starting 


1  Du  Bourg  to  a  Friend  in  Europe  about  1818,  in  "Annales  de  la  Propagation 
de  la  Foi,"  vol.  I,  p.  20. 

2  William  Clark,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Expedition  of  1804- 
1806.  The  Osage  Indians  had  been  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Jesuit  Fathers  of 
Kaskaskia  under  the  French  Eegime. 

(318) 


The  Indian  Missions  and  the  Jesuits  319 

at  the  nose.  Their  hair  was  arranged  in  tufts.  Bracelets,  ear-rings,  rings 
in  their  noses  and  lips  completed  their  head-dress.  Their  shoes  are  made 
of  buckskin  which  they  ornament  with  different  designs  in  feathers  of 
various  colors;  hanging  from  their  robes  are  little  pieces  of  tin,  shaped 
like  small  pipes.  These  are  to  them  the  most  beautiful  ornaments.  Their 
great  object  is  to  make  a  noise  when  they  walk  or  dance.  Their  heads 
are  ornamented  with  a  sort  of  crown  in  which  are  mixed  up  birds'  heads, 
bears'  claws  and  little  stag's  horns.  A  woolen  robe  hung  over  the  shoul- 
ders, covers  nearly  all  the  rest  of  the  body ;  and  again,  to  this  robe  are 
fastened  the  tails  of  different  animals,  etc.  Such  is  the  attire  in  which 
the  chiefs  of  the  Osages  paid  their  respects  to  the  Bishop  of  Louisiana. 
He  has  in  his  room  a  handsome  ivory  crucifix,  a  small  picture  of  St. 
Thomas,  and  a  few  other  paintings.  The  sight  of  the  crucifix  struck 
them  with  astonishment.  They  gazed  at  it,  their  expression  wondering 
and  softened.  The  Bishop  profited  by  this  occasion  to  announce  to  them 
Jesus  Christ.  'Behold'  (said  he  to  them  through  the  interpreter  who 
accompanied  them),  'behold  the  Son  of  the  Master  of  Life,  who  came 
down  from  heaven  to  earth,  who  died  for  us  as  much  for  the  redskins 
as  for  the  white  skins.  It  was  to  gain  our  happiness  that  Ho  suffered  so 
much  and  that  He  shed  all  His  blood.  It  is  He,'  added  the  Bishop,  'who 
has  sent  me  here  to  make  known  to  you  His  will. ' 

"It  is  impossible,  the  Bishop  said,  to  describe  the  attention  that  all 
these  poor  savages  paid  to  him,  and  the  emotion  which  they  experienced 
when  the  interpreter  repeated  to  them  the  words  of  the  Bishop.  They 
raised  their  eyes  and  their  hands  to  heaven  and  then  to  the  crucifix.  All 
the  spectators  were  moved  by  the  scene.  Before  taking  leave  of  the  Bishop, 
Sans-Nerf  said  to  him  through  the  interpreter,  that  if  he  wished  to 
come  and  visit  them  in  their  homes  he  would  be  well  received ;  that  he 
could  do  a  great  deal  of  good,  and  that  he  could  pour  waters  on  many 
heads.  The  Bishop  promised  to  do  so,  and  presented  each  one  with  a 
little  crucifix  and  also  a  medal  which  he  hung  around  their  necks  by 
a  ribbon,  admonishing  them  to  guard  them  carefully.  They  promised 
him  to  do  so,  and  have  kept  their  word."3 

Bishop  Du  Bourg,  enthusiastic  as  he  was,  and  of  a  romantic  turn 
of  mind,  at  once  decided  to  assist  the  Osages  himself,  and  De  Andreis 
was  to  accompany  him.  But  De  Andreis  died,  and  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had 
so  many  calls  on  his  time  and  talent,  and  cherished  as  many  grand 
dreams,  that  he  soon  decided  to  entrust  the  Osage  Mission  to  one  of  his 
most  excellent  priests,  Father  Charles  de  La  Croix.  As  the  beginnings 
of  a  great  undertaking,  be  they  ever  so  humble,  deserve  to  be  remember- 
ed in  all  their  details,  we  will  give  entire  the  second  part  of  Father 


3     ' '  Annales  de  la  Propagation, ' '  vol.  I,  pp.  53  and  54. 


320  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

ftlichaud's     letter,     which     treats     more     fully     of     the     events     thai 
transpired  in  the  first  Osage  Mission : 

"In  1821  Father  La  Croix  set  out  to  open  the  mission  to  these  savages. 
On  the  occasion  of  his  first  visit,  as  they  were  about  to  depart  on  a  hunt- 
ing expedition,  he  could  only  see  one  village.  He  was  very  well  received 
and  baptized  a  great  many  children.  As  he  had  promised  to  visit  all  the 
villages  of  the  nation  of  Indians,  he  was  obliged  to  return  last  summer. 
He  left  Florissant,  which  is  situated  five  leagues  from  St.  Louis,  on 
the  22nd  of  July.  After  traveling  twTelve  days  on  horseback  across 
prairies,  broken  by  forests  and  streams,  he  reached  the  first  village 
which  he  had  already  visited  in  the  spring.  They  were  delighted  to 
see  him  again.  He  was  accompanied  by  several  persons  who  intended 
to  trade  with  the  savages.   All  the  warriors  came  to  meet  them. 

They  were  conducted,  with  great  honor  to  the  head  chief  and  invited 
to  feasts,  prepared  by  the  savages,  and  so  were  kept  going  until  evening, 
from  cabin  to  cabin.  At  these  repasts  they  were  presented  with  a  wooden 
dish,  filled  with  boiled  maize  or  buffalo  meat  (boeuf  sauvage),  but  each 
dish  had  to  be  duly  tasted. 

The  head  chief  and  six  of  his  principal  warriors  offered  to  accompany 
the  missionary  in  his  visit  to  the  other  villages.  Ten  days  were  passed 
thus,  and  the  missionary  was  received  everywhere  with  the  same  eager- 
ness. At  one  of  these  villages  more  than  a  hundred  warriors,  covered 
from  head  to  foot  with  their  handsomest  ornaments,  came  quite  a  distance 
to  meet  him.  They  rode  finely  trained  horses.  The  occupations  of  the  men 
are  war  and  hunting.  The  women  are  very  hard  working.  They  it  is 
who  build  the  cabins,  and  who  carry  loads  of  firewood  on  their  backs. 
The  quantity  they  take  at  one  time  is  astonishing.  The  whole  nation  is 
clothed,  decently  at  least.   Everyone  is  covered  with  a  robe. 

Polygamy  is  practiced  among  them,  for  it  is  the  custom  that,  when 
a  savage  demands  a  girl  in  marriage  and  is  accepted,  not  only  she,  but 
all  her  sisters  also  belong  to  him  and  are  looked  upon  as  his  wives.  They 
pride  themselves  greatly  upon  having  several  wives.  Another  great 
obstacle  to  their  civilization  lies  in  their  strong  distaste  for  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil  and  for  all  kinds  of  work.  They  care  for  nothing  but 
war  and  hunting. 

One  day  the  missionary  celebrated  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  All  the  chiefs 
were  present,  and  also  as  many  savages  as  the  place  would  hold.  He  has 
told  me  that  he  was  greatly  moved  by  the  respectful  attention  which 
they  showed,  and  the  exactitude  with  which  they  rose  and  knelt,  raising 
their  arms  and  eyes  to  heaven.  After  Mass  he  distributed  to  all  the 
chiefs  a  number  of  crosses,  fastened  to  ribbons,  which  he  threw  around 
their  necks.   He  also  baptized  several  children. 


The  Indian  Missions  and  the  Jesuits  32] 

The  soil  of  this  portion  of  Missouri  is  very  fertile,  and  there  are 
prairies  six  or  seven  Leagues  in  extent.  In  summer  the  heat  is  excessive. 
It  was  during  this  journey  that  the  missionary  was  attacked  by  burning 
fever,  which  forced  him  to  leave  the  Osages.  He  was  obliged  to  travel, 
twelve  days  on  horseback,  sleeping  at  night  in  the  woods,  not  coming 
across  a  single  miserable  cabin.  This  is  how  they  go  about  arranging 
their  camp.  Having  chosen  the  most  suitable  place,  they  unload  and 
unharness  the  horses,  which  they  let  run  loose  in  the  woods  that  they 
may  pasture  during  the  night.  They  build  a  hut  with  the  branches  of 
trees,  and  having  gathered  wood  they  light  a  big  fire.  Over  this  they 
boil  a  piece  of  young  buck  placed  on  a  stick  planted  before  the  fire, 
(he  meat  being  turned  from  time  to  time.  This  fire  serves  also  to  drive 
away  bears  and  other  wild  beasts.  After  their  repast,  they  roll  them- 
selves up  in  a  buffalo  skin  and  fatigue  renders  this  poor  bed  very 
comfortable."4 

As  Father  Michaud  intimates,  the  chief  obstacles  to  the  conversion 
of  the  Indians,  were,  next  to  the  wandering  instinct  and  lazy  life  of  the 
Indian  himself,  the  trader  with  his  fire  water,  and  the  salaried  preacher 
with  his  calumnies  and  impositions.  "For  several  years  Protestant 
missionaries,  sent  out  and  well  paid  by  the  American  government,  had 
been  settled  among  these  savages,  and  had  built  up  establishments  where 
they  cared  for  the  children  of  this  nation  for  a  certain  time.  But  they 
were  not  successful,  and  nearly  a  year  ago  the  Indians  took  away  all 
their  children,  saying  that  they  had  realized  that  they  were  not  Black- 
robes,  as  they  had  thought  they  were  at  first. '  '5 

Black-robes,  that  is  Catholic  priests,  these  poor  people  wanted. 
"Their  affection  for  the  Black-robes  is  touching,  especially  for  the  French 
priests,"  writes  Father  Michaud 's  companion  on  the  voyage  to  America, 
John  Marie  Odin,  then  in  deacon's  order.  "Some  time  ago,  a  great 
number  of  savages  were  in  St.  Louis.  One  of  them  was  taken  on  some 
errand  to  a  house  where  the  Bishop  happened  to  be.  The  moment  he 
perceived  the  Bishop,  he  ran  to  him,  seized  his  hand  and  kissed  it  with 
every  demonstration  of  friendship.  Having  departed  without  remember- 
ing to  go  through  the  same  ceremony,  he  recalled  his  mistake,  only  when 
already  at  some  distance  from  the  house.    He  turned  back  immediately. 


*  Annales,  vol.  I,  pp.  57  and  58.  Father  Garraghan's  "Saint  Ferdinand  de 
Florissant"  contains  a  chapter,  the  seventh,  on  Father  Charles  De  La  Croix.  Mon- 
signor  Holweck  in  the  "Pastoral-Blatt, "  July,  1919,  gives  a  well-authenticated 
sketch.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  was  won't  to  call  this  noble  priest  his  "angel."  Mother 
Du  Chesne  admired  him  for  his  angelic  piety  and  absolute  fearlessness. 

5      Annales,  vol.  I,  p.  58.     Records,  vol.  XIV. 

Vol.  I     11 


322  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

running  all  the  way,  and  uttering  loud  cries,  kissed  the  Bishop's  hand 
and  departed  once  more."0 

The  Administration  of  President  James  Monroe,  was  hailed  as  the 
"era  of  good  feeling."  All  danger  of  foreign  interference  seemed  to 
have  been  eliminated  by  the  so-called  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  the  govern- 
ment could  now  apply  all  its  energies  to  internal  affairs.  The  Indian 
population  demanded  special  attention.  The  Indian  wars,  though  confined 
to  the  frontier,  had  been  very  costly  in  blood  and  treasure.  Education 
was  proclaimed  as  the  panacea  for  all  evils.  The  Indians  were  to  share 
in  its  blessings.  The  President  and  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  Secretary  of 
War,  expressed  their  willingness  to  aid  in  a  substantial  manner  those 
who  would  undertake  the  task  of  civilizing  and  christianizing  the  In- 
dians. "Upon  the  whole"  as  Von  Hoist  says,  "he  (Calhoun)  advocated 
a  policy  towards  these  wards  of  the  nation  which  it  would  have  been 
well  for  all  parties  concerned  to  adopt  and  pursue  with  undeviating 
honesty.  Even  in  our  days  his  Indian  reports  might  be  profitably  studied 
with  regard  as  well  to  the  cardinal  mistakes  committed  in  the  Indian 
policy  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done. '  '7 

Congress  had  set  apart  the  sum  of  $10,000.00  for  the  purpose  of 
aiding  the  schools  that  were  then  and  might  be  established  for  the  in- 
struction of  young  Indians.  Secretary  Calhoun,  into  whose  hands  the 
distribution  of  the  fund  was  laid,  announced  that  "Government  will, 
if  it  has  the  means,  and  approves  the  arrangement,  pay  two-thirds  of 
the  expense  of  erecting  the  necessary  buildings.  The  President  of  the 
United  States  will  contribute  out  of  the  annual  appropriation  to  each 
institution  which  may  be  approved  by  him,  a  sum  proportionate  to  the 
number  of  pupils  belonging  to  each,  regard  being  had  to  the  necessary 
expense  of  the  establishment  and  the  degree  of  success  which  has  at- 
tended it. 

' '  But  it  will  be  indispensable,  in  order  to  apply  any  portion  of  the 
sum  appropriated  in  the  manner  proposed,  that  the  plan  of  education, 
in  addition  to  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  should  in  the  instruction 
of  boys,  extend  to  the  practical  knowledge  of  the  mode  of  agriculture, 
and  of  such  of  the  mechanic  arts  as  are  suited  to  the  condition  of  the 
Indians;  and  in  that  of  the  girls,  to  spinning,  weaving  and  sewing.  It 
is  also  indispensable  that  the  establishment  should  be  fixed  within  the 
limits  of  those  Indian  nations  who  border  on  our  settlements*,  "8 


6  Annales,  vol.  I,  p.  52.     Becords,  vol.  XIV,  p.  181. 

7  Von  Hoist,  John  C.  Calhoun  in  ' '  American  Statesmen  Series, ' '  p.  45. 

8  Calhoun's  Circular,  Feb.  29,  1820,  supplementary  to  that  of  September  3, 
1819,  both  published  in  "American  Catholic  Historical  Eesearches, "  vol.  X,  pp.  154- 
159. 


The  Indian  Missions  and  the  Jesuits  323 

In  the  additional  regulations  issued  by  Secretary  Calhoun,  it  was 
stated  that  regard  would  be  had,  not  only  to  the  number  of  pupils  of 
each  institution,  but  also  to  the  necessary  expense  incurred  and  the 
degree  of  success  attained.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  saw  his  opportunity.  In 
a  letter  to  the  Secretary,  under  date  of  February  15th,  1823,  he  developed 
his  plan  of  civilizing  the  Indians  of  Missouri:  "The  work  of  civilization 
should  commence  with  harmonizing  them  by  the  kind  doctrine  of 
Christianity,  instilled  into  their  minds,  not  by  the  doubtful  and  tedious 
process  of  books,  but  by  familiar  conversation,  striking  representations, 
and  by  the  pious  lives  of  their  spiritual  leaders. 

"Men,  disenthralled  from  all  family  cares,  abstracted  from  every 
earthly  enjoyment,  inured  to  fatigue  and  self-denial .  . .  are  well  calcu- 
lated to  strike*  the  child  of  nature  as  a  supernatural  species  of  beings, 
entitled  to  almost  implicit  belief.  Thus  their  unremitting  charity  will 
easily  subdue  the  ferocity  of  their  hearts,  and  by  degrees,  assimilate  their 
inclinations  to  those  of  their  fellow-christians.  "I  would  be  for  aban- 
doning the  whole  management  of  that  great  work  to  the  prudence  of 
missionaries  as  the  best  judges  of  the  means  to  be  progressively  employed 
to  forward  the  great  object  of  their  own  sacrifices.  Such  at  least  was 
always  the  policy  observed  in  Catholic  Indian  missions,  the  success  of 
which  in  almost  every  instance  answered  and  often  surpassed  every 
prudent  expectation. 

Upon  these  principles  I  would  be  willing  to  send  a  few  missionaries, 
by  way  of  trial  at  least,  among  the  Indians  of  Missouri,  should  Govern- 
ment be  disposed  to  encourage  the  undertaking.  The  Appropriation  of 
monies  for  the  object,  being,  I  understand,  very  limited  and  in  a  great 
measure  already  disposed  of,  I  feel  extremely  delicate  in  proffering  any 
specific  demand.  I  would  only  beg  to  observe,  that  hardly  a  less  sum  than 
200  dollars  would  suffice  to  procure  a  missioner  the  indispensible  ne- 
cessities of  life.  With  this  abridged  view  of  the  subject,  I  beg  you  will 
have  the  goodness  to  inform  me,  Sir,  whether  and  to  what  extent,  Govern- 
ment would  be  willing  to  favor  my  scheme :  1.  What  allowance  it  would 
grant  to  each  missionary  ?  2.  To  how  many  that  support  might  be 
extended  ?  3.  In  case  establishments  could  be  made,  what  help  would  be 
made  towards  them  either  in  money  or  land  ? '  '9 

The  President  and  Secretary  Calhoun  gave  their  hearty  approval, 
saying  that  the  Government  would  contribute  $200.00  annually  towards 
the  support  of  the  missionaries  to  be  sent  out.  But,  for  the  present  only 
three  were  to  be  sent.  The  Government  would  also  contribute  towards 
the  expense  of  the  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  the  missionaries. 


9     Du  Bourg  to  Calhoun,  February  15,  1823.     Original  letter  in  "Indian  Office 
Records. ' ' 


■'!_-]  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Further  encouragement  would  be  extended  in  accordance  with  the  results 

attained. 

Cheered  by  this  initial  success  with  the  Government  the  Bishop 
asked  and  obtained  the  pledge  that  four  instead  of  three  missionaries 
would  receive  the  annual  allowance  of  $200.00.  From  the  Bishop's  letter 
it  appears  that  these  missionaries  were  intended  for  the  tribes  on  the 
Upper  Missouri,  and  Mississippi,  Council  Bluffs,  Prairie  du  Chien  and 
Riviere  St.  Pierre.  William  Clark,  the  Indian  Agent  at  St.  Louis,  was 
instructed  by  Calhoun,  to  befriend  the  missionaries  in  their  endeavors. 
"It  is  believed,"  says  the  Secretary  to  General  Clark,  "that  the 
missionaries  will,  besides  preparing  the  way  for  their  ultimate  civiliza- 
tion be  useful  in  preserving  peace  with  the  tribes  among  which  they 
may  fix  themselves."10 

So  far  not  a  word  had  been  spoken  in  regard  to  schools  for  the 
Indian  children.  The  plan  had  in  view  the  erection  of  Indian  missions 
among  the  remote  tribes,  and  an  allowance  of  $200.00  for  each  of  the 
four  missionaries.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  now  conceived  the  idea  of  a  school 
for  the  training  of  missionaries.  Writing  to  Secretary  Calhoun  on 
March  17th,  1823,  he  says:  "I  have  the  honor  to  submit  to  your  con- 
sideration a  plan  of  operation,  which  the  most  serious  reflections  have 
presented  to  me  as  best  calculated  to  insure  permanency  to  that  estab- 
lishment and  to  enlarge  its  sphere  of  usefulness. 

"The  basis  of  that  plan  would  be  the  formation  (on  an  eligible  spot 
near  the  confluence  of  those  two  large  streams)  of  a  Seminary  or  nursery 
of  Missionaries,  in  which  young  candidates  for  that  holy  function  would 
be  trained  in  all  its  duties;  whilst  it  would  also  afford  a  suitable  re- 
treat for  such  as,  through  old  age,  infirmity  or  any  other  lawful  cause, 
would  be  compelled  to  withdraw  from  that  arduous  ministry. — The 
chief  studies  pursued  in  that  Seminary  would  be :  the  manners  of  the 
Indians,  the  idiom  of  the  principal  Nations,  and  the  arts  best  adapted 
to  the  great  purpose  of  civilization. — And,  in  order  to  facilitate  the 
attainment  of  some  of  these  objects,  I  would  at  once  try  to  collect  in 
that  Institution  some  Indian  youths  of  the  most  important  tribes,  whose 
habitual  converse  with  the  tyros  of  the  Mission,  would  be  mutually  of 
the  greatest  advantage  for  the  promotion  of  the  ultimate  object  in  con- 
templation.— The  result  of  that  kind  of  Novitiate  would  be  a  noble 
emulation  among  the  Missionaries,  uniformity  of  system,  a  constant 
succession  of  able  and  regularly  trained  Instructors,  and  a  gradual 
expansion  of  their  sphere  of  activity. 

"I  am  willing  to  give  for  that  establishment  a  fine  and  well-stocked 
farm  in  the  rich  valley  of  Florissant  about  one  mile  from  the  river 
Missouri  and  fifteen  from  St.  Louis. 


io     Calhoun  to  Clark,  "Indian  Office  Records,"   Washington,  D.  C. 


The  Indian  Missions  and  the  Jesuits  325 

Seven  young  clergymen,  from  twenty-two  to  twenty-seven  years  of 
age,  of  solid  parts  and  an  excellent  Classical  education  are  nearly  ready 
to  set  off  at  the  first  signal  under  the  guidance  of  two  Superiors  and 
professors  and  with  an  escort  of  a  few  faithful  mechanics  and  husband- 
men to  commence  the  foundation.  I  calculate  at  about  two  years  the 
time  necessary  to  consolidate  it  and  to  fit  out  most  of  those  highly 
promising  candidates  for  the  duties  of  the  missions,  after  which  they 
will  be  anxious  to  be  sent  in  different  directions  according  to  the  views 
and  under  the  auspices  of  government,  whilst  they  will  be  replaced  in 
the  Seminary  by  others  destined  to  continue  the  noble  enterprise. 

"So  forcibly  am  I  struck  with  the  happy  consequences  likely  to  re- 
sult from  the  extension  of  that  same  project  that  I  hesitate  not  to 
believe  that  Government,  viewing  it  in  the  same  light  with  myself,  will 
be  disposed  to  offer  me  towards  its  completion  that  generous  aid  with- 
out Avhieh  I  would  not  be  warranted  to  undertake  it 

"It  has  already  condescended  to  allow  $800  per  annum  for  four 
missionaries.  But  it  was  on  the  supposition  that  they  would  be  im- 
mediately sent  to  the  Missouri,  whilst  in  the  proposed  plan  the  opening 
of  the  missions  would  take  place  but  two  years  after  the  opening  of 
the  Seminary.  Yet  though  not  actually  employed  among  the  tribes, 
the  missionaries,  whilst  yet  in  their  novitiate,  would  not  be  less  profitably 
engaged  in  the  cause;  since  besides  having  a  number  of  young  Indians 
to  feed,  to  educate  and  maintain,  they  would  be  laying  the  foundation 
for  far  more  extended  usefulness  for  the  future 

The  true  object  of  this  memoir  is  to  demand  that  the  allowance 
granted  by  government,  to  be  increased,  if  possible,  to  $1000  per  annum 
(on  account  of  the  great  additional  expenses  incident  on  the  present 
scheme)  should  be  paid  from  the  first  outset,  on  my  pledging  myself  as 
I  solemnly  do,  that,  at  latest,  in  two  years  from  the  commencement, 
I  will  send  out  five  or  six  missionaries  and  successively  as  many  more 
as  Government  may  then  be  disposed  to  encourage. 

For  the  attainment  of  the  object  of  collecting  some  Indian  boys  in 
the  Seminary,  it  would  be  of  great  service,  Sir,  that  you  should  please 
to  invite  General  Clarke  and  Colonel  O 'Fallon  to  lend  me  their  assis- 
tance."11   This  letter  bears  date  of  March  17,  1823. 

To  this  communication  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  Secretary  Calhoun 
replied  on  March  21 : 

"I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  17th  instant  and  submitted  it 
to  the  President,  (Monroe)  for  his  consideration  and  direction,  who 
has  instructed  me  to  inform  you.  in  reply,  that  believing  the  establish- 
ment of  a  school  on  the  principles  which  you  have  suggested,  is  much 
better   calculated   to    effect    your    benevolent    design    of    extending   the 


11     Du  Bourg  to  Calhoun,  "Indian  Office  Records." 


326  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

benefits  of  civilization  to  the  remote  tribes,  and  with  it  the  just  influ- 
ence of  the  government,  than  the  plan  you  formerly  proposed  for  the 
same  object,  he  is  willing  to  encourage  it  as  far  as  he  can  with  propriety, 
and  will  allow  you  at  the  former  rate  of  $800  per  annum  to  be  paid 
quarter-yearly  towards  the  support  of  the  completed  establishment.  No 
advance,  however,  can  be  made  consistently  with  the  regulations,  until 
the  establishment  has  actually  commenced  its  operations  with  a  suitable 
number  of  Indian  youths ;  of  which  fact  and  the  number  of  pupils  the 
certificate  of  General  Clark  will  be  the  proper  evidence. 

"A  copy  of  this  letter  will  be  sent  to  General  Clark  with  instructions 
to  give  proper  orders  to  such  of  the  Indian  agents  under  his  charge, 
as  you  may  think  necessary,  to  facilitate  the  collection  of  the  Indian 
youths  to  be  educated,  and  to  afford  every  aid  in  his  power  to  promote 
the  success  of  the  establishment."12 

These  arrangements,  though  not  perfectly  satisfactory  to  the  Bishop, 
were  accepted  as  the  basis  for  further  action.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  himself 
writes  on  this  subject  to  his  brother  in  Bordeaux,  March  17,  1823 : 

"Providence  deigns  to  grant  a  success  to  this  negotion,  far  in  excess 
of  my  hopes.  The  government  bestows  upon  me  two  hundred  dollars 
a  year  for  each  missionary  and  that  for  four  or  five  men,  and  it  promises 
to  increase  the  number  gradually,  and  I  am  sure  that  it  will  do  so. 
For  an  enterprise  such  as  this,  it  was  essential  that  I  should  have  men 
especially  called  to  this  work,  and  I  had  almost  renounced  the  hope  of 
ever  obtaining  such,  when  God,  in  His  infinite  goodness,  has  brought 
about  one  of  those  incidents  which  He  alone  can  foresee  and  direct  the 
results."13 


12  Calhoun  to  Du  Bourg,  "Indian  Office  Records." 

13  Annales,  vol.  I,  p.  5.    Records,  vol.  XIV,  p.  156. 


Chapter  12 
THE  INDIAN  MISSIONS  AND  THE  JESUITS 

II 

The  incident  related  in  the  foregoing  chapter  was  the  providential 
answer  to  Bishop's  long  and  anxious  meditations  summed  up  in  the 
following  passage  of  a  letter  to  his  brother  in  Bordeaux: 

"I  have  long  been  convinced  that  nothing  could  be  accomplished 
here  without  the  Religious  Orders.  A  man  living  isolated  from  his  kind 
grows  weary  of  the  apparent  uselessness,  of  his  efforts.  The  intense 
heat  exhausts  his  strength  and  checks  his  ardor.  Too  often  he  loses 
his  life  or,  in  the  fear  of  losing  it,  he  abandons  his  post.  He  is  fortunate 
indeed,  if  he  does  not  prove  the  truth  of  those  words  of  the  Holy  Ghost : 
"Woe  to  him  who  is  alone!"  and  from  a  being,  full  of  vigor  and  activity 
he  becomes  a  good-for-nothing,  and  the  scorn  of  his  fellowmen.  There 
in  not  the  same  danger  for  the  religious  community.  Union  makes 
strength  of  all  kinds.  Their  members  are  constantly  renewed  and  in- 
creased, hence  they  are  able  to  provide  for  their  own  losses. 

It  is  to  this  end  that  I  have  worked  from  the  very  beginning,  to 
secure  the  help  of  the  Order  of  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul,  and  that  I  have 
made  every  effort  to  induce  the  Jesuits  to  come  here,  the  former  Order 
for  the  seminary,  the  latter  for  the  Missouri  missions,  and  more  es- 
pecially, for  work  among  the  Indians.  The  expense  of  all  this  has  been 
great,  but  I  am  far  from  regretting  it."1 

As  early  as  February  24th,  1821,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  written  to 
the  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  Cardinal  Fontana,  asking  His  assistance 
in  gaining  the  Jesuits  for  the  work  of  converting  the  Indians,  who,  as 
he  states,  are  very  numerous  in  the  upper  part  of  his  diocese.  The 
Holy  Father,  himself  wrote  to  the  Superior  General  with  a  view  to  en- 
dorse his  wishes.   But  up  to  that  date  all  efforts  had  proved  unavailing. 

"However,"  concluded  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  "I  understand  that  the 
Superiors  of  the  Society  are  now  showing  more  willingness  to  undertake 
the  work.  I  have  accordingly  recommened  to  Father  Inglesi2  to  make 
use  of  every  resource  his  intelligence  and  zeal  could  muster,  in  order 
to  bring  this  project  to  maturity.  I  beg  likewise  Your  Eminence  to 
second  his  efforts.  There  is  particularly  one  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
Society,  De  Barat  by  name,  now  in  the  Little  Seminary  of  Bordeaux, 


i  "Annates  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi, "  vol.  II,  p.  394.  "Kecords  of  the 
American  Catholic  Historical  Society, ' '  vol.  XIV,  p.  160. 

2  Father  Angelo  Inglesi,  Bishop  Du  Bourg 's  protege,  Vicar-General  and 
proposed  Coadjutor. 

(327) 


328  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

whom  I  know  to  be  most  anxious  to  conic  here;  his  piety,  knowledge 
and  zeal  arc  beyond  par.  I  beg  most  earnestly  the  Vicar  General  to 
give  him  to  me,  and  beseech  to  this  end  the  aid  of  Your  Eminence's 
most  powerful  influence.  With  him  some  of  the  younger  French  Jesuits 
will  be  glad  to  come,  and  also  others,  of  riper  years,  from  among  those 
who  came  lately  from  Russia  to  Prance.  Five  or  six  at  most,  would 
be  sufficient,  if  to  them  were  added  two  or  three  from  Maryland — a  thing 
most  desirable,  on  account  of  their  knowledge  of  English,  and  also  be- 
cause, as  they  are  well  provided  financially,  they  could  supply  the  want 
of  their  brothers.  With  this  help,  the  Gospel  cannot  fail  to  make  head- 
way among  the  numberless  nations  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Missouri.''3 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  petitioned  Father  Aloysius  Fort  is,  the  General 
of  the  Jesuits  at  Rome,  for  some  members  of  the  Society  to  be  established 
in  Louisiana,  and  received  a  courteous  refusal ;  but  as  he  himself  de- 
clares, he  seemed  to  hear  out  of  the  refusal  the  voice  of  God  repeating, 
"Et  si  perseveraberis  pulsans,  propter  improbitatem  dabunt."  Lucas 
VII.,4. 

All  applications  so  far  had  failed  to  attain  the  purpose.  But  nil 
desperandum,  thought  Bishop  Du  Bourg.  And  really,  as,  the  poet  of 
the  Seasons  tells  us,  "What  makes  the  hero  truly  great,  is  never,  never, 
to  despair."  The  Bishop's  persistent  efforts  in  this  regard  were  at  last 
to  be  crowTned  with  perfect  success,  though  not  in  the  manner  he  had 
expected. 

There  was  at  Whitemarsh  near  Baltimore  a  Novitiate  of  the 
Jesuits  whom  Father  Nerinckx  had  brought  from  Belgium  in  1821. 
Their  Master  of  Novices  was  Father  Charles  Felix  Van  Quiekenborne, 
a  native  of  Ghent.  Born  January  21st,  1788,  the  energetic  young  man, 
after  being  raised  to  priesthood,  and  acting  as  Vicar  of  a  parish  in 
Ghent  and  as  Professor  at  the  Seminary  of  Rottanen,  was  admitted  into 
the  Novitiate  of  the  Jesuits  at  Roulers.  During  this  time  he  had  as 
pupil  Ferdinand  Helias  de  Huddeghem. 

It  was  the  good  Father's  love  and  sympathy  for  the  benighted 
Indians  that  inspired  the  desire  of  going  to  America,  in  teacher  as  well 
as  in  pupil.  The  young  missionary  Charles  Van  Quiekenborne  obtained 
permission  to  go,  and  arrived  in  Georgetown  at  the  end  of  1817.  The 
student  Helias  was  obliged  to  wait  a  few  years. 

Father  Van  Quiekenborne  was  appointed  Master  of  Novices  within 
four  years  after  his  ordination.  The  novices  were  making  excellent 
progress  under  their  kind  and  sympathetic  master:  but  a  dark  cloud 
had  arisen  over  the  institution  threatening  disaster  to  all  .     Owing  to 


3  Archives  of  Propaganda,  Scritture  Referite,  Cod.  7,  America  Centrale,  pub- 
lished by  Dr.  Souvay  in  "Documents  from  Our  Archives."  "St.  Louis  Catholic 
Historical  Review,"  vol.  II,  p.  136. 


The  I)i<li<ni  Missions  and  the  Jesuits  329 

;i  heavy  indebtedness  of  the  Society,  and  a  dispute  with  the  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore  concerning  the  title  of  ownership  to  Whitemarsh  Plantation, 
the  Jesuit  Superior  was  about  to  dissolve  the  Novitiate,  so  auspiciously 
begun.  The  Father  Superior,  Charles  .Wale,  on  hearing  of  Bishop 
Du  Bourg's  desire  to  have  a  colony  of  Jesuits  for  the  Western  Missions, 
freely  offered  him  the  entire  Novitiate  at  Whitemarsh.  Bishop  Du 
Bourg  was  surprised  and  delighted.  It  was  a  boon  he  could  never  have 
expected  and  it  came  at  the  crucial  moment.  The  government  furnish- 
ing the  means  for  a  grand  advance,  and  here  were  the  men  to  under- 
take  it. 

A  Concordate  with  many  important  clauses  was  drawn  up  at  once 
and  signed  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  for  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana,  and  Father 
Charles  Neale  in  behalf  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  the  United  States. 
This  was  in  accordance  with  the  request  Cardinal  Pedicini  made  to  the 
Bishop  in  1821,  "to  define  and  circumscribe  the  limits  of  the  mission 
to  be  placed  entirely  under  the  care  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  so  that  no 
collision  or  disturbance  arise  subsequently."  This  remarkable  document 
was  dated  March  19,  1823. 

A  Concordat  or  Agreement.4 

Entered  into  by  the  Rt.  Rev,  Louis  Wm.  Du  Bourg,  Bishop  of  New 
Orleans,  on  the  one  part,  with  the  Rev.  Father  Charles  Neale,  Superior 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  the  United  States  of  America,  on  the  other 
part,  respecting  the  missions  about  to  be  undertaken  by  the  said  Society 
in  the  Diocese  of  the  said  prelate. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  animated  by  the  desire  of 
propagating  and  extending  the  Gospel  through  his  extensive  diocese,  and 
anxious  to  promote  as  much  as  possible,  the  temporal  as  well  as  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  numerous  savage  tribes  inhabiting  the  shores 
of  the  Missouri  and  its  tributary  streams,  by  conferring  on  them  the 
benefits  and  comforts  of  civilization  and  at  the  same  time  instructing 
them  in  the  ways  of  God  and  opening  their  eyes  to  the  truths  of  His 
holy  Religion,  as  taught  by  Jesus  Christ  His  Divine  Son  and  proposed  by 
the  Church,  seizes  with  joy  a  proposal  made  to  him  by  the  Superior  of 
the  Society  in  the  United  States,  to  co-operate  with  him  and  to  carry 
into  effect  so  laudable  a  design,  by  furnishing  him  with  a  number  of 
able  and  zealous  missionaries,  who  shall  immediately  proceed  to  the  work. 
And,  in  order  that  a  fair  understanding  may  always  hereafter  subsist 
between  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  and  his  successors  in  the  See  and  the 
Superior  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  and  his  successors,  the  following  Con- 
cordat or  Agreement  is  entered  into,  and  has  been  signed  by  each  of  the 


4     This  document  is  transcribed  from  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  own  copy,  preserved  in 
the  Archives  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis.     Father  Neale's  copy  was  published 
in   Hughes',  "History  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  North  America,"   Documents,    1 
1021. 


330  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

parties;  and  when  approved  and  ratified  by  his  Holiness  as  well  as  by 
the  General  of  the  Society  in  Rome,  the  same  shall  be  perpetually  binding 
on  them  and  their  successors. 

1.  The  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  cedes  and  surrenders  to  the  Society 
of  Jesus  for  ever,  as  soon  and  in  proportion  as  its  increase  of  members 
enables  it  to  undertake  the  same,  the  absolute  and  exclusive  care  of  all 
the  missions  already  established  and  which  shall  be  hereafter  established 
on  the  Missouri  River  and  its  tributary  streams;  comprising  within  the 
above  grant  and  cession  the  spiritual  direction,  agreeably  to  their  holy 
institute,  as  well  of  all  the  white  population,  as  of  the  various  Indian 
tribes  inhabiting  the  above  mentioned  district  of  country  together  with 
all  the  churches,  chapels,  colleges  and  seminaries  of  learning  already 
erected  and  which  shall  hereafter  be  erected,  in  full  conviction  of  the 
blessed  advantages  his  diocese  will  derive  from  the  piety,  the  learning 
and  the  zeal  of  the  members  of  the  said  religious  Society — Reserving, 
however,  at  all  times  to  himself  and  his  successors  the  right  of  visiting 
in  charity  said  portions  of  his  diocese,  agreeably  to  the  canons  of  the 
Church  made  and  provided;  also  of  requiring  the  removal  of  any  mem- 
ber or  members  of  the  Society  from  any  post  or  station  in  the  ministry, 
when  such  removal  for  impropriety  of  conduct  is  deemed  by  him  neces- 
sary ;  and  also  of  requiring  upon  all  occasions,  when  a  Superior  shall 
desire  to  withdraw  a  member  or  members  from  any  post  of  the  mission, 
the  name  of  the  individual  or  individuals  he  appoints  to  succeed  him  or 
them;  in  order  that  he  (the  Bishop)  majr  judge  of  his  or  their  quali- 
fications, etc.,  and  empower  him  or  them  to  exercise  jurisdiction 
accordingly. 

2.  The  Bishop,  to  enable  the  Superior  and  the  Society  to  enter 
immediately  upon  the  work  so  laudably  undertaken  by  them,  engages  to 
cede  and  transfer  to  said  Society  all  right  and  title  to  a  tract  of  valuable 
land  at  Florissant,  of  which  he  is  now  legal  proprietor,  consisting  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty  acres  or  thereabouts,  with  all  its  buildings  and 
improvements,  and  to  make  over  the  same  immediately  in  such  way  and 
to  such  person  or  persons,  in  trust  for  the  Society,  as  the  Superior  shall 
think  fit. 

3.  The  Bishop  futhermore  pledges  and  hereby  binds  himself  and 
his  successors  to  support,  encourage  and  promote  to  the  best  of  his  ability, 
and  with  such  pecuniary  aid,  collections  and  donations,  as  his  circum- 
stances and  means  will  allow,  the  missions  herein  ceded  to  the  Society 
and  their  respective  establishments,  colleges,  seminaries,  churches,  etc., 
which  are  and  which  shall  be  hereafter  made  and  erected, — and  especially 
the  seminary  immediately  to  be  commenced  on  the  above  mentioned  tract 
of  land  at  Florissant. 

4.  The  Superior  of  the  Society  on  the  other  hand  engages  himself 
to  send  immediately  to  Florissant,  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  two  priests 


The  Indian  Missions  and  the  Jesuits  331 

of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  with  seven  young  men,  candidates  for  the  same, 
for  the  purpose  of  forming  an  establishment  there,  which  shall  serve 
for  the  present  as  a  seminary  of  preparation  for  the  objects  above  speci- 
fied. He  promises  moreover  to  send,  with  the  above,  two  or  three  lay- 
brothers  of  the  same  Society,  with  at  least  four  or  five  negroes  to  be 
employed  in  preparing  and  providing  the  additional  buildings  that  may 
be  found  necessary,  and  in  cultivating  the  land  of  the  above  mentioned 
farm. 

5.  The  Superior  also  engages  that,  at  the  expiration  of  two  years, 
counting  from  the  time  of  their  arrival,  four  or  five,  at  least,  missionaries 
duly  qualified  shall  proceed  to  the  remote  stations,  (i.  e.)  to  the  Indian 
settlements  in  the  vicinity  of  Council  Bluffs,  and  shall  there  labor  towards 
the  attainment  of  the  great  object  specified  above  for  the  greater  honor 
and  gloiy  of  God. 

6.  The  Superior  pledges  himself  to  foster  and  promote,  as  much 
as  he  is  able  the  above  mentioned  missions  with  their  several  departments ; 
and,  until  it  shall  be  deemed  necessary  for  the  greater  good  of  the  mission 
to  fix  upon  some  other  site  for  the  principal  residence  of  the  Society 
engaged  in  this  mission,  to  retain  at  the  establishment  at  Florissant  at 
least  two  capable  Fathers,  whose  chief  care  it  shall  be  to  superintend 
and  to  direct  the  same,  in  qualifying  the  youth  who  shall  offer  themselves, 
and  who  shall  have  been  received  there  with  the  approbation  of  the  Super- 
ior, for  the  purpose  of  the  mission. 

7.  The  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  in  his  desire  of  promoting  the  estab- 
lishment about  to  be  commenced  at  Florissant,  and  to  benefit  the  mission 
at  large,  obligates  himself  and  his  successors  to  pay  into  the  hands  of 
the  chief  of  the  mission  whatever  sum  or  sums  of  money  the  United  States 
Government  shall  think  fit  to  advance,  and  to  apply  towards  this  object, 
and  to  transmit  to  the  same  whatever  sum  or  sums  it  shall  hereafter 
appropriate,  and  as  long  as  it  shall  continue  to  appropriate  it  or  them, 
towards  the  furtherance  of  the  work  of  God  in  this  section. 

In  confirmation  of  this  mutual  agreement  this  instrument  is  signed 
by  both  parties. 

George  Town,  Dist.  of  Cla.,  March  19,  A.  D.,  1823. 
L.  Wm.  Du  Bourg,  Bp.  of  N.  Orleans. 
( 'liarles  Xeale,  Superior  of  the  Mission  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
When  the  Master  of  Novices  at  Whitemarsh,  was  informed  of  the 
transaction,  he  readily  acquiesced;  his  assistant,  Father  Timmermans 
likewise:  the  novices  Van  Assche,  De  Smet,  Verhaegen,  Verreidt,  Elet, 
Smedts,  De  Maillet  and  the  Brothers,  Peter  De  Meyer,  Henry  Keisselman 
and  James  Strahan  expressed  their  joy  at  going  to  the  West,  "We  left 


332  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

our  home  and  country  for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians;''  they  said, 
"the  Indians  are  in  the  West,  to  the  West  let  us  go.""' 

In  order  to  procure  money  for  the  travelling  expenses,  Father  Van 
Quickenborne  started  on  a  collecting  tour  in  New  York,  Philadelphia 
and  Baltimore,  realizing  in  a  short  time  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars. 
On  April  11th,  1823,  at  dawn,  the  entire  novititate  left  Whitemarsh 
under  the  leadership  of  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  with  bag  and  baggage 
and  six  negro  slaves,  Toni,  Moses  and  Isaac  with  their  respective  wives 
Polly,  Nancy  and  Suecy. 

The  journey  from  Whitemarsh  to  Wheeling  was  made  on  foot.  Travel 
by  stage-coach  seemed  beneath  contempt  and  was  really  beyond  their 
reach.  The  trunks  and  the  baggage  were  placed  on  two  large  wagons. 
At  their  resting  places  on  the  way  the  novices  copied  Father  Plowden's 
Instructions  on  Religious  Perfection.  At  Frederick  in  Maryland  the 
Jesuit  Father  McElroy  presented  Father  Van  Quickenborne  with  a  roan 
horse,  which  proved  so  obstreperous,  that  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  as 
he  told  the  giver  afterwards  "would  have  sold  the  animal  very  promptly, 
had  the  opportunity  presented  itself." 

Frederick  was  the  farthermost  western  outpost  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus :  here  the  travelers  entered  upon  the  Great  National  Pike  Road  to 
the  banks  of  the  Ohio.  At  Cumberland  the  ascent  of  the  Allegheny 
Mountains  began,  replete  with  beautiful  and  sublime  scenery,  but  full 
of  toil  and  danger  too.  After  nine  days  of  mountain  travel  they  reached 
the  hospitable  home  of  a  Mr.  Thompson,  to  spend  three  days  of  rest  and 
recuperation.  Wheeling  was  reached  on  May  7th.  Here  the  travelers 
procured  two  flat-boats,  which  they  lashed  together,  and  with  the  help  of 
a  "Riverman's  Guide"  Brother  Strahan  piloted  the  happy  company 
down  the  Ohio  to  Louisville.  Here  their  joy  was  made  complete  by  a 
visit  from  their  friend  and  benefactor  Father  Nerinckx,  who  had  come 
to  Louisville  to  see,  safe  on  board  a  steamer,  the  Colony  of  Lorettines 
destined  for  the  Barrens  in  Missouri. 

The  shooting  of  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  was  successfully  made,  four 
of  the  novices  taking  part  in  the  perilous  passage,  the  others,  more 
prudent  or  less  courageous,  walking  around  the  point  of  danger.  At 
Shawneetown  they  left  part  of  their  baggage  and  began  the  long  journey 
on  foot  through  the  broad  expanse  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of 
prairie  to  St,.  Louis,  which  they  reached  on  Saturday,  May  30,  1823. 
That  same  evening  Father  Van  Quickenborne  rode  on  horseback  to 
Florissant,  accompanied  by  Father  De  La  Croix.  Here  the  Novitiate 
of  St.  Stanislaus  was  founded  by  the  advent  of  the  pilgrims  from  White- 
marsh in  Maryland.  A  letter  written  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  his  brother 
at  Bourdeau,  March  17,  1823,  throws  an  interesting  sidelight  on  this 
providential  occurrence : 


5     The  Indians  are  in  the  West;  to  the  West  let  us  go. 


The  Indian  Missions  and  the  Jesuits  333 


"The  Jesuits  of  whom  I  speak  (says  he)  had  their  institution  in 
Maryland,  and  finding  themselves  embarrassed,  were  on  the  point  of 
disbanding  their  novitiate,  when  I  obtained  this  pecuniary  encourage- 
ment from  the  Government.  They  have  seized  this  opportunity  and 
have  offered  to  transport  the  whole  novitiate,  master  and  novices,  into 
Upper  Louisiana  and  form  there  a  preparatory  school  for  Indian  mis- 
sionaries. If  I  had  had  my  choice,  I  could  not  liave  desired  anything 
better.  Seven  young  men,  all  Flemings,  full  of  talent  and  of  the  spirit  of 
Saint  Francis  Xavier,  advanced  in  their  studies,  about  twenty-two  to 
twenty-seven  years  of  age,  with  their  two  excellent  masters  and  some 
brothers ;  this  is  what  Providence  at  last  grants  to  my  prayers. 

"Near  the  spot  where  the  Missouri  empties  into  the  Mississippi,  out- 
side the  village  of  Florissant,  already  so  happy  as  to  possess,  the  principal 
institution  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  I  have  a  good  yielding  farm, 
excellent  soil,  which,  if  well  cultivated  (which  it  is  not  at  present),  could 
easily  provide  sustenance  for  twenty  persons  at  least,  so  far  as  the 
important  question  of  nourishment  is  concerned.  True,  there  is  only  a 
small  house  on  the  place,  but  in  this  country  a  big  cabin  of  rough  wood, 
such  as  will  be  suitable  for  the  apostles  of  the  savages,  is  quickly  built. 
It  is  there  that  I  will  locate  this  novitiate,  which  will  be,  for  all  time, 
a  seminary  especially  intended  to  form  missionaries  for  the  Indians 
and  for  the  civilized  and  ever-growing  population  of  Missouri.  As  soon 
as  the  actual  subjects  are  ready  we  will  commence  the  mission  in  good 
earnest.  In  the  meantime,  I  propose  to  receive  in  the  seminary  a  half- 
dozen  Indian  children  from  the  various  tribes,  in  order  to  familiarize 
my  young  missionaries  with  their  habits  and  language,  and  to  prepare 
the  Indians  to  serve  as  g-uides,  interpreters  and  aides  to  the  missionaries 
when  they  are  sent  to  the  scattered  tribes."6 

The  rigors  of  the  journey  from  Whitemarsh  to  Florissant  as  well 
as  the  kindly  reception  of  the  pilgrims  at  their  new  home,  are  briefly 
sketched  by  the  Bishop : 

"These  good  fathers  are  in  possession  of  my  farm  at  Florissant. 
To  reach  it  they  walked  more  than  four  hundred  miles,  of  which  two 
hundred  miles  were  through  inundated  country,  where  the  water  was 
often  up  to  their  waists;  and  far  from  murmuring,  they  blessed  God  for 
granting  them  such  an  Apostolic  beginning.  They  were  very  agreeably 
surprised,  not  expecting  to  find  such  a  pretty  place ;  for  it  is  my  policy 
to  speak  only  of  the  drawbacks  to  those  whom  I  invite  to  share  my 
labors.  The  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  upon  whom  depends  much 
of  the  success  of  our  missions  to  the  savages,  received  them  with  an  in- 
terest both  kind  and 'active,  and  shows,  himself  in  an  especial  way,  their 
protector. '  '7 


6     Annales,  vol.  I,  5,  pp.  37-41;  Records,  vol.  XIV,  pp.  150  and  15l'. 
"     Annales,  vol.  I,  5,  pp.  37-41;  Records,  vol.  XIV,  p.  153. 


334  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

They  certainly  deserved  the  hearty  praise  of  the  Bishop  who  says : 
"The  Fathers,  including  their  novices,  are  well  calculated  to  inspire 
confidence.  An  unlimited  devotedness,  which  is  proof  again  the  greatest 
dangers  and  privations,  is  associated  in  them  with  rare  goodness  and 
talents  of  a  high  order.  They  complain  of  nothing,  they  are  satisfied 
with  everything.  Living  in  the  closest  quarters  in  a  little  house,  sleeping 
on  skins  for  want  of  matresses,  living  on  corn  and  pork,  they  are  happier 
than  the  rich  on  their  down-beds,  surrounded  by  luxury,  because  they 
know  happiness  far  more  exquisite,  and  are  not  hampered  by  self-indul- 
gence. It  is  my  duty,  however,  to  try  to  procure  for  them,  at  least  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  also  the  means  of  exercising  their  zeal  and  extend- 
ing their  field  of  labor.  It  is  in  this  that  I  hope  to  be  seconded  by  the 
Association  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith."8 


8     Annales,  vol.  I,  5,  pp.  37-41;  Becords,  vol.  XIV,  p.  154. 


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Chapter  13 
THE  JESUIT  BEGINNINGS  AT  ST.  FERDINAND 


Father  Van  Quickenborne  with  his  little  Jesuit  community  of  one 
priest  and  six  novices  were  now  ready  to  take  possession  of  what  was 
called  the  Bishop's  Farm,  a  tract  of  land  of  about  212  acres  in  the 
Common  Field  of  St.  Ferdinand,  which  according  to  the  Concordat  was 
to  be  the  Jesuit  Fathers'  property.  But  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  leased  the 
place  for  ten  years  to  a  Mr.  O'Neil,  who  demanded  the  payment  of  400 
dollars,  ere  he  would  give  peaceable,  possession  to  Father  Van  Quick- 
enborne. An  amicable  settlement  of  the  unpleasant  matter  was  finally 
arranged,  and  the  community  set  to  work  to  make  the  buildings  on  the 
farms  inhabitable.  How  poor  and  devoid  of  all  comfort  these  cabins 
were  appears  from  a  description  made  by  Father  Walter  Hill  who  saw 
them  in  1847. 

"The  dwelling  given  up  to  them  by  Mr.  O'Neil  was  a  log  cabin 
containing  one  room,  which  was  sixteen  by  eighteen  feet,  in  dimensions ; 
and  over  it  was  a  loft,  but  not  high  enough  for  a  man  to  stand  erect  in  it, 
except  when  directly  under  the  comb  of  the  roof.  This  poorly  lighted 
and  ventilated  loft,  or  garret  was  made  the  dormitory  of  the  seven 
novices,  their  beds  consisting  of  pallets  spread  upon  the  floor.  Tbe 
room  below  was  divided  into  two  by  a  curtain,  one  part  being  used  as 
a  chapel  and  the  other  serving  as  bedroom  for  Fathers  Van  Quickenborne 
and  Timmermans.  This  main  room  of  the  cabin  had  a  door  on  the 
south-east  or  front ;  a  large  window  on  the  north-west  side ;  without 
sash  or  glass  but  closed  with  a  heavy  board  shutter ;  on  the  south-west 
side  was  a  notable  chimney  with  a  fire-place  having  a  capacity  for  logs 
of  eight  feet  in  length.  At  a  distance  of  about  eighty  feet  to  the  north- 
east of  the  building  were  two  smaller  cabins,  some  eight  feet  apart,  one 
of  which  was  made  to  serve  as  a  study  hall  for  the  novices,  and  as  a 
common  dining-room  for  the  community ;  the  other  was  used  as  a  kitchen 
and  for  lodging  the  negroes.  These  rude  structures  were  covered  with 
rough  boards,  held  in  place  by  weight  poles ;  the  floors  were  '  puncheons, ' 
and  the  doors  were  riven  slabs,  and  their  wooden  latches  were  lifted  with 
strings  hanging  outside."1 

But  nothing  daunted,  the  Superior  added  a  second  story  to  the  main 
building,  and  surrounded  the  house  with  a  gallery.  In  making  excavations 
for  a  wing  to  the  structure,  the  scholastics,  Van  Assche,  De  Smet,  Ver- 
haegen  and  Verreidt,  were  each  assigned  a  quarter  section  of  the  proposed 
cellar.   The  timber  was  procured  from  an  island  in  the  Missouri  river. 


Hill,  Walter  H.,  S.  J.,  "Historical  Sketch  of  St.  Louis  University,"  p.  282 

(335) 


336  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

The  work  of  cutting  and  handling  the  logs  was  done  by  the  novices  and 
the  negro  slaves.  De  Smet  is  reported  to  have  been  the  champion  with 
the  axe,  whilst  Van  Assche  excelled  all  others  with  the  spade  and  mattock. 
Father  De  Smet  left  us  an  interesting  record  of  these  exhilarating  ex- 
periences. 

"Every  day  after  breakfast  the  Rector  led  his  little  band  with 
cross-cut  saw,  and  each  one  with  an  axe  in  his  hand,  to  an  island  in  the 
Missouri  River,  three  miles  distant,  containing  about  a  thousand  acres 
of  forest  trees  of  all  sizes.  They  were  free  to  all  comers,  so  that  we  had 
our  choice  of  chopping  and  felling.  Hundreds  of  logs  were  secured  and 
safely  landed  ashore  and  hauled  to  St.  Stanislaus.  These  logs  were 
intended  for  the  construction  of  two  large  cabins  of  hewn  timbers,  for 
rafters,  servant  cabins,  stables  and  barns.  This  immense  forest  island, 
which  was  just  above  the  Charboniere,  shortly  after  disappeared  in  a 
great  rise  and  freshet  of  the  Missouri  River,  not  leaving  a  vestige  of  tree 
or  soil.  It  stood  on  a  flat,  naked  bed  of  lime  stone  rock,  on  which  it  had 
been  forming  perhaps  for  centuries,  as  some  of  the  largest  trees  seemed 
to  indicate."2 

Father  Van  Quickenborne  wrote:  "Our  house  will  be  comfortable 
and  spacious  enough  to  lodge  two  or  three  fathers  more.  The  Novices 
agreed  on  all  this  and  did  the  work  willingly  and  joyfully."  Funds  were, 
however,  growing  less,  and  there  was  no  source  from  which  they  could 
be  replenished.  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  indeed,  had  pledged  himself  to  sup- 
port, encourage  and  promote  the  Jesuit  Missions  and  foundations  to  the 
best  of  his  ability  and  with  such  pecuniary  aid,  collections,  and  donations, 
as  his  circumstances  and  means  would  allow."  He  also  recognized  his 
duty  "to  try  to  procure  for  them,  at  least,  the  necessaries  of  life,  and 
also  the  means  of  exercising  their  zeal  and  extending  their  field  of 
labor.  "It  is  in  this,"  he  said,  "that  I  hope  to  be  seconded  by  the  As- 
sociation of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith."3 

In  the  meantime  the  six  novices,  Peter  Verhaegen,  John  Baptist 
Smedts,  John  Felix  Verreidt,  Jodocus  Van-Assche,  Peter  John  De  Smet 
and  John  Elet  were  permitted  to  pronounce  the  three  simple  vows  that 
made  them  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 

The  first  winter  at  St.  Ferdinand  was  noted  for  its  severity.  The 
building  operations  had  to  be  suspended,  although  all  the  material  was 
on  hand.  Another  winter  in  the  old  lodgings  might  have  been  disastrous. 
Work  was  resumed  in  the  Spring  and  the  house  was  furnished  in  the 
summer  of  1824. 


2  Garraghan,    S.    J.,    "History    of    the    Missouri    Province    of    the    Society    of 
Jesus,"  in  MS. 

3  Du  Bourg  to  his  Brother,  August  6,  1823.     "  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de 
la  Foi,"  vol.  I,  5,  pp.  41  and  42. 


Tin  .1 '(  suit  Beginnings  at  St.  Ferdinand  337 

But  troubles  were  multiplying  for  the  good  Superior  of  the  Jesuit 
Novitiate :  his  ouly  assistant,  Father  Peter  Timmermans,  died  unex- 
pectedly. He  had  been  in  feeble  health  for  some  time ;  yet  he  continued 
his  missionary  work  without  complaint.  On  Sunday.  May  30,  he  held 
usual  services  at  St.  Charles,  but  was  unable  to  preach.  Returning  to  the 
Novitiate,  he  retired  for  the  night,  hoping  that  he  would  be  well  in  the 
morning.  Father  Van  Quickenborne  left  the  house  for  St.  Louis,  having 
been  assured  that  Father  Timmerman's  ailment  was  not  of  a  serious 
nature.  In  the  afternoon,  however,  the  patient  grew  worse  and  shortly 
afterwards  died.  Father  Timmermans  was  buried  on  the  following 
Tuesday  in  the  parish  Church  of  St.  Ferdinand.  ' '  He  died  like  a  soldier, 
with  armor  in  hand  on  the  field  of  battle,  in  the  actual  exercise  of  his 
truly  apostolic  zeal.  His  death  has  produced  the  effect  which  is  ordinarily 
produced  by  the  death  of  a  saint."4  was  the  final  judgment  pronounced 
on  Father  Timmermans  by  his  brother  in  arms,  Father  Van  Quickenborne. 
But  the  loss  must  be  repaired,  or  the  foundation  is  doomed,  thought 
the  Superior,  and  immediately  requested  that  Father  Dubuisson  be  sent 
to  St.  Ferdinand.  "It  is  a  dreadful  thought,  in  moments  of  depression, 
to  think  oneself  abandoned.  Our  difficulties  must  needs  increase  with 
the  arrival  of  the  Indians.  Those  that  we  have  are  quite  sick.  If  we  are 
to  have  with  the  Indians  the  success  we  look  for,  it  is  imperative  that 
some  Father  be  sent  to  us :  and  would  to  God  that  he  may  come  as  Super- 
ior.    I  ask  your  Reverence  to  send  lis  Father  Dubuisson.""' 

Again  and  again.  Father  Van  Quickenborne 's  cry  for  help  went  out 
to  his  Superior  in  Maryland,  but  no  help  came.  "This  is  alarming.*'  he 
wrote,  "I  hope  that  Father  Dubuisson  with  Brother  Meade,  have  by  this 
time  started."0  But  the  year  drew  to  a  close,  and  the  petition  for  help, 
still  remained  unanswered.  Father  Van  Quickenborne  had  to  tread  the 
wine-press  alone.  Yet  an  unexpected  recognition  of  his  worth  came 
to  him  in  his  distress. 

Father  Rosati,  who  had  now  become  Coadjutor  Bishop,  in  December 
of  the  same  year  appointed  Father  Van  Quickenborne  his  Vicar  General 
for  Upper  Louisiana.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  also  interceded  with  the  Jesuit 
Superior  in  Maryland  for  the  "infant  establishment"  in  Missouri. 

All  the  Catholic  population  of  Missouri  west  of  St.  Louis  was  in  the 
care  of  Father  Van  Quickenborne.  In  order  to  fulfill  his  obligation  at 
least  in  some  measure,  he  said  mass  every  Sunday  at  the  village  church  of 
St.  Ferdinand,  whither  all  the  inmates  of  the  Novitiate  repaired  for  the 
occasion. 


4  Van   Quickenborne   to  his   Maryland   Superior,   Father   Dziorizynski,   Juno   :->, 
1824,  in  "Archives  of  Georgetown,"  furnished  me  by  Father  Garraghan. 

5  Van  Quickenborne  to  Dziorizynski,  ibidem. 

6  Idem,  ibidem. 


338  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

St.  Charles  and  Portage  des  Sioux  were  visited  once  a  month,  on 
some  week-day.  The  scholastics  Elet  and  Verhaegen  visited  St.  Charles, 
holding  prayer-service  and  giving  catechetical  instructions.  Two  other 
scholastics  attended  Florissant  in  a  similar  manner.  In  April  1825  the 
Father  Superior  spent  a  full  week  in  visiting  the  outlying  western  sta- 
tions, Hancock  Prairie,  Cote-sans-dessein  and  Franklin. 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  cautioned  the  zealous  missionary  against  over- 
working himself,  and  suggested  to  him  the  advisability  of  having  two  of 
the  scholastics  raised  to  the  priesthood.  Father  Van  Quiekenborne  was 
not  averse  to  the  Bishop's  suggestion  and  submitted  the  names  of 
Smedts  and  Verreidt.  They  would  be  ready  for  ordination  in  September 
1825.  Yet  circumstances  necessitated  a  delay  of  almost  a  year.  Father 
Van  Quiekenborne  was  attacked  by  a  malignant  fever  and  for  a  time  ex- 
pected to  die.  Gradually  sinking  under  the  strain,  he  wrote  to  Father 
Dzierozynski,  his  Superior  in  Maryland,  to  send  him  help.  The  Novitiate 
now  lacking  novices,  had  become  a  Scholasticate,  a  house  of  Studies,  and 
the  Kector  appointed  two  of  the  scholastics,  Elet  and  Verhaegen,  Profess- 
ors of  Dogmatic  Theology  and  of  Sacred  Scripture.  Father  Van  Quicken- 
borne  took  the  class  of  Moral  Theology,  which,  however,  he  was  soon 
forced  to  relinquish  in  favor  of  his  many  other  spiritual  and  temporal 
concerns.  Sometimes  the  scholastics  were  left  without  Mass  for  a  week  at 
a  time.  The  Professor  of  Dogma,  M.  Elet,  wrote  to  Father  Dzierozynski : 
"Would  that  you  could  send  us,"  so  young  Elet  expressed  himself, 
"Father  De  Theux,  a  man  remarkable  alike  for  piety  and  learning.  Then 
we  would  forget  the  past  and  make  light  of  the  discomforts  created  here 
by  an  oppressive  climate,  incessant  rains  and  unfinished  house.  We 
should  gladly  take  upon  ourselves  the  work  of  the  house  and  even  spend 
our  recreation  days  outdoors  in  manual  labor."7 

What  neither  Bishop  nor  Superior  could  accomplish,  was  quickly 
attained  by  Elet,  the  Scholastic :  Father  De  Theux  was  appointed  to  the 
vacancy  left  by  Father  Timmerman's  death.  John  Theodore  Mary -Joseph 
De  Theux  was  born  at  Liege,  on  January  25,  1789.  He  was  of  noble 
extraction,  his  father  being  the  Count  De  Theux.  Being  the  eldest  son 
and  heir  of  the  house,  the  young  John  Theodore  resigned  his  rights  in 
favor  of  his  brother  Bartholomew,  and  followed  the  divine  call  into  the 
priesthood.  He  was  ordained  at  Namur  on  the  Feast  of  St.  Aloysiusl812, 
and  became  Vicar  of  St.  Nicholas  at  Liege.  The  hospitals  of  the  city  were 
crowded  with  sick  Spanish  prisoners.  Father  De  Theux  went  in  to  them 
to  bring  spiritual  help  and  consolation  and  thus  contracted  the  pesti- 
lence. Nursed  back  to  health  under  the  roof  of  his  parents,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Administrator  of  the  diocese  of  Liege,  whilst  teaching  Dogmatic 
Theology  in  the  Seminary. 


7     Elet  to  Dziorizynski,  December  31,  1825,  ibidem. 


The  Jesuit  Beginnings  at  St.  Ferdinanel  339 

The  tireless  servant  of  God,  Father  Nerinckx,  met  Father  De  Theux 
and  won  him  over  to  the  American  Missions.  In  March  1816  he  was  on  his 
way  overseas  with  Father  Leken.  Both  sought  and  obtained  admission 
into  the  Jesuit  Mission  of  Maryland.  After  a  novitiate  of  two  years 
Father  De  Theux  was  admitted  to  the  first  vows,  and  now,  after  six  years 
of  parochial  work  in  Georgetown,  he  was  sent  to  the  Far  West,  with 
Brother  O'Connor  as  companion.  On  the  way  he  learnt  of  the  death  of 
his  father,  the  old  Count  De  Theux.  On  his  arrival  in  St.  Ferdinand  in 
August  1825,  he  took  up  the  duties  as  Professor  of  Dogmatic  Theology.8 

Father  Van  Quickenborne  began  to  realize  that  a  visit  of  the  Mary- 
land Superior  to  the  House  of  Studies  at  St.  Ferdinand  would  quickly 
solve  many  of  the  difficulties  in  his  way.  An  invitation  with  the  closing 
words:  "your  Reverence  does  not  know  Missouri,''  brought  the  desired 
visit.  Father  Dzierozynski  reached  St.  Ferdinand  on  July  18,  1827. 
Affable  and  kind  as  he  was,  he  entered  into  the  far-reaching  plans  of 
Father  Van  Quickenborne  with  a  lively  interest.  No  doubt  a  number  of 
important  questions  in  regard  to  a  school  of  higher  education  in  St. 
Louis,  were  discussed  between  the  two  representatives  of  the  Order. 
Certainly,  there  was  a  better  understanding  shown  after  this  visit  by 
the  Maryland  authorities,  of  the  needs  of  the  Missouri  Mission. 

On  January  29,  1826  Smedts  and  Verhaegen  had  been  ordained  at 
St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens,  by  Bishop  Rosati.  And  on  September  23, 
1827,  at  Florissant,  the  four  remaining  Jesuit  scholastics,  John  Felix 
Livinus  Verreidt,  Jodocus  Francis  Van  Assche,  Peter  John  De  Smet  and 
John  Anthony  Elet  were  added  to  the  ranks  of  the  prieshood  by  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis.  Father  Van  Quickenborne  was  now  greatly  re- 
lieved of  care  and  work.  Yet,  there  were  many  difficulties  confronting 
him.  The  farm  called  for  a  number  of  necessary  improvements  to  put 
it  on  a  paying  basis.  And  the  Indian  School  at  St.  Ferdinand,  opened 
on  May  11,  1824,  according  to  the  Concordat,  was  becoming  a  serious 
problem  owing  to  the  Government's  broken  faith.  But  the  spiritual 
interests  of  his  community  were  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  the  Superior. 
After  the  Christmas  holidays  the  eight  Jesuits  entered  upon  what  is 
called  the  Tertianship,  under  the  direction  of  Father  Van  Quickenborne. 
"On  the  9th  of  last  January"  wrote  Father  De  Theux  to  his  widowed 
mother,  "I  began  with  my  six  pupils  the  third  year  of  probation." 
After  the  close  of  the  retreat,  February  7,  1828,  the  Fathers  were  as- 
signed to  various  duties :  John  Elet  to  the  Salt  River  District  in  North- 
eastern Missouri,  Verhaegen  to  St.  Charles  and  Smedt  to  Portage  des 
Sioux;  De  Theux  was  assigned  to  parochial  duties  at  Florissant;  De  Smet 
gave  a  Retreat  to  the  Sisters  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  Van  Assche  to 
the  lay-brothers  at  the  Jesuit  Home;  the  Superior  undertook  a  second 
missionary  journey  to  the  Osage  Indians. 

8  Father  De  Smet  incorporated  a  sketch  of  Father  De  Theux  in  his  book, 
"Western  Missions  and  Missionaries,"  pp.  474-486.     Also  of  Elet  and  Smedts. 


Chapter   14 
THE  FIRST  INDIAN  SCHOOL  IN  MISSOURI 

It  was  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  Indian  Missions  in 
his  vast  diocese  of  Louisana,  that  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  been  so  insistent 
on  getting  a  colony  of  Jesuits.  "Pending  the  ordination  of  our  Jesuit 
novices  and  their  going  forth  as  apostles,"  the  Bishop  wrote  from 
Georgetown  to  his  brother  Louis,  March  17,  1823,  "I  propose  to  receive 
into  the  Seminary  a  half  dozen  Indian  children  from  different  tribes, 
so  as  to  begin  to  familiarize  my  young  missionaries  with  their  manners 
and  languages  and  in  turn  to  prepare  the  children  to  become  guides, 
interpreters  and  helpers  to  the  missionaries,  when  the  time  comes  to 
send  the  latter  forth  to  the  scattered  tribes."1 

Father  Van  Quickenborne  was  heart  and  soul  in  the  work:  The 
authorities  in  Maryland  however  counselled  a  prudent  restraint,  until 
the  necessary  means  of  success  were  assured. 

"On  the  subject  of  the  education  of  the  young  Indians  of  whom  you 
speak,"  wrote  Father  Benedict  Fenwick,  "the  Superior  requires  thai 
you  act  with  the  utmost  prudence  and  circumspection  in  that  affair 
and  that  you  keep  yourself  altogether  within  the  Concordat.  He  wishes 
you  to  undertake  no  more  than  what  is  specified  therein  and  what  the 
Society  has  engaged  itself  to  perform.  He  has  no  wish  to  enlarge  the 
sphere  of  your  operations  until  adequate  means  be  procured,  either  from 
Government  favoring  such  a  design,  or  from  the  quarters  of  which  he 
will  give  you  due  notice. 

"The  Superior  would  have  yon  cultivate  in  a  particular  manner  the 
good  esteem  of  the  Governor,  and  United  States  Agents,  civil  as  well, 
as  military,  and  whenever  they  speak  to  you  of  the  education  of  the 
Indian  youth  to  assure  them  of  your  willingness  to  undertake  the  same ; 
but  at  the  same  time  to  let  them  know  that  such  a  thing  will  be  quite 
impracticable  without  the  aid  of  Government  ....  In  the  meantime  let 
the  engagement,  as  far  as  it  goes,  which  the  Society  has  entered  into, 
be  fully  and  completely  executed,  No  one  can  blame  you  for  not  doing, 
what  the  Society  has  never  engaged  to  do.  You  have,  I  presume,  a  copy 
of  that  contract.     Let  that  be  your  polestar.  "- 

The  Government's  promise  of  a  subsidy,  however,  depended  on 
the  previous  establishment  of  the  School.  Nothing  remained  to  Father 
Van   Quickenborne,  but  to  proceed  with  the  matter  in  the  hope  that 


i  "Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi, "  vol.  I,  5,  p.  37;  Records,  vol.  XIV, 
p.  152. 

2  Fenwick  to  Quickenborne,  September  10,  1823,  printed  in  Garraghan,  "St. 
Begis  Seminary"  in  "Catholic  Historical  Review, "  vol.  IV,  p.  458. 

(340) 


The  First  Indian  School  in  Missouri  341 

Government  would  eventually  meet  its  obligations.  General  William 
Clark,  the  Indian  Superintendent,  offered  to  place  six  boys  of  the  Iowa 
tribe  in  the  School.  Two  others  of  the  Sauk  Indians  had  already  been 
promised.  Father  Van  Quickenborne  accepted  them  on  the  understood 
condition  that  the  Government  pay  for  their  board  and  tuition.  On 
June  11th,  1824,  the  pupils,  in  company  with  their  parents,  and  Gabriel 
Vasquez,  U.  S.  Agent  for  the  Iowas,  appeared  at  the  Seminary.  The 
institution  was  dedicated  to  St.  Francis  Regis. 

"The  Indian  youths"  Father  Van  Quickenborne  tells  us,  "did  not 
submit  without  a  protest  to  what  must  have  seemed  to  them,  accustomed 
as  they  were  to  the  freedom  of  the  forest,  as  nothing  short  of  imprison- 
ment. They  began  to  cry  piteously  as  their  parents  prepared  to  depart, 
whereupon  one  of  the  scholastics  took  up  a  flute  and  began  to  play. 
The  music  had  the  effect  of  quieting  the  lads  and  making-  them  resigned, 
as  far  as  outward  indications  went,  to  their  new  environment.  But 
Vasquez,  the  agent,  warned  Father  Van  Quickenborne  that  a  sharp 
eye  would  have  to  be  kept  on  the  boys,  as  flight  was  an  easy  trick  for 
them.  Accordingly,  Mr.  Smedts,  the  Prefect,  rose  at  intervals  during 
the  first  night  of  the  Iowa's  stay  at  the  Seminary  to  see  that  his  young- 
charges  were  all  within  bounds,  while  another  scholastic  was  also  as- 
signed to  sentry  duty.  But  somehow  or  other  the  watchers  were  out- 
witted. About  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  Iowa  made  a  clever 
escape.  Their  flight  was  soon  detected,  and  immediately  a  party  of  two 
were  on  the  track  of  the  fugitives.  These  were  nimble  runners,  for  they 
Avere  five  miles  from  the  Seminary,  when  their  pursurers  came  up  to 
them.  They  made  no  resistance  to  capture  and  returned,  apparently 
quite  content,  though  determined,  no  doubt,  to  repeat  the  adventure 
when  opportunity  offered,  as  Father  Van  Quickenborne  intimates  in 
his  account  of  the  incident."3 

The  Indian  school  now  being  a  reality,  it  devolved  upon  the  Govern- 
ment to  extend  its  friendly  supporting  hand. 

"The  Seminary,"  Father  Van  Quickenborne  wrote  to  Clark,  "went 
into  actual  operation  the  eleventh  of  May  ultimo  with  two  boys  of  the 
(Sauk)  nation;  on  the  eleventh  of  June  three  more  were  received  of 
the  (Iowa)  nation  ;  thus  since  that  time  I  have  had  five  boys.  The  build- 
ings are  commodious  and  can  contain  from  forty  to  sixty  students.  They 
are  nearly  complete  and  fifty-four  feet  long  by  seventeen  wide  one  way 
and  thirty-four  feet  by  seventeen  feet  the  other  way;  three  stories  high, 
the  lowest  of  stone,  the  two  others  of  logs,  brick  chimneys  and  galleries 
all  around.    They  have  cost  $1500  and  when  completed  will  cost  $2000.  "4 


3  Van  Quickenborne  to  Dziorizynski,  June  12,  1824.     "Catholic  Historical  Re- 
view, ' '  vol.  IV,  p.  460. 

4  Quickenborne  to  Clark  in  "Records  of  Indian  Office,''  "Catholic  Historical 
Review,"  vol.  IV,  p.  461. 


342  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

To  Secretary  Calhoun  Van  Quickenborne  wrote:  "The  Seminary  is 
built  on  a  spot  of  land  remarkable  for  its  healthiness  and  which,  on 
account  of  its  being  somewhat  distant  from  the  Indian  tribes  and  its 
being  sufficiently  removed  from  town,  is  possessed  of  many  advan- 
tages ....  I  have  persons  belonging  to  the  Seminary  well  calculated  to 
teach  the  boys  the  mechanical  arts  such  as  are  suitable  for  their  con- 
dition, as  a  carpenter,  a  blacksmith,  etc.,  whose  names  I  do  not  place  on 
the  report,  because  the  boys  are  not  thoroughly  fit  as  yet  to  begin  to 
learn  a  trade.  I  have  the  comfort  to  be  able  to  give  my  entire  appro- 
bation to  their  correct  comportment  and,  from  the  sentiments  they 
utter,  I  have  strong  hopes  that  they  will  become  virtuous  and  industri- 
ous citizens  warmly  attached  to  the  Government  that  has  over  them 
such  beneficent  designs.  I  have  been  prepared  these  six  months  past 
to  receive  a  considerable  number  more  than  what  I  have  at  present. 
The  number  of  boys  would  have  amounted  to  a  few  more,  had  not  some 
on  account  of  sickness  returned  to  their  village,  after  having  gone  a 
part  of  the  way."5 

These  letters  were  written  on  November  21,  1824 :  In  January  of 
the  following  year  the  answer  came  from  the  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs 
which  had  just  been  established  at  Washington,  to  the  effect,  that  the 
Government  could  not  pay  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  for  each 
pupil,  and  as  the  School  had  but  five  Indian  children,  five  hundred 
dollars  was  the  amount  apportioned  to  St.  Regis  Seminary.  A  remit- 
tance of  five  hundred  dollars  was  accordingly  made.  There  was  no 
"breach  of  promise"  here,  as  had  been  charged  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg; 
yet  the  amount  was  not  in  proportion  to  the  importance  and  difficulty 
of  the  work  undertaken  by  the  Jesuits,  at  the  request  of  that  prelate. 
One   point  in  the   matter  is  memorable,   as   Father  Garraghan   states : 

"The  five  hundred  dollars  which  Calhoun  directed  to  be  paid  to 
Father  Van  Quickenborne  at  St.  Louis  was  the  first  money  ever  appro- 
priated by  the  United  States  Government  to  a  Catholic  Indian  School. 
As  the  number  of  boys  at  the  St.  Regis  had  increased  beyond  eight,  the 
appropriation  in  its  favor  for  the  years  1825  and  1826  was  $800.  In 
1827,  however,  the  appropriation  was  cut  down  to  $400,  extra  demands 
on  the  funds  of  the  Indian  Office,  so  it  was  alleged,  making  a  larger  allow- 
ance impossible,  and  it  remained  at  this  figure  until  1830,  when  the  pay- 
ments ceased  altogether.  The  total  amount  of  money  paid  by  the  Govern- 
ment to  the  Florissant  School  during  its  brief  career  of  six  or  seven 
years  was  about  $3100.  The  cost  of  maintenance  had  been  a  little  in 
excess  of  $10,000.  "6 


5  Quickenborne  to  Calhoun  in  ''Records  of  Indian  Office,''  "Catholic  Historical 
Review,"  vol.  IV,  p.  461. 

6  Garraghan,  "St.  Regis  Seminary,"   "Catholic  Historical  Review,"   IV,    pp. 
463  and  464. 


The  First  Indian  School  in  Missouri  343 

But  the  Government  had  promised  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  contribute 
towards  the  erection  of  buildings  for  the  purpose  of  Indian  education. 
This  the  Indian  Bureau  declined  to  do  on  the  ground  that  "the  building 
was  not  within  the  limits  of  those  Indian  nations,  that  border  on  our 
settlements."7 

Not  discouraged  by  these  evasions  of  a  plain  duty,  Father  Van 
Quickenborne  enlarged  the  usefulness  of  his  school  for  Indian  boys  by 
prevailing  on  Mother  Duchesne  to  undertake  the  foundation  of  a  similar 
school  for  girls.  Mother  Duchesne  asked  the  saintly  Mother  Barat  for 
her  consent  to  this  apostolic  work,  which  was  gladly  given. 

"The  board  costs  little,"  she  explained  to  her;  "lodging  is  already 
available  and  as  for  clothes,  we  shall  beg  them.  We  must  omit  nothing 
to  further  this  interesting  work,  the  object  of  so  many  desires,  the 
very  thing  that  has  brought  us  here."  Five  weeks  later,  she  wrote 
again:  "I  sometimes  think  that  God  has  spoiled  our  first  plans  and  our 
first  undertaking,  the  boarding-school,  I  mean,  in  order  to  build  up, 
little  by  little,  the  more  fascinating  work  of  the  education  of  the  savages. 
We  must  merit  it  by  humiliations  and  other  sufferings."8 

Mother  Duchesne's  holy  ambition  was  quickly  realized: 

"One  evening  during  Office,"  Madam  Mathevon  records  in  her 
Journal,  "Father  Rector  called  at  the  convent  and  asked  to  see  the 
Superior.  Picture  the  surprise  of  Madam  Duchesne  on  seeing  two 
little  Indian  girls  before  her,  who,  greatly  embarrassed,  were  trying  to 
hide  themselves  behind  the  Father's  flowing  mantle.  He  had  brought 
them  up  in  a  cart."9  Thus  the  Sisters  of  the  Sacred  Heart  had  another 
great  care  added  to  their  former  ones.  Father  Van  Quickenborne  gave 
aid  whenever  he  could,  corn  and  potatoes  and  firewood  for  a  whole  year. 
But  should  not  the  Government  lend  its  aid  to  this  new  educational  in- 
stitution ?  Similar  institutions  of  Protesant  denominations  were  draw- 
ing regular  allowances :  why  not  the  Catholic  Sisterhood  engaged  in 
work  for  the  wards  of  the  Government  ?  They  were  ready  and  anxious 
to  take  forty  or  fifty  Indian  girls  under  their  care.  The  underlying  idea 
of  Father  Van  Quickenborne  is  thus  expressed  in  his  letter  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  War:  "Should  Congress  adopt  the  plan  suggested  by  the  late 
President  of  the  United  States  and  adhered  to  by  the  present  President 
in  his  inaugural  speech,  the  two  establishments  in  this  place  would  be 
able  in  a  very  short  time  to  give  a  solid  beginning  to  the  adopted  plan,  by 
placing  with  the  consent  of  Parents,  those  of  the  boys  who  would  wish 
to  marry  girls  educated  in  the  female  establishment,  in  a  given  district, 
with  some  assistance  for  husbandry,  in  which  case  I  would  offer  to  send 


i     McKenney  to  Quickenborne,  April  28,  1825,  1.  c,  464. 
8     Baunard-Fullerton,  ' '  Mother  Du  Chesne, ' '  p.  264. 
8     Baunard-Fullerton,  ibidem. 


:!-!4  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

two  of  our  Rev.  Gentlemen  to  reside  among  them.  These  giving  to  their 
already  known  flock,  filled  with  confidence  in  their  Fathers,  the  aid 
which  the  Catholic  religion  affords,  would  be  well  calculated  to  maintain 
in  them  the  spirit  which  they  would  have  imbibed  in  the  Seminaries,  a 
spirit  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  a  spirit  of  regularity,  industry  and  sub- 
ordination, a  sincere  attachment  from  principle  and  religion  to  out- 
most beneficient  Government  in  their  behalf.  And  in  case  several  dis- 
tricts should  be  formed,  from  each  of  them  a  small  and  selected  number 
might  be  sent  to  the  establishment  here,  to  be  instructed  more  fully  and 
fitted  out  for  the  important  stations  they  might  be  called  by  the  nation 
to  fill."10 

Government  aid  failing  him,  at  least,  in  the  measure  anticipated; 
Father  Van  Quickenborne  addressed  himself  to  the  Catholics  of  Europe : 

"At  Mackinac  last  summer  the  Presbyterians  put  up  a  school-house 
about  a  hundred  feet  in  length.  In  this  school  they  have  re- 
ceived a  large  number  of  Indian  children,  whom  they  feed, 
clothe  and  instruct  gratis.  The  Catholics  of  America  are  in  general  poor 
and  unable  to  build  churches  for  their  own  needs.  .  .  It  is  then  to  the 
generosity  of  the  Catholics  of  Europe  that  we  must  look  for  effective 
aid.  The  ministers  of  error  are  quick  to  profit  by  the  ample  means 
placed  at  their  disposal  by  their  rich  merchants,  who  subscribe  liberally 
for  all  their  institutions.  Moreover,  as  they  were  on  the  ground 
before  us,  they  make  off  annually  with  nearly  all  of  the  ten  thousand 
dollars  which  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  authorized  to  spend 
on  the  civilization  of  the  Indians.  There  is  so  far  only  one  Catholic 
school  for  the  instruction  of  Indian  children,  that  namely  at  Florissant, 
near  St.  Louis ;  this  establishment  receives  a  subsidy  from  the  Govern- 
ment and  this  owing  to  the  clever  tact  and  engaging  address  of  the 
Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  Mgr.  Du  Bourg.  .  .  The  Jesuits  of  France, 
England  and  Italy  should  come  here  and  take  possession  of  their  old 
missions,  the  ruins  of  which  cry  out  for  them  on  all  sides.  .  .  What  would 
I  not  do  to  make  my  voice  heard  all  over  Europe !  I  would  speak  to 
it  of  the  poor  Indians  in  these  terms:  "Parvuli  petierunt  panem  et  non 
erat  qui  frangeret  eis. "  (the  little  ones  ask  for  bread  and  there  was  no 
one  to  break  it  unto  them.)  "n 

The  scholastic  M.  Smedts,  the  first  prefect,  was  succeeded  by  M. 
Verreidt,  who  gives  us  a  good  account  of  the  progress  of  his  pupils, 
and  the  cares  incumbent  upon  himself : 

"The  boys  rise  in  the  morning  during  our  meditation  and  1  am  with 
them  till  half-past  eight  o'clock  when  they  go  to  the  field  and  return 


10  Van   Quickenborne   to    Barbour,   June   15,    1825,   in    "Records   of   the    [ndii 
Office,"  communicated  by  Father  Garraghan. 

11  Annates,  vol.  Ill,  p.  333. 


The   First  Indian   School   in   Missov/ri  345 

a  quarter  before  twelve,  at  which  time  I  am  with  them  till  two  o'clock 
(after  dinner)  when  they  go  again  to  the  field  till  a  quarter  before 
five.  At  this  time  I  used  to  teach  some  to  spell  till  half-past  six ;  but 
since  eight  boys  have  left  us  so  that  we  have  at  present  but  seven 
Indian  ami  three  French  boys,  our  Reverend  Superior  has  allowed 
me  to  employ  this  time  in  the  study  of  moral  divinity,  the  study  of 
which  I  resumed  since  last  Easter.  On  Sundays  and  Holydays  I  have 
to  be  with  them  the  whole  day ;  whenever  it  rains  I  have  to  be  with  them. 
They  must  be  watched  at  night.  I  often  sleep  in  the  day  in  order  to 
watch  at  night."12 

The  greatest  difficulty  the  instructors  had  with  the  Indian  boys,  was 
in  teaching  them  the  necessity  and  nobility  of  manual  labor.  This 
part  of  the  teaching  had  to  be  done  by  example,  words  alone  made  no 
impression.  "They  work  two  hours  before  dinner  and  two  after  dinner 
with  the  greatest  satisfaction.  They  all  wept  when  the  hoe  was  put 
into  their  hands  for  the  first  time."13 

The  approval  of  the  Indian  Bureau  was  not  wanting.  The  school 
however,  was  not  in  the  place  desired  by  the  Government,  and  so  nothing- 
substantial  could  be  done  for  its  expansion.  The  letter  of  the  law  -was 
mightier  than  its  spirit.  Father  Quickenborne  at  length  grew  weary 
of  the  unequal  contest. 

With  a  view  of  locating  nigher  to  the  Indian  villages,"  he  wrote 
to  Secretary  of  AVar,  Eaton,  "I  have  ceased  to  admit  pupils  in  the 
Indian  school  of  this  place.  I  am  convinced  that  the  youth  of  the 
Aborigines  stand  in  need  of  as  much,  perhaps  more,  assistance  after 
they  have  left  the  school  than  when  they  actually  enjoy  its  advantages. 
I  hope  to  be  able,  perhaps  in  the  course  of  another  year,  to  afford  that 
assistance  according  to  the  plan  I  have  had  the  honor  to  lay  before  your 
Excellency  and  of  which  I  have  obtained  the  verbal  approbation  of 
our  venerable  President  (Jackson)  a  few  months  ago.  I  conducted  home 
four  sons  of  the  principal  chief  of  the  Osages,  who  had  received  their 
education  at  our  establishment.  Whilst  in  their  villages  I  proposed  the 
subject  of  the  plan  in  full  council  with  the  approbation  of  the  agent 
and  the  previous  leave  of  the  President.  They  have  unanimously  ex- 
pressed a  most  ardent  wish  to  see  it  put  into  execution.  I  will  deem  it 
a  great  favor  if  the  allowance  hitherto  given  to  the  school  of  this  place 
could  be  applied  to  the  new  establishment  as  soon  as  it  will  go  into 
operation."14 


12  Verreidt  to  Dziorizynski,  1826,  "Records  of  Indian  Office,"  "Catholic  His- 
torical Review,"  IV,  p.  472. 

!3     For  particulars  cf.  Garraghan.  op.  cit.,  473. 

1*  Van  Quickenborne  to  Eaton,  December  30,  1830,  in  "Records  of  Indian 
Office. ' ' 


346  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

With  this  letter  the  business  relations  of  St.  Regis  Seminary  with 
the  Government  ceased :  The  Indian  School  closed  its  doors ;  lack  of 
financial  support  being  the  chief  cause  of  its  decline.  Yet  it  had 
produced  a  great  deal  of  good.  Some  of  the  Indian  pupils,  later  on, 
became  the  chief  supporters  of  the  missionary  enterprises  of  their 
Jesuit  teachers.  The  really  great  work  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in  Missouri 
was  just  beginning  to  take  form.  But  high  praise  is  due  to  the  path- 
finder and  pioneer  laborer  Father  Felix  Van  Qnickenborne. 


Chapter  15 
THE  FIRST  INDIAN  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  OF  THE  JESUITS 


The  Concordat  entered  into  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  the  Superior 
of  the  Maryland  Jesuits  denned,  in  a  sufficiently  precise  form,  the 
scope,  purpose  and  methods  of  the  new  enterprise  centered  at  St. 
Ferdinand's.  The  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  the  Jesuit  organization 
extended  over  the  northwest  part  of  the  diocese,  the  Indians  were  to 
be  their  special  care,  but  all  the  settlements  of  Europeans  fell  under 
their  jurisdiction  likewise.  A  number  of  missionaries  were  to  be  pro- 
vided for  the  Indians  within  two  years.  The  Bishop,  on  his  part, 
agreed  to  give  to  the  Society  his  farm  at  Florissant,  and  also  to  ex- 
tend moral  and  financial  support  to  the  institution.  The  agreement 
was  approved  by  the  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  Father  Aloysius 
Fortis ;  but  the  Holy  See  never  took  action  on  the  matter.  Yet,  in  the 
eyes  of  Bishops  Du  Bourg  and  Rosati,  as  well  as  in  the  Jesuit  Superior 's 
estimation,  the  Concordat  was  considered  binding  on  both  sides.  The 
Jesuits  built  their  House  and  opened  their  Indian  school  and  attended 
the  various  parishes  and  stations  on  and  beyond  the  Missouri  River, 
whilst  Bishop  Du  Bourg  sent  Father  Van  Quickenborne  the  title-deeds 
for  the  Florissant  farm.  A  brief  delay  in  this  was  caused  by  the 
fact  that  John  Mullanphy  held  a  mortgage  of  $2000.00  on  the  property, 
which  the  Bishop  was  unable  to  cancel,  until  in  1824,  a  timely  con- 
tribution from  the  Association  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  saved 
the  situation.  The  deed  was  executed  in  New  Orleans  on  May  25,  1825. 
The  most  important  stipulations  of  the  Concordat  were  thus  fulfilled, 
whilst  others  in  their  very  nature,  awaited  fulfilment.  There  was 
only  one  clause  that  caused  friction  between  the  Bishop  and  the 
Jesuits :  the  stipulation  in  regard  to  the  Indian  Mission.  According 
to  Article  V  the  Jesuits  had  engaged,  "that  at  the  expiration  of  two 
years,  counting  from  the  time  of  their  arrival  at  least,  four  or  five 
missionaries  duly  qualified,  shall  proceed  to  the  remote  missions,  that 
is,  to  the  Indian  settlements  in  the  vicinity  of  Council  Bluffs,  and 
shall  there  labor  towards  the  attainment  of  the  great  object  specified 
above,  for  the  greater  glory  of  God." 

The  two  years  had  now  elapsed  and  only  casual  visits  had  been 
made  to  some  of  the  less  remote  tribes,  none  whatever  to  the  Indians 
at  Council  Bluffs  or  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  became 
insistent  that  a  beginning  be  made.  General  William  Clarke,  the 
Indian    Superintendent,   also   urged  the   necessity   of   applying   to   the 

(347) 


348  Hist  or  ji  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Government  for  some  of  the  Indian  Stations.  Father  Van  Quicken- 
borne  acknowledged  that  both  were  right,  but  pleaded  for  time,  until 
the  work  could  be  undertaken  with  some  hope  of  success.  In  the 
meantime  he  drew  up,  at  General  Clarke's  solicitation,  the  following 
plan  for  the  civilization  of  the  Indians. 

1.  Our  little  Indian  Seminary  should  continue  to  support  the  pres- 
ent number  of  boys  from  eight  to  twelve  years  of  age,  while  the 
Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  in  our  neighborhood  should  bring  up  about 
as  many  girls  of  the  same  tribe.  They  should  be  taken  young,  from 
eight  to  twelve,  to  habituate  them  more  easily  to  the  customs  and  in- 
dustry of  civil  life,  and  impress  more  deeply  on  their  hearts  the 
principles  of  religion. 

2.  After  five  or  six  years'  education,  it  would  be  good  that  each 
youth  should  choose  a  wife  among  the  pupils  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
before  returning  to  his  tribe. 

3.  Within  two  or  three  years  two  missionaries  should  go  to  reside 
in  that  nation  to  gain  their  confidence  and  esteem,  and  gradually  per- 
suade a  number  to  settle  together  on  a  tract  to  be  set  apart  by  Govern- 
ment. Agricultural  implements  and  other  necessary  tools  for  the 
new  establishment  to  be  furnished.1 

4.  As  soon  as  this  new  town  was  formed,  some  of  the  couples 
formed  in  our  establishment  should  be  sent  there  with  one  of  the 
said  missionaries,  who  should  be  immediately  replaced,  so  that  two 
should  always  be  left  with  the  body  of  the  tribe  till  it  was  gradually 
absorbed  in  the  civilized  colony. 

5.  Our  missionaries  should  then  pass  to  another  tribe  and  proceed 
successively  with  each  in  the  same  manner  as  the  first. 

6.  As  the  number  of  missionaries  and  our  resources  increase,  the 
civilization  of  two  or  more  tribes  might  be  undertaken  at  once. 

The  expense  of  carrying  out  this  plan  might  be  estimated  thus  : 
Support  of  16  to  24  children  in  the  two  establishments.  .  .$1900. 
Three  missionaries   600. 


Total $2500.2 

Father  Van  Quickenborne's  plan  was  never  carried  out,  in  a 
manner  it  deserved  to  be.  Two  years  later  the  indefatigable  friend 
of  the  Indians,  proposed  it  to  President  Jackson,  and  received  a  verbal 
approval:  yet,  as  larger  schemes  were  then  agitating  the  General's 
mind,  the  Van  Quickenborne  plan  was  dropped.  Hoping  against  hope, 
the  good  Father  wrote  to  the  Father  General  in  Rome  for  a  formal  ap- 


Cf.  Concordat,  Part  I,  Book  III,  Chapter  12,  of  this  History. 

Indian  Office  Papers,  cf.  Shea,  "History  of  Indian  Missions,"  p.  406. 


Tin    First  Indian  Missionary  Efforts  of  tin   Jesuits  349 

proval.  "Follow,  as  far  as  possible,"  came  the  answer,  "the  methods 
employed  of  old  by  our  Fathers  in  Paraguay ;  for  these  have  been  tried 
and  found  successful."3 

Father  Van  Quickenborne  made  use  of  the  first  opportunity  given 
him  by  the  ordination  of  his  six  scholastics  in  1827,  to  pay  a  missionary 
visit  to  the  Osage  Indians  beyond  the  boundary  of  Missouri.  The 
Osage  nation  was  once  in  possession  of  a  large  portion'  of  Central  Mis- 
souri, but  being  pushed  back  to  the  west  by  hostile  tribes,  they  made 
a  treaty  with  the  United  States  in  1808,  by  which  they  ceded  almost 
all  their  holdings  in  the  State  in  exchange  for  new  homes  on  the  banks 
of  the  Neosho  River  in  Arkansas.  They  were  fine,  stately  fellows, 
physically,  as  Washington  Irving  describes  them.  Stern  and  simple 
in  garb  and  aspect,  with  Roman  countenances  and  deep  chests,  with 
bust  and  arms  bare,  they  looked  like  so  many  bronze  figures.  In  1822 
they  had  been  visited  by  Father  De  La  Croix  in  their  old  Missouri 
homes.  Father  Van  Quickenborne  found  them  in  1827,  in  what  is  now 
South-eastern  Kansas.  A  full  account  of  this  journey  to  the  Osage 
country  is  contained  in  two  of  his  own  letters,  written  whilst  the  events 
were  still  fresh  in  his  memory.  The  first  letter  is  addressed  to  Father 
Dziorizynski : 

"I  started,  as  your  Reverence  knows,  on  the  octave  of  our  Holy 
Father  St.  Ignatius,  in  company  with  Mr.  Hamtranck,  who  has  been 
always  very  kind  and  obliging  to  me.  I  traveled  as  a  missionary,  hav- 
ing with  me  my  chapel.  I  had  to  take,  moreover  my  tent,  mosquito  bar 
and  blankets  for  my  bed  and  some  little  presents  which  made  my  burden 
rather  heavy.  The  distance  is  about  350  miles  which  we  travelled  in  six- 
teen days.  In  those  parts  of  the  country,  this  is  the  way  of  travelling. 
At  night  the  horses  are  let  loose,  hobbled  however,  and  they  must  look 
(Hit  for  themselves,  for  all  the  way  from  Jefferson  City  to  the  Neosho, 
there  is  no  corn  to  be  had.  In  the  morning,  the  first  thing  is  to  catch 
the  horses.  Saddling  and  packing  being  done,  the  day's  journey  begins, 
and  this  always  before  sunrise.  Betwixt  ten  and  eleven  o'clock  the 
march  stops,  the  horses  are  unsaddled,  unpacked  and  permitted  to 
feed.  At  this  hour  breakfast  and  dinner  is  taken.  About  three  o'clock 
you  start  for  your  place  of  encampment,  which  is  always  taken  about 
rivers  or  woods  with  springs;  water  has  always  been  a-plenty.  The 
lied  eonsists  of  a  skin  which  covers  the  ground,  and  two  or  three  blankets. 
The  whole  is  covered  by  a  mosquito  bar,  and  I  can  assure  you  that  I 
slept  as  comfortable  as  I  ever  did  on  a  bed  of  down.  Until  we  reached 
the  Neosho  we  had  no  river  to  swim.  Harmony  is  a  place  on  the  Osage 
river.     Here  the  Society  of  Presbyterians  of  Boston  have  a  missionary 


3     Woodstock  Letters,  25,  354. 


350  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

establishment  called  by  them  Harmony.  It  is  about  120  miles  from  the 
city  of  Jefferson,  and  as  many  from  Lexington  on  the  Missouri.  Pour 
years  ago  the  great  village  of  the  Osages  was  but  eight  miles  from  this 
establishment.  Two  or  three  years  ago  the  Indian  title  to  this  land 
was  extinguished,  and  now  Harmony  and  the  old  site  of  the  Osage 
village  are  within  the  limits  of  the  State.  In  consequence  of  the  sale 
of  their  lands,  the  Indians  (Osages)  have  removed  their  village  to  the 
banks  of  the  Neosho  river  70  or  68  miles  further  in  a  south-west  direc- 
tion. Here  (On  the  Neosho  within  20  miles)  the  whole  nation  is  gath- 
ered in  four  villages,  one  called  the  great  village  (to  this  Clairmont  's 
band  must  join  itself  next  spring)  another  called  the  village  of  the 
Little  Osage.  There  are  besides  two  small  ones  of  little  importance. 
The  site  of  these  villages  is  not  likely  to  be  changed."4  "In  fact  the 
government,  with  a  view  of  preventing  any  removal,  has  built  there 
three  houses,  and  very  good  and  large  houses  too,  for  the  three  prin- 
cipal chiefs."5 

Besides,  the  country  was  liked  by  the  Osages  on  account  of  its 
natural  beauty  of  forest,  prairie  and  streams.  Then,  as  the  nation 
had  only  a  strip  of  fifty  mile  width  left  to  them,  and  was  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  other  nations  and  the  European  settlements,  they  could 
not  move,  even  if  they  should  wish  to  do  so. 

As  to  their  numerical  strength,  Father  Van  Quickenborne  informs 
us  that,  "The  Agent,  Superintendent  and  Secretary  of  War  think  there 
are  20,000  Osages.  Some  think  they  are  not  so  numerous.  "The  prin- 
cipal chiefs,"  continues  the  letter,  "have  invited  me  to  their  lodges, 
have  been  very  kind  towards  me  and  have  promised  me  their  boys. 
They  are,  I  believe,  good  Indians.  You  will  have  an  opportunity  to 
see  them  next  winter  at  the  college,  if  you  choose.  I  would  be  glad  of 
it,"6 

Regarding  the  halfbreeds,  of  whom  there  were  a  large  number 
among  the  Osages  the  Father  tells  us  that  most  of  them  had  been 
baptized  Catholics,  either  at  St.  Charles,  Cote  Sans  Dessein  or  Florissant, 
and  all  of  them  had  a  strong  aversion  for  the  Protestant  religion  yet 
that  all  neglected  the  practice  of  their  own.  "The  establishment  at 
Harmony  is  governed  as  to  the  general  concerns,  by  a  board  of  com- 
missioners. The  Reverend  gentlemen  at  Harmony  are  of  the  Presby- 
terian persuasion.  They  have  an  establishment  at  Harmony,  a  station 
on  the  Neosho  and  another  at  Union  on  the  Arkansas  River  near  Clair- 


4  Van  Quickenborne  to  Dziorizynski,  Oct.  21,  1827.     Archives  of  Georgetown. 

5  Idem,  ibidem. 
<5     Idem,  ibidem. 


The  First  Indian  Missionary  Efforts  of  the  Jesuits  351 

mont's  Band.  Each  received  from  Government  $600.  The  Superin- 
tendent at  Harmony  is  called  Dodge."7 

With  his  consent  all  the  children  of  the  government  school  came 
to  Father  Quickenborne's  improvised  chapel. 

"The  church  vestments  which  M.  De  La  Croix  had  used  there, 
had  been  given  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Dodge  and  were  found  in  good  order. 
They  are  nicer  and  richer  than  any  we  have  at  home.  Instead  of  an 
altar-piece,  I  had  a  banner  of  fine  silk  elegantly  embroidered  and  bear- 
ing a  fine  engraving  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  I  can  say  that  my  altar 
was  well  fixed.  Early  in  the  morning  the  place  was  crowded  with  In- 
dians. The  first  that  came  to  confession  was  an  Osage  of  twenty-one 
who  knew  a  little  of  the  French  language.  I  was  extremely  pleased 
with  his  modest  behavior.  About  the  hour  appointed  for  Mass  I  began 
to  baptize  those  whom  I  had  prepared.  Mr.  Dodge  and  Mrs  Dodge  with 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Jones  and  Mr.  Hasten  with  all  their  families  came  to 
mass,  sermon  and  the  ceremonies  of  Baptism.  In  their  presence  I  bap- 
tized about  one-third  of  their  school,  in  all  eighteen ;  but  of  those  eighteen, 
several,  perhaps  six,  were  not  of  their  school."8  Mr.  Dodge  also  de- 
sired to  make  an  address  to  the  children ;  but  the  missionary  said 
it  was  against  the  rule  of  the  church. 

The  next  day  Mr.  Dodge  invited  him  to  visit  his  school  and  there 
he  saw  his  little  and  big  fellows  whom  he  had  baptized,  with  their 
medals  and  crosses  on  their  necks. 

Father  Van  Quickenborne  expresses  his  sincere  regard  for  these 
people  of  alien  faith.  "They  appeared  to  me  to  be  moral,  industrious, 
peaceable  and  good-natured.  They  related  to  me  how  much  they  had 
to  suffer  in  the  beginning ;  what  privations  they  had  to  undergo,  how 
many  days  they  had  been  without  bread  and  corn ;  how  many  days 
they  had  to  live  in  tents.  When  will  the  time  come  that  we  will  have 
at  least  as  much  courage  as  these  men?  If  Your  Reverence  cannot 
give  me  a  Superior  or  a  Companion,  I  am  willing  to  go  alone."9 

From  Harmony  Mission  Father  Van  Quickenborne  traversed  the 
country  in  a  south-easterly  direction  to  the  Osage  villages  along  the 
Neosho  River.  What  further  befell  the  missionary  in  the  Osage  country 
is  told  in  a  letter  of  his  to  Madam  Xavier,  one  of  the  nuns  of  the  Sacred 
Heart :  ' '  From  Harmony  I  set  out  for  the  great  village  situated  on 
the  bank  of  the  Neosho  River,  two  days  journey  from  Harmony.  About 
a  hundred  Indians  came  out  to  meet  the  Agent,  in  whose  company  I  was. 
We  put  up  at  Mr.  Chouteau's  place.  On  the  feast  of  St.  Louis,  August 
25,  I  had  the  happiness  of  saying  the  first  mass  ever  said  in  this  country. 


7  Van  Quickenborne  to  Pziorizynski,  Oct.  21,   1827.     Archives  of  Georgetown. 

8  Idem,  ibidem. 

9  Idem,  ibidem. 


352  History  of  tht   Archdiocesi   of  Si.  Louis 

It  was  a  Saturday  and  the  following  day  I  proclaimed  a  jubilee  for 
the  few  Creoles  living  among  the  Osage.  Three  days  after  our  arrival, 
I  was  invited  to  dinner  by  the  chief  of  the  great  village,  and  two  days 
later  by  the  chief  of  a  village  of  the  Osage,  twenty  miles  farther  up  the 
Neosho.  1  was  delighted  with  the  reception  they  gave  me  as  well  as 
with  the  dispositions  they  manifested.  I  remained  with  them  ten  weeks 
and  baptized  seventeen  persons.  The  three  principal  chiefs  have  said 
that  they  would  send  their  children  to  the  Seminary  and  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  they  will  do  so."10 

Father  Van  Quickenborne's  main  object  in  making  this  excursion 
was  to  get  boys  for  his  Indian  Seminary  and  to  acquaint  himself  with 
Indian  life :  he  came  to  the  following  conclusion :  To  christianize  the 
barbarians  you  must  first  humanize  them :  that  is  to  say,  you  must 
teach  them  to  abandon  their  savage  manner  of  living.  The  greatest 
obstacle  to  a  genuine  conversion  are  the  plurality  of  wives  and  the 
barbarous  custom  of  selling  their  daughters  in  marriage.  In  order  to 
combat  their  vices  successfully,  the  Indians  must  live  under  the  eye 
of  the  missionary.  The  devoted  Father  offered  to  serve  in  the  difficult 
mission,  but  not  as  Superior.  With  a  quick  and  sure  judgment,  he 
proposed  the  youthful  Father  De  Smet  for  this  great  opportunity.  He, 
the  old  and  tired  man  was  willing  to  take  his  former  novice  as  his  Super- 
ior. 

In  the  Spring  of  1828  the  zealous  Superior  made  a  second  journey 
to  the  Osage  Indians.  "Visiting  first  the  Harmony  Mission  on  the 
Marais  des  Cygnes,  where  he  renewed  acquaintance  with  the  Osage 
children  he  had  baptized  the  preceding  year  he  continued  his  journey 
thence  to  the  Great  Osage  village  on  the  Neosho.  Here  and  in  the  other 
Indian  villages  in  the  vicinity  he  practiced  his  ministry,  of  preaching 
and  administering  the  sacraments.  He  performed  seventeen  baptisms 
in  the  course  of  this  second  Osage  excursion,  but  no  record  of  them 
has  survived.  Many  adult  Indians  were  eager  to  be  baptized ;  but  of 
the  number,  he  found  only  five  or  six  worthy  of  the  grace,  the  loose, 
savage  ways  of  the  average  Osage  adult  being  an  effectual  barrier  to 
the  practice  of  a  Christian  life.  When  Father  Van  Quickenborne  set 
out  on  his  return  journey  from  the  Neosho,  he  had  in  his  company  a 
little  Osage  "prince,"  who  had  been  delivered  to  his  charge  with  a 
display  of  Indian  ceremony,  to  be  educated  in  the  Indian  school  at 
Florissant."11 


io     Van  Quickenborne  to  Madam  Xavier. 

li     "  Annates  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,''  vol.  IV,  p.  572. 


The  First  Indian  Missionary  Efforts  of  the  Jesuits  353 

"In  1830  Father  Van  Quiekenborne  paid  a  third  visit  to  the  Osage. 
His  route  brought  him  first  to  the  villages  they  had  formed  along  the 
Mariton  River  in  what  is  now  Bourbon  County,  Kansas,  not  far  from 
the  present  Fort  Scott.  From  the  Marmiton  he  turned  to  the  south- 
west, visiting  on  his  way  all  the  Indian  lodges  on  the  Neosho  as  far  as 
its  junction  with  the  Saline,  about  forty  miles  north  of  Fort  Gibson  and 
establishing  missionary  stations  in  the  Osage  settlements  on  Chouteau, 
Prior  and  Cabin  Creeks.  His  zealous  labors  extended  therefore,  far 
within  the  limits  of  what  is  now  Oklahoma  and  very  probably  represent 
the  earliest  exercise  of  the  Catholic  ministry  in  that  part  of  the 
Union."12 


!2     Garraghan,  Gilbert  J.  "History  of  the  Missouri  Province  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,"  in  MS. 


Vol.  1-12 


Chapter  16 
THE  ST.  LOUIS  UNIVERSITY 


The  Catholic  Church  is  in  its  very  nature  the  world's  great  educa- 
tional institution  in  spiritual  matters.  It  is  her  divine  commission  to 
teach  all  nations  and  to  teach  them  to  observe  all  things  that  Christ 
taught  her.  But,  as  all  truth  is  one,  whether  it  be  of  the  natural  or  the 
supernatural  order,  the  Church  has  at  all  times  endeavored  to  combine 
with  her  divine  teaching  of  religion,  the  subsidiary  instruction  in  the 
human  sciences  and  arts.  In  other  words,  the  Church  has  always  sought 
to  establish  schools  of  learning  in  the  shadow  of  her  temples  of  faith. 
So  it  was  in  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  As  soon  as  religion  had  been  es- 
tablished on  a  solid  foundation  by  the  first  resident  Bishop,  a  college  was 
founded  at  the  Cathedral.  As  early  as  January  8th,  1818,  Bishop  Du 
Bourg  wrote :  ' '  The  people  are  most  anxious  that  I  should  erect  a 
college."1  The  college  was  established  and  ran  its  course  of  usefulness, 
to  be  merged  at  last  in  the  Jesuit  College  that  was,  under  God's  blessing, 
to  grow  into  what  we  now  hold  so  dear,  the  St.  Louis  University.  "They, 
(the  Jesuits)  will  take  the  College  of  St.  Louis,"  wrote  Bishop  Du 
Bourg  from  Bordeaux,  on  June  24th,  1824,  "in  this  way  they  will  insure 
its  stability. '  '2  The  Jesuits  themselves  had,  during  their  early  days  at  St. 
Ferdinand,  devoted  most  of  their  time  and  energy  to  educational  pur- 
poses :  the  Novitiate  was  a  school  of  divinity ;  St.  Regis  Seminary  was 
a  primary  school  for  boys.  Out  of  these  educational  ventures  grew 
the  true  universitas  literarum,  a  school  that  united  in  its  teaching  every 
branch  of  knowledge  necessary  for  a  liberal  education.  St.  Louis  Uni- 
versity had  to  pass  through  a  long  course  of  heroic  endeavor  and  sac- 
rifice to  attain  its  high  position  among  the  educational  institutions 
of  the  country.  It  was  the  pioneer  of  higher  education  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  and  sustained  all  the  vicissitudes  of  pioneering. 

The  connection  between  the  old  and  the  new  College  of  St.  Louis  is 
indicated  in  Bishop  Du  Bourg 's  letter  to  Father  Francis  Neale,  the 
Maryland  Superior  of  the  Jesuits,  dated  November  27,  1823 : 

"I  would  feel  disposed  to  give  your  Society  two  beautiful  squares 
of  ground  in  the  City  of  St.  Louis  and  to  help  in  the  erection  of  a  house 
for  an  academy  as  a  preparation  for  a  college,  if  you  thought  you  could 
spare  a  couple  of  your  Maryland  brethren,  even  scholastics,  to  com- 


i     "Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi, "  vol.  II,  p.  339. 
2     Annales,  vol.  I,  p.  474. 

(354) 


The  St.  Louis  University  355 

meuee  the  establishment;  in  which  case  I  will  shut  up  the  one  that  is 
now  kept  by  some  of  my  priests  on  the  Bishop 's  premises. '  '3 

In  a  subsequent  letter  to  Father  Van  Quickenborne  the  prelate 
once  more  offered  to  close  his  own  college,  in  case  the  Jesuits  should 
open  an  institution  in  St.  Louis.  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  in  com- 
municating this  offer  to  his  Superior,  mentions  the  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  such  a  foundation:  Yet,  he  observes:  "The  City  of  St.  Louis 
is  the  principal  one  of  the  state,  and  near  other  rising  towns  in  Illinois. 
If  our  men  were  there,  many  day-scholars  would  attend  school ;  of 
these,  some  would  enter  the  Society,  especially  if,  according  to  the  In- 
stitute, we  teach  gratis."4 

Father  Charles  Nerinckx,  on  his  visit  to  Florissant,  was  also  con- 
sulted on  the  matter,  and  commissioned  to  submit  Father  Quickenborne 's 
ideas  to  Bishop  Rosati  at  the  Barrens.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  answered  from 
Xew  Orleans :  ' '  First  in  importance  among  these  matters  is  your  es- 
tablishment in  St.  Louis.  To  forward  it  and  give  it  all  desirable  sta- 
bility and  independence,  I  offer  you  two  fine  squares  in  Connor 's  addition 
to  the  city  on  the  same  conditions  on  which  they  were  given  to  me,  to 
wit,  that  a  college  should  be  built  upon  one  of  them  (it  does  not  matter 
which)  and  that  it  should  be  in  operation  within  seven  years  of  the 
date  of  the  bond  of  conveyance,  which  was  made  over  to  me  in  the 
year  1819  or  1820.  There  still  remains  sufficient  time  to  put  up  a  small 
house,  either  of  log  or  frame ;  for,  as  the  dimensions  and  material  of 
the  building  were  not  specified  in  the  bond,  any  kind  of  structure  suited 
to  receive  some  thirty  day-scholars,  or  even  fewer,  will  meet  the  re- 
quirements. I  f orsee  two  difficulties  in  the  way  of  your  acceptance ;  1st. 
the  expense  and  2nd  your  rules.  As  to  the  first,  I  am  persuaded  that 
you  will  receive  aid  from  the  inhabitants,  if  you  make  the  rounds  of  the 
city  for  such  purpose.  I  will  myself  contribute  one  hundred  dollars. 
As  to  the  rules  of  your  Society  or  the  difficulty  of  your  taking  in  charge 
the  direction  of  the  school,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  you,  while  these 
hindrances  last,  from  putting  the  school  in  the  hands  of  some  master, 
to  whom  you  can  lease  it  or  even  lend  it  gratis.  I  regard  this  property 
as  too  precious  a  thing,  in  view  of  the  future  interests  of  religion  and 
of  your  Society,  not  to  urge  you  to  make  every  effort  to  assure  yourself 
of  its  possession ;  moreover,  as  the  time  is  approaching  after  which  re- 
grets will  be  useless,  I  am  persuaded  that  you  can  go  far  in  this  matter 
on  your  own  responsibility,  with  the  understanding  that,  in  view  of  the 
urgency  of  the  case,  you  cannot  fail  to  obtain  subsequently  the  approval 
of  your  Superior."5 


3  Du  Bourg  to  Francis  Neale,  S.  J.,  Nov.  27,  1823. 

4  Van  Quickenborne  to  Dziorizynski,  Jan.  1,  1824. 

5  Du  Bourg  to  Van  Quickenborne,  Nov.  9,  1825. 


356  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Father  Van  Quickenborne  was  anxious  to  undertake  the  great  work : 
yet  he  advised  the  Bishop  to  propose  the  matter  to  the  Maryland  Su- 
perior, adding  this  characteristic  sentiment:  "It  will  require  a  miracle 
to  give  us  a  college  at  St.  Louis,  such  as  our  Institute  demands,  namely, 
one  which  is  free  for  day-pupils,  and  which  for  that  reason  must  have 
an  adequate  revenue.     Still  I  dare  to  hope  it  of  the  Divine  goodness."6 

The  two  squares  offered  by  the  Bishop  to  Father  Van  Quickenborne 
were  the  gift  of  Jeremiah  Connor,  who  had  laid  out  Washington  Avenue 
through  his  land.  He  was  always  open  handed,  where  the  cause  of 
the  Church  was  concerned.  It  was  he  who  had  made  the  generous 
contribution  to  the  fund  collected  for  the  purpose  of  putting  Church 
and  presbytere  in  order  for  the  proper  reception  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg 
in  1818.  But  Connor's  loyal  intention  came  very  near  to  being  nullified 
after  his  premature  death.  His  estate  was  sold  under  the  sheriff's 
hammer,  and  bought  in  by  Col.  John  0 'Fallon. 

The  new  owner  of  the  College  lot  sold  it  to  Jesse  Lindell  for  $210.00. 
But  Father  Van  Quickenborne  recovered  it  for  its  original  purpose  by  an 
exchange  sale.  The  lot  had  a  frontage  of  270  feet  on  Washington  Avenue, 
between  Ninth  and  Tenth  Streets. 

Greatly  elated  by  his  success,  Father  Van  Quickenborne  wrote  to 
Father  Dzioryzinski :  ' '  I  got  the  College  lot.  The  agreement  is  written 
and  signed  by  both  parties,  Mr.  Lindell  and  myself.  I  pay  nothing,  but 
give  the  same  quantity  of  land  to  Mr.  Lindell,  and  that  quantity  I  take 
from  lots  belonging  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  but  placed  at  my  disposal."7 
In  the  summer  of  1828,  towards  the  end  of  the  Third  Year  of  Probation, 
Father  Van  Quickenborne  wrote  out  for  his  Superior  the  mighty  reasons, 
why  the  St.  Louis  College  plan  should  be  carried  out  at  once.  The  deeds 
for  the  College  lots  had  been  accepted,  which  implied  the  duty  of  open- 
ing a  school :  The  time  was  now  favorable :  a  further  delay  might  keep 
the  Jesuits  out  forever;  the  future  progress  of  the  Order  depended  on 
the  establishment  of  a  College  in  a  populous  city  like  St.  Louis:  many 
complaints  were  made  by  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  about  not  having 
a  single  Catholic  school. 

"Your  Beverence  sees  that  we  must  now  go  on,"  Father  Van 
Quickenborne  concludes  his  long  letter,  "I  have  a  beautiful  square, 
270  ft.  by  225  ft.  belonging  to  me,  of  which  I  shall  send  the  deed  to  your 
Reverence.  The  Bishop  must  and  does  approve  it ;  I  have  no  doubt  but 
a  fine  church  will  be  built  also  for  us  in  process  of  time.  Mr.  Saulnier, 
Dusaussois,  Loisel,  priests  at  St.  Louis,  also  approve  it.  The  people  de- 
mand it  and  are  willing  to  subscribe  for  the  building.     They  highly 


0     Van  Quickenborne  to  Du  Bourg,  Annales,  1827. 
i     Van  Quickenborne  to  Dziorizynski,  Feb.  12,  182fi. 


The  St.  Louis  University  357 

cry  for  a  church  where  sermons  in  English  are  preached.  The  French 
want  the  present  church  for  themselves.  The  Bishop  is  willing,  i.  e.  has 
given  me  his  word  that,  not  only  is  he  pleased  that  we  should  have  a 
church,  but  also  a  parochial  school  for  the  Americans.  The  Bishop  has 
waited  now  for  two  years.  If  we  do  not  do  it,  the  people  will  expect 
it  from  him  and  he  should  and  would  do  it.  St.  Louis  (that  is,  an  es- 
tablishment there)  is  necessary  for  our  Indian  mission.  1)  there  we  can 
easily  and  with  all  possible  advantage  see  and  treat  with  the  chiefs  of 
every  nation.  2)  There  we  can  easily  know  every  event  of  importance 
concerning  affairs  connected  with  the  Indian  mission.  3)  There  reside 
the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  and  all  the  agents  and  traders 
whose  good  will  we  must  cultivate.  4)  There  we  must  transact  almost 
all  our  affairs  to  begin,  continue  and  support  our  establishment  in  the 
Indian  country.  5)  By  opening  a  free  school  we  oblige  those  very 
men  whose  assistance  we  want,  and  gain  a  good  share  of  popularity. 
6)  St.  Louis'  fate  is  decided  as  to  its  becoming  a  large  and  very  im- 
portant city  in  the  West.  From  this  place  we  may  expect  a  succession, 
(of  novices)  as  the  classical  education  of  a  child  will  not  be  expensive 
to  the  parent,  and  as  there  are  many  families  truly  pious  who  would 
be  glad  to  see  their  children  embracing  a  religious  life.  7)  The  choice 
of  a  proper  place  for  our  establishment  is  of  the  highest  importance. 
About  St.  Louis  being  the  proper  place  there  can  be  no  doubt,  and 
the  time  of  making  the  choice  is  now  and  precisely  and  only  now. 

"As  to  the  means  of  supporting  Ours,8  let  me,  Rev.  Superior,  bring 
to  your  recollection  the  poor  estate  in  which  we  came  out.  Great  im- 
provements we  are  making  on  our  farm  in  conformity  with  your 
Reverence's  instructions  and,  when  they  will  be  finished,  I  will  give  an 
accurate  account  of  them.  We  have  a  fine  new  church  in  St.  Charles, 
a  fine  house,  the  whole  worth  $10,000,  and  burdened  with  no  debts. 
Ours  in  St.  Louis  will  be  supported  in  the  following  way :  From  our 
farm,  which  will  be  fully  competent  to  support  eight  persons  in  St. 
Louis  and  twelve  novices  in  Florissant;  moreover,  forty  Indian  boys; 
for  their  support  we  have  received  and  will  receive  from  the  charity 
of  the  faithful  whatever  is  necessary.  Having  a  negro  family  there, 
the  produce  of  the  farm  will  sell  much  higher,  as  we  would  be  enabled  to 
attend  market  to  our  advantage.  Our  farm  has  given  now  a  surplus 
of  $1000  yearly,  and  we  hope  that  it  will  continue  to  do  so  and  that 
the  Almighty  will  not  dimish  His  liberality.  We  have  now  a  very 
fine  and  large  crop  of  corn,  wheat  and  potatoes. 

"Twelve  boarders  could  be  and,  I  dare  say,  almost  should  be  kept, 
paying  for  board  and  tuition  $100.     This  would  put  lis  on  the  advance 


8     ' '  Ours  "  is  a  Jesuit  expression  for  our  members. 


358  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

and  help  towards  paying  for  the  future  church.  This  once  built,  the 
pew-rent  would  give  from  four  to  five  hundred  dollars  a  year.  The 
intentions  of  masses  and  alms  which  we  get  now  regularly  from  St. 
Louis  and  which  amount  to  $120  a  year  would  surely  not  be  diminished. 

"At  present  two  Fathers  would  do  at  St.  Louis  to  begin,  and  two 
would  remain  for  the  Indian  mission.  I  would  place  at  St.  Louis  Father 
Verhaegen,  Elet  and  De  Smet  with  Rev.  Father  De  Theux,  whom,  how- 
ever, I  would  not  fix  at  St.  Louis ;  in  my  absence  among  the  Indians, 
he  should  be  at  Florissant.  At  any  rate  I  would  not  fix  more  than 
two  fathers  at  the  college  so  as  to  have  one  or  two  to  spare  for  emer- 
gencies. Some  offer  themselves  for  lay-brothers  who  seem  to  be  pretty 
well  calculated  to  teach  after  their  noviceship,  spelling,  reading,  writing, 
arithmetic,  and  in  that  case  we  would  gain  a  Father.  The  main  point 
will  be  to  have  one  who  would  give  a  reputation  to  the  college,  would 
maintain  strict  religious  discipline  among  Ours,  and  have  things  in 
the  school  go  on  with  great  regularity. 

"Of  the  two,  Father  De  Theux  and  Verhaegen,  I  would  give  the 
preference  to  Father  Verhaegen.  For  my  part,  if  I  cannot  go  to  the 
Indians,  I  would  be  very  willing  and  satisfied  to  teach,  for  the  remainder 
of  my  days,  a  grammar  class."9  Father  Dziorizynski  gave  his  approval, 
and  Father  Van  Quickenborne  now  publicly  announced  his  intention  of 
opening  a  College  at  St.  Louis : 

' '  In  response  to  your  solicitations  as  well  as  those  of  Msgr.  Du 
Bourg,  we  have  decided  to  do  the  same  thing  here,  namely,  to  open,  as 
soon  as  possible,  a  college,  in  which,  day-scholars  will  be  taught  free 
of  charge.  I  have  made  an  exchange  for  the  College  lot,  donated  by 
Mr.  Connor  and  it  is  there  I  propose  to  erect  a  building  such  as  the 
subscriptions  will  allow.  By  order  of  Our  Superior  the  Third  Year  of 
of  Probation  came  to  an  end  on  the  feast  of  St.  Ignatius,  so  that  now 
we  are  entirely  free."10 

Building  operations  were  begun  in  November  1828 :  and  subscrip- 
tions rapidly  assumed  the  splendid  proportion  of  half  the  cost  of  the 
edifice.  Father  De  Smet  added  $3000.  to  the  fund,  and  Father  Van 
Quickenborne  himself  offered  to  contribute  his  patrimony,  estimated 
at  $2000.  Bishop  Du  Bourg 's  good  will  was  assured.  Bishop  Rosati  was 
delighted. 

An  attempt,  however,  of  Senator  Thomas  H.  Benton  to  obtain  from 
Congress  an  allowance  of  a  whole  township  of  land  for  the  endowment 
of  the  College,  was  bound  to  fail,  though  the  movement  did  no  harm. 


o     Van  Quickenborne  to  Dziorizynski,  Fall  of  1828. 
io     Van  Quickenborne  to  Rosati,  Sept.  1,  1828. 


The  St.  Louis  University  359 

The  school  was.  opened  on  November  2nd,  1829,  with  an  enrollment 
of  ten  boarders  and  thirty  externs,  which  quickly  increased  to  a  total 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pupils.  Father  Peter  Verhaegen  was  oppointed 
Acting  President,  as  representath'e  of  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  until 
the  Maryland  Superior  should  have  made  a  permanent  assignment. 
Father  Elet  was  made  Procurator;  Father  Peter  Walsh,  S.  J.  a  recent 
accession,  Prefect  of  Studies ;  Father  De  Theux,  as  Minister,  took  charge 
of  the  domestic  affairs. 

This  staff  of  four  professors  did  not  appear  sufficient  to  man  a 
College :  in  fact,  for  the  first  and  second  year  the  institution  was  but  a 
grammar  school.  Within  two  years,  however,  the  study  of  Latin  and 
Greek  was  introduced.  In  consequence  the  staff  also  had  to  be  in- 
creased. In  October  1837,  Father  John  Van  Lommel  and  M.  Jodocus 
Van  Sweevelt  arrived  from  Georgetown,  to  be  followed  by  Father  James 
Oliver  Van  de  Velde.  Father  Van  Lommel  was  soon  assigned  to  mis- 
sionary work. 

On  December  28th,  1832,  the  St.  Louis  College  was  raised  to  the 
dignity  and  style  of  the  ' '  St.  Louis  University ; ' '  under  a  charter  granted 
by  the  State  Legislature,  by  which  it  was  enabled  to  combine  with  its 
literary  and  scientific  department  the  faculties  of  theology,  law  and 
medicine,  as  it  did  in  later  years.11 

The  Asiatic  cholera,  that  visited  St.  Louis  in  1832  and  again  in  1833, 
did  not  claim  a  single  victim  in  the  College,  though  the  mortality  in  the 
city  was  very  high. 

In  1832,  Father  Van  de  Velde  made  a  trip  through  the  South  in 
the  interest  of  the  College.  The  foundation  of  another  Jesuit  College  in 
Louisiana  began  to  be  mooted  in  1831.  Yet,  new  buildings  were  required  in 
St.  Louis.  Father  Verhaegen  humorously  describes  the  difficulties  of 
building  operations  in  Missouri.  "Our  new  wing  is  now  ready  to  re- 
ceive the  roof.  Our  workmen  in  Missouri  are  mighty  slow.  They  al- 
ways promise ;  they  never  refuse :  but  without  any  ceremony  on  their 
part,  they  let  us  wait.  We  have  now  come  to  the  resolution  of  stop- 
ping improving  our  place  till  we  get  out  of  debt.  Hence,  when  I  will 
have  erected,  constructed,  raised,  put  up  and  completed,  a  smokehouse, 
the  expense  of  which  may  not  reach  $150.  I  must  consign  all  my  other 
plans  to  the  darkness  of  one  of  the  drawers  of  my  desk,  there  to  lie,  till 
they  shall  be  called  into  action  again.  When  the  happy  time  shall  have 
arrived,  I  will  begin  to  crow  as  loud  as  I  ever  did."12 


n     Hill,  "Historical  Sketches  of  St.  Louis  University." 
12     Verhaegen  to  McSherry,  Oct.  16,  1823. 


360  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

And  again  on  May  14,  1836,  Father  Verhaegen  writes  to  Father 
MeSherry  at  Georgetown:  "You  are  not  unacquainted  with  the  severe 
trials  we  experienced  here,  and  certain  it  is  that  they  have  heen  the 
means  used  by  Providence  to  crown  our  labors  with  a  success  which 
five  years  ago  we  did  not  anticipate Father  Elet  started  for  Louisi- 
ana on  the  14th  of  this  month.  He  will  spend  the  winter  in  the  South 
and  try  to  collect  what  is  due  the  institution.  Times  are  hard  at  St. 
Louis,  and  money  is  scarce  ....  Before  next  April  we  shall  have  our 
full  number,  150  boarders.  This  is  the  ne  plus  ultra.  Our  buildings 
cannot  accommodate  more.  Thank  God  I  have  at  present  very  able 
and  edifying  secular  professors — They  assist  at  Mass  with  the  students 
every  day  and  they  regularly  frequent  the  sacraments."13 

The  Jesuit  College,  now  the  St.  Louis  University,  was  an  ac- 
complished fact. 


13  Verhaegen  to  MeSherry.  For  further  data  on  the  Beginnings  of  the  St. 
Louis  University,  cf.  Garraghan,  G.  J.  in  "St.  Louis  Historical  Review,"  vol.  I,  pp. 
85-103. 


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Chapter  17 
STE.  GENEVIEVE  UNDER  FATHERS  PRATTE  AND  DAHMEN 

The  oldest  town  on  the  Missouri  side  of  the  river,  having  a  cor- 
porate existence  at  the  time  of  Bishop  Rosati's  appointment,  was  Ste. 
Genevieve.  The  church  there  was  a  Jesuit  foundation  dating  back  to 
the  palmy  days  of  Kaskaskia.  The  succession  of  pastors  or  missionary 
priests  had  been :  the  Jesuit  Fathers :  Philibert  Watrin,  John  B. 
Salleneuve,  J.  Morinie,  from  1760-1768,  Father  Pierre  Gibault,  1768- 
1773  :  the  Capuchin  Father  Hilaire,  from  1773-1777  ;  the  Jesuit  Sebastian 
Meurin  and  Father  Gibault,  1778-1784:  the  Capuchin  Louis  Guignes, 
from  1786-1789 :  the  Carmelite  Paul  de  St.  Pierre,  from  1789-1796 :  then 
Father  James  Maxwell,  from  1796-1814,  and  the  pastor  of  Prairie  du 
Rocher,  Father  Donatien  Olivier,  from  1814-1816.  The  succession 
of  pastors  was  carried  down  with  but  few  and  short  intervals,  a  cir- 
cumstance which  in  a  large  measure,  accounts  for  the  staunch  Catholicity 
and  good  moral  condition  of  the  people  in  the  town  and  its  surrounding 
districts.  It  was  Ste.  Genevieve  that  gave  to  the  Church  the  first  native 
priest  of  Missouri,  Father  Henry  Pratte.  Born  at  Ste  Genevieve,  Jan- 
uary 19,  1788,  and  baptized  by  Father  Louis  Guignes,  on  February  18th, 
young  Henry  attended  the  village  school  taught  by  Francis  Moro.  From 
childhood  on  he  was  noted  for  his  gentle  and  pious  disposition.  In  1803 
he  was  sent  to  the  Sulpician  Seminary,  at  Montreal,  where  he  was  or- 
dained to  the  priesthood  in  1815.  In  the  previous  year  Father  James 
Maxwell  the  pastor  of  Ste.  Genevieve  had  been  thrown  from  his  horse 
and  killed.  On  hearing  this  the  newly  ordained  priest  called  on  Bishop 
Flaget  at  Bardstown,  then  administrating  the  affairs  of  the  Louisana  dio- 
cese, and  asked  to  be  appointed  pastor  of  his  native  town.  Bishop 
Flaget,  being  well  acquainted  with  the  people  of  Ste.  Genevieve  and  hav- 
ing a  high  regard  for  the  young  priest's  family,  granted  the  request. 
Father  Pratte  entered  upon  his  duties  in  October  1815.  The  parish  of 
Ste.  Genevieve  included  the  dependencies :  Old  Mines,  Cape  Girardeau, 
Little  Canada,  St.  Michaels,  and  of  course  the  neighboring  New  Bourbon. 
The  young  cure's  field  of  labor  was  very  extensive,  and  laborious:  but 
contrary  to  the  proverb,  "a  prophet  is  not  acceptable  in  his  own  coun- 
try," Father  Pratte  was  idolized  by  the  people  among  whom  he  had  spent 
his  childhood.  He  took  possession  of  the  little  house  which  had  been 
bought  by  the  people  of  the  town  in  1786  from  Nicholas  Roussin  for 
a  parochial  residence,  enlarged  it,  and  his  father  came  to  live  with  him. 
The  old  log-church  had  been  moved  in  1794  by  Father  De  Saint  Pierre 
from  the  Old  Village  to  the  new  location  on  the  hills,   and  had  inci- 

(361) 


362  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

dentally  changed  its  name  from  St.  Joachim  to  Ste.  Genevieve.  Father 
Pratte  enlarged  it  by  building  a  new  sacristy,  using  the  old  one  for  a 
sanctuary,  thus  increasing  the  seating  capacity,  he  put  in  a  new  floor, 
a  new  roof  and  plastered  the  building. 

Ste.  Genevieve  owes  to  Father  Pratte  the  renewal  of  its  piety 
and  the  blessing  of  Christian  education  of  the  children ;  to  teach  the 
Catechism  was  his  delight.  The  preparation  of  the  First-Communicants 
was  always  a  long  and  thorough  course.  But,  the  numerous  stations 
where  the  miners  and  farmers  might  gather  for  divine  worship  often 
called  him  away  from  home.  Bishop  Rosati  in  his  beautiful  obituary 
of  Father  Pratte  gives  him  credit  for  the  foundation  of  two  Churches, 
one  at  Old  Mines  in  Washington  County,  and  the  other  in  St.  Michael's 
near  Fredericktown,  in  Madison  County.  Both  were  log  structures.  Old 
Mines  is,  as  we  have  shown,  the  earliest  place  that  sprung  up  at  the 
headwaters  of  the  Black  River,  tributary  to  the  Meramec,  in  the  days 
of  Renault.  It  is  very  probable  that  the  Jesuit  Fathers  from  Kaskaskia 
visited  the  place  at  times,  though  they  had  no  mission  there. 

The  record  of  the  church  of  Ste.  Ann  of  Fort  Chartres,  in  an  entry 
under  date  of  September  28th,  1748,  shows  that  one  Pierre  Vivarenne, 
of  Picardy,  France,  and  his  wife,  Marianne  Rondeau,  were  inhabitants 
of  the  Village  of  the  Mine.  This  Vivarenne  certainly  came  from  France 
with  Renault. 

As  early  as  1793,  the  church  records  of  Ste.  Genevieve  make  mention 
of  Old  Mines  and  in  1803  the  population  consisted  of  thirty-two  men, 
thirteen  women,  seventy-two  children  and  eighteen  slaves.  The  church 
records  of  Ste.  Genevieve  show  that  Father  Maxwell  frequently  visited 
the  Mine,  but  it  was  Father  Pratte  who  built  the  first  church  of  which 
records  exist.  These  records  begin  April  20th,  1820,  in  his  handwriting. 
The  little  church  he  built  was  of  logs  and  was  used  until  1828,  when 
Father  John  Bouillier,  C.  M.,  the  first  resident  pastor,  built  the  present 
brick  church,  which  Avas  begun  in  1828  and  blessed  by  Bishop  Rosati 
October  9th,  1831. 

These  facts  are  derived  from  Ida  M.  Schaaf's  article  on  Father 
Henry  Pratte.1 

A  few  more  statements  from  the  same  authority  on  Ste.  Genevieve 
will  be  acceptable. 

The  distance  from  Ste.  Genevieve  to  Old  Mines,  being  about  sixty 
miles  over  steep,  rocky  hills  was  long  and  tiring.  At  a  point  about 
midway  was  a  wonderful  spring,  and  at  this  place  travelers  were  wont 
to  stop  and  rest  and  perhaps,  spend  the  night  in  camp.  A  few  men  of 
Ste.  Genevieve  and  Old  Mines,  some  of  them  related  by  blood  to  Father 


i  Schaaf,  Ma  M.,  "Henri  Pratte,  Missouri's  first  native-born  priest,"  "St. 
Louis  Catholic  Historical  Eeview,"  vol.  V,  pp.  129-149.  The  letters  of  Father 
Pratte  to  Rosati  are  to  be  found  in  the  Archives  of  the  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Ste.  Genevieve  Under  Fathers  Pratte  and  Dahmen  363 

Pratte,  built  a  blacksmith  shop  there  and  later,  a  road  house.  Antonine 
Aubuchon  built  a  home  there  in  1826. 

Although  the  first  church  built  at  this  little  settlement,  called  Petit 
Canada,  was  in  1828,  it  is  quite  probable  that  Father  Pratte  offered 
the  holy  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  for  these  settlers  many  a  time  when  passing 
along  the  way. 

The  village  of  St.  Michaels  in  Madison  County  owes  it  origin  to  a 
number  of  French  Creoles  from  New  Bourbon  and  Ste.  Genevieve,  who 
in  1799,  obtained  a  grant  of  5200  arpents  of  land  between  the  headwaters 
of  the  Saline  and  Castor  Creeks.  They  built  their  log-houses  in  the 
valley,  south  of  the  Mine  La  Motte  claim,  near  a  ridge  on  which  the  city 
of  Fredericktown  was  founded  later  on.  But  owing  to  an  inundation 
they  removed  their  village  a  little  distance  to  the  northeast.  It  was  here 
on  the  road  from  Ste.  Genevieve  to  Mine  La  Motte  that  Father  Maxwell 
was  wont  to  stay  and  minister  to  the  Catholics  of  the  neighborhood. 
But  the  people  gradually  drifted  back  to  the  old  location,  and  in  1820 
Father  Pratte  built  for  them  the  first  Church  of  St.  Michaels.  It  was 
constructed  of  walnut-logs  and  served  the  parish  there  as  a  place  of 
worship  until  Father  Cellini  moved  it  to  the  higher  location  just  on 
the  edge  of  the  newly  founded  village  of  Fredericktown.  Mine  La 
Motte  one  of  the  earliest  settlements  of  the  State  is  within  the  limits 
of  the  parish  of  Old  St.  Michaels. 

In  addition  to  looking  after  his  own  parish  of  St.  Genevieve  and 
establishing  the  two  new  parishes  at  Old  Mines  and  St.  Michaels,  to 
which  he  was  obliged  to  travel  on  horseback,  his  house  was  the  half-way 
house  between  St.  Louis  and  the  Seminary  at  the  Barrens,  where  he 
entertained  all  priests  passing  back  and  forth.  Many  and  various  were 
the  services  Father  Pratte  rendered  to  the  Fathers  of  the  Seminary  at 
the  Barrens. 

As  the  Church  Records  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  beginning  October  22nd, 
1817,  to  January  30th,  1818,  are  in  the  hand  writing  of  Father  De 
Andreis,  it  may  be  inferred  that  Father  Pratte  was  in  St.  Louis  the 
greater  part  of  three  months,  superintending  the  repairs  and  prepar- 
ing for  the  Bishop's  reception.  Then,  at  the  end  of  the  year  1817, 
he  returned  to  Ste.  Genevieve  to  welcome  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  his 
diocese,  and  to  be  present  at  the  first  Pontifical  Mass  of  that  prelate 
on  January  1st,  1818. 

After  the  arrival  of  Father  Rosati  and  his  band  of  Professors  and 
Seminarians  at  the  Barrens  there  began  a  regular  exchange  of  letters 
between  Fathers  Pratte  and  Rosati,  the  remains  of  which  are  preserved 
in  the  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archidocese.  The  great  helper  in  all  needs, 
the  great  counselor  in  all  doubts,  was  the  kindly  yet  shrewd  pastor  of 
Ste.  Genevieve.  Still,  he  had  a  temper,  though  he  generally  succeeded 
in  keeping  it  under  control.    Even  the  venerated  Rosati  once  came  in 


364  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

for  a  sharp  rebuff :  Father  Pratte  had  announced  Confirmation  services 
for  the  22nd  day  of  August  1819.  Father  Desmoulin  of  Kaskaskia, 
and  Father  Olivier  of  Prairie  du  Rocher  were  invited  to  be  present  at 
the  solemnities.  Now  came  an  order  from  Rosati  that  Father  Pratte 
should  notify  both  Fathers  Desmoulin  and  Olivier,  that  the  Confirmation 
services  were  postponed,  and  that  Father  Olivier  should  fill  the  place  of 
Father  Desmoulin  at  Kaskaskia  on  the  day  they  were  to  be  held.  Father 
Pratte  answered  under  date  of  August  14,  1819 : 

"Monsieur: — I  am  much  affected  by  the  humiliating  letter  you  have 
written  to  me,  and  I  have  not  sent  the  letter  for  Mr.  Desmoulin  of 
Kaskaskia  as  you  ask  me  to  do  in  your  letter.  I  will  retain  it  until 
I  have  an  order  from  Monseigneur  who  gave  me  instructions  just  con- 
trary to  the  requests  you  have  addressed  to  me.  It  seems  to  me  that 
an  order  that  has  been  fixed  by  Monseigneur2  cannot  be  changed  without 
a  shock  to  the  public  and  to  myself.  I  have  announced  to  my  parish  that 
Monseigneur  will  confirm  at  Ste.  Genevieve  on  the  22nd  of  this  month. 
Many  persons  are  already  prepared  and  waiting.  These  people  come 
thirty  or  forty  miles  to  have  this  pleasure.  Furthermore,  this  is  the 
fourth  time  that  I  have  announced  publicly  something  on  the  part  of 
the  Bishop  which  has  failed  to  take  place,  and  this  seems  to  me  to  be 
too  much.  They  have  already  complained  at  Ste.  Genevieve;  what  will 
they  say  this  time  ?  I  shall  not  make  any  announcements  and  things  will 
come  out  all  right  according  to  the  original  orders. 

You  tell  me  to  inform  Mr.  Olivier  to  go  to  Okaw.  I  have  invited 
him,  and  he  will  be  in  Ste.  Genevieve.  Furthermore,  you  seem  to 
ignore  the  fact  that  a  man  of  seventy  years  cannot  travel  fifteen  miles 
to  assist  at  a  ceremony  after  having  said  Mass  in  his  own  parish.  It 
would  be  for  him  a  journey  of  half  a  day.    I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Your  humble  servant, 

II.  Pratte,  Cure" 

As  a  sample  of  Father  Pratte 's  priestly  zeal  and  provident  care 
the  following  extracts  from  his  letters  give  fair  evidence. 

A  Mission  was  to  be  held  at  Ste.  Genevieve  the  last  week  in  December, 
1820.  On  October  28th,  1820.  he  writes  to  Father  Rosati:  "I  shall 
have,  I  hope,  an  opportunity  to  write  to  Mr.  Niel  (then  pastor  of  St. 
Louis  and  noted  as  an  orator)  next  week.  He  promised  he  would  come 
for  the  feast  of  Ste.  Genevieve.  I  will  write,  and  ask  him  to  preach  the 
panegyric.  We  shall  have  on  that  day,  the  installation  of  a  beautiful 
picture  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  which  has  been  given  for  the  occasion.  They 
say  it  is  very  beautiful.  Mr.  Desmoulin  will  come  and  preach  on  hell, 
I  shall  preach  two  sermons — one  on  the  judgment,  penance  and  the  delay 


2     "Monsigneur"  is,  of  course,  Bishop  Du  Bourg.     Rosati  was  Vicar-General  of 
this  diocese. 


Ste.  Genevieve  Under  Fathers  Pratte  and  Dahmen  365 

of  conversion — one  on  contrition  and  the  difficulty  of  saving  your 
soul." 

Later,  on  December  20th,  he  writes :  "I  have  already  announced 
a  Mission  for  the  last  week  of  the  year,  and  it  will  be  finished  the 
next  Sunday,  which  is  the  feast  of  Ste.  Genevieve.  I  hope  to  have  Mr. 
Niel  with  me  on  that  day. ' '   The  same  letter  is  followed  by  a  postscript : 

"I  learn  at  this  moment  of  the  accident  to  Mr.  Rosati.  I  sympa- 
thize with  him  in  his  sufferings,  and  pray  you  to  present  to  him  my 
very  humblest  respects,  also  those  of  my  father  who  is  much  grieved 
to  learn  of  this  trouble.  If  this  accident  should  disarrange  the  Mission, 
I  beg  of  you  to  let  me  know  before  Sunday." 

Of  Father  Pratte 's  innate  kindness  and  gentle  manner  many  fine 
traits  are  preserved  in  our  documents :  One  or  two  must  suffice :  Thus 
he  writes  on  June  24th,  1821  to  Father  Rosati  at  the  Barrens.  "I  have 
just  received  a  letter  from  Shawneetown  from  an  unfortunate  woman 
who  recommends  herself  to  me  and  asks  if  I  can  give  her  news  of  her 
husband  who  was  to  have  joined  her  at  Shawneetown  last  fall.  This 
unfortunate  creature  lived  some  time  at  Ste.  Genevieve  and  is  now  in 
your  county  at  the  house  of  a  man  named  Logan  on  Apple  Creek.  His 
name  is  Edward  McGinnis,  aged  about  thirty  years,  of  a  red  complexion, 
of  Irish  birth.  You  can  perhaps  inquire  among  your  people  if  he  goes 
to  church  and  try  to  get  him  to  return  to  his  poor  wife  and  four 
children  who  are  in  great  distress.  I  have  replied  to  this  woman  and 
told  her  that  I  have  written  you  on  the  subject." 

A  certain  sly  humor  lurks  in  the  following  passage  of  a  letter  to 
Rosati:  "I  am  returning  by  Francois  and  Medard  the  little  horse  on 
which  the  laborer  came  from  the  Barrens.  This  man  came  to  me  early 
Monday  morning  and  shoAved  to  me  a  billet  de  banque,  which  you  gave 
him.  He  told  me  he  could  not  buy  the  tools  he  needs,  as  the  cheek  will 
not  pass  here.  I  did  not  want  to  let  him  go  without  tools,  so  I  loaned 
him  five  gourdes,  which  I  charged  to  the  Bishop.  Since  then  I  have 
never  seen  him  again ;  whether  or  not  he  has  returned,  I  do  not  know ; 
so  I  return  to  you  the  horse." 

The  Louisiana  Academy  established  by  Father  Maxwell  in  1808 
had  been  closed  after  the  founder 's  death,  as  its  principal,  Mann  Butler, 
the  historian  of  Kentucky,  had  withdrawn  from  the  position.  Father 
Pratte  realizing  the  necessity  of  a  Catholic  school,  sought  to  reestablish 
the  Academy  on  a  thoroughly  Catholic  basis.  It  was  known  that  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  had  brought  along  with  him  three  Brothers  of  the  Christian 
Schools,  Aubin,  Antonin  and  Fulgence.  They  had  been  obtained  from 
the  Superior  General,  Brother  Gerbaud  at  the  personal  intercession  of 
Pope  Pius  VII,  who  wrote,  December  30th,  1815  : 

"Our  Venerable  Brother  William  Du  Bourg,  consecrated  and  named 
by  us  as  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  ardently  desires  to  have  some  of  your 


366  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

subjects  to  instruct  the  youth  of  his  vast  diocese  which  is  in  great 
need.  We  earnestly  recommend  to  you,  our  dear  son,  this  affair,  and 
we  wish,  if  you  have  some  subjects  who  are  willing  to  devote  themselves 
to  go  into  this  region  and  whom  you  judge  fit  for  this  pious  work,  you 
would  send  them  if  this  can  be  conveniently  done.  This  will  be  a  work 
very  pleasing  to  God  and  to  ourselves. '  '3 

The  Brothers  were  lodged  for  a  time  with  the  Vincentian  Brothers 
under  Father  De  la  Croix  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Layton,  for  the  purpose 
of  acquiring  the  English  language  and  helping  in  the  building  oper- 
ations of  the  Seminary.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  been  told  by  Brother 
Gerbaud,  that  the  Brothers  must  maintain  community  life,  and  should, 
therefore,  not  be  separated.  But  when  Father  Pratte's  request  for  one 
of  the  Brothers  came,  he  sent  Brother  Antonin  alone,  because  he  had 
made  greater  progress  in  English  than  the  others. 

Early  in  January  1819  the  Pastor  of  Ste.  Genevieve  wrote  Father 
Rosati  his  satisfaction  that  Brother  Antonin  was  at  Ste.  Genevieve. 
Brother  Aubin  and  Fulgence  soon  joined  •  Brother  Antonin  and  they 
continued  to  teach  at  Ste.  Genevieve  for  three  years.  They  kept  school 
in  the  Building  which  had  been  erected  in  1808  by  the  citizens  of  Ste. 
Genevieve  under  the  direction  of  Father  Maxwell  for  the  Louisiana 
Academy.  After  the  death  of  Father  Pratte,  when  the  Parish  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  Vincentian  Fathers,  the  three  Brothers  were 
separated  by  the  Bishop  and  placed  at  the  head  of  three  schools  in 
widely  separated  localities.  Finding  communication  with  each  other 
and  with  their  Superiors  very  difficult,  they  seem  to  have  gradually 
lost  the  spirit  of  their  state  and,  one  by  one,  left  the  Order. 

In  a  letter  written  to  Father  Rosati  on  July  18th,  1822,  Father 
Pratte  regrets  that  he  cannot  accept  the  invitation,  ' '  so  often  repeated, ' ' 
to  assist  at  the  celebration  of  the  feast  of  St.  Vincent,  "because  of  the 
great  number  who  are  ill  at  Ste.  Genevieve  and  at  Kaskaskia,  from  where 
they  send  for  me  very  often."  This  seems  to  have  been  the  last  letter 
written  by  him,  for  in  August  he  was  stricken  by  a  fever  and,  after 
three  weeks  of  illness,  died  on  September  1st,  1822.  He  was  so  beloved 
that  he  was  mourned  by  everyone,  Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics,  and 
his  funeral  was  attended  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  and 
surrounding  country.  He  was  interred  under  the  sanctuary  of  the 
church.  Father  Rosati  conducted  the  services,  assisted  by  Father  Olivier 
of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  and  wrote  on  the  record  a  beautiful  tribute  to 
his  departed  friend  which  concludes  with  these  words :  ' '  His  memory 
will  be  a  benediction  not  only  in  the  parish  but  in  all  the  rest  of  the 
Diocese,  and  particularly,  to  the  Seminary,  which  will  always  regard 
him  as  one  of  its  principal  benefactors."4 


3  Archives  of  Christian  Brothers,  Poeautico  Hills,  New  York. 

4  Eegister  of  Burials,  Ste.  Genevieve  Parish. 


Ste.  Genevieve  Under  Fathers  Pratte  and  Dahmen  367 

After  Father  Pratte 's  unexpected  death  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had 
the  intention  of  appointing  his  favorite  Angelo  Inglesi  as  his  successor 
in  Ste.  Genevieve.  Inglesi  was  at  that  time  in  Europe,  hobnobbing  with 
almost  all  the  royalty  and  nobility  of  the  Old  world,  and  making  large 
collections  for  the  poor  Mission  of  Louisiana.  If  he  had  been  present  on 
the  spot,  he  would  have  certainly  received  the  appointment.  But  Inglesi 's 
unworthiness  was  already  suspected  by  many:  and  for  some  reason  or 
other,  not  the  clerical  highflyer,  but  a  most  excellent  priest,  Father 
Francis  Dahmen,  a  Lazarist,  was  sent  to  Ste.  Genevieve. 

Father  Dahmen  was  born  at  Dueren  on  the  Rhine,  March  23,  1789, 
and  in  due  time  entered  the  Seminary,  probably  at  Cologne.  As  all  the 
country  west  of  the  Rhine  was  under  French  dominion  during  the 
Napoleonic  wars,  young  Dahmen,  as  we  have  already  stated,  was  obliged 
to  enter  the  army  of  the  Corsican  as  a  cavalry  soldier.  As  such  he  took 
part  in  several  great  battles.  As  Canon  O'Hanlon  tells  us:  "He  had  a 
vivid  recollection  of  the  dreadful  scenes  he  had  witnessed  on  the  battle- 
field: his  anecdotes  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  were  original  and  most 
interesting ;  he  was  ready  at  all  times  to  relate  his  own  personal  adven- 
tures, and  freely  to  pronounce  a  very  sound  opinion  on  the  maneuvers 
and  policy  of  his  renowned  leader,  having  had  an  enthusiastic  regard 
for  his  genius  and  resources  as  a  general.  Father  Dahmen 's  undoubted 
courage,  sense  of  honor,  uprightness  and  integrity  of  character  won  our 
admiration;  his  brusque  and  military  air  was  independent  of  forms, 
while  his  courtesy  and  kindliness  rendered  him  lovable  to  a  degree. 
His  piety  and  learning  were  well  recognized,  when  he  was  obliged  to 
quit  his  Saxon  Seminary  and  serve  as  a  young  conscript,  and  he  returned 
to  resume  his  religious  vocation  and  studies  when  the  great  army  was 
disbanded."3 

The  discharged  soldier  did  not,  however,  return  to  his  former 
Seminary  but  journeyed  to  the  Eternal  City  where  a  brother  of  his 
had  already  entered  the  holy  priesthood.  When  Bishop  Du  Bourg 
visited  Rome  for  the  purpose  of .  gaining  recruits  for  the  diocese  of 
Louisiana,  young  Dahmen  was  glad  to  join  his  standard,  and  when 
Fathers  De  Andreis  and  Rosati  started  on  their  long  and  wearisome 
journey  across  the  mountains  and  plains  to  Bordeaux  and  thence  across 
the  sea  to  America,  he  was  with  them.  He  received  the  four  minor 
orders  at  Bordeaux,  subdeaconship  at  St.  Thomas  Seminary  near  Bards- 
town,  deaconship  at   Ste.   Genevieve. 

In  December  1818  he  entered  the  Novitiate  of  the  Congregation 
under  Father  De  Andreis  in  St.  Louis,  where  also  he  was  ordained 
priest  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  on  September  5th,  1819.  He  was  then  a 
little  over  thirty  years  of  age.  His  first  mission  was  Vincennes,  from 
which  he  was  recalled  on  account  of  non-support. 


O'Hanlon. 


368  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

On  May  28th,  we  find  liim  at  the  Barrens,  where  he  made  his  final 
vows.  As  the  people  of  Vincennes  petitioned  the  Bishop  to  send  back  to 
their  parish  the  good  Father  Dahmen,  the  Bishop  relented,  and  the 
priest  returned.  But  as  no  efforts  were  made  to  give  him  a 
decent  support,  the  recall  was  made  final.  After  a  short  stay  at  Floris- 
sant during  Father  De  La  Croix'  visit  among  the  Indians  tribes  of  the 
Missouri  River  in  1822,  Father  Dahmen  received  the  appointment  to  Ste. 
Genevieve,  where  he  arrived  on  September  29th,  1822.  This  selection  was 
an  admirable  one  in  more  than  one  respect.  He  spoke  and  wrote  French 
as  his  mother  tongue,  though  he  was  of  German  stock.  The  schools  in  the 
Rhineland  in  his  youth  were  French,  whilst  the  language  of  the  common 
people  remained  German.  In  the  army  French  had  been  spoken  almost 
exclusively.  As  Canon  O'Hanlon  tells  us,  he  had  a  correct  knowledge 
of  the  world  and  of  its  ordinary  pursuits,  with  a  practical  manner  of 
appreciating  and  utilizing  them.  He  had  a  natural  gift  of  eloquence 
in  French,  English  and  German.  His  cheerful  disposition  won  every 
heart :  his  fine  figure  and  military  bearing  and  sturdy  manliness  im- 
pressed the  judgment  in  his  favor.  He  was,  all  in  all,  a  representative 
man.  When  the  citizens  of  Ste.  Genevieve  wished  to  form  a  Literary 
Society,  Father  Dahmen  was  with  them  heart  and  soul. 

The  Church  of  Ste.  Genevieve  was  a  large  log-building  erected  in 
1794.  Now  after  thirty-seven  years  of  constant  use  the  building  had 
become  ruinous.  The  parishioners  voted  to  erect  a  new  Church  of  stone. 
The  old  log  structure  was  accordingly  torn  down,  and  the  cornerstone 
of  the  new  edifice  was  laid  on  the  27th  of  July  1831.  The  building, 
though  completed  at  an  early  date,  was  consecrated  in  1837. 

It  was  in  Father  Dahmen 's  hospitable  home  that  the  celebrated 
Father  Charles  Nerinckx  died  the  death  of  a  saint.  He  came  from  Lor- 
etto  in  Kentucky  to  Bethlehem  Convent  near  the  Barrens  on  a  visit  to 
his  Sisterhood  there :  then  he  made  a  visit  to  Florissant,  the  home  of 
the  Jesuits,  whom  he  had  brought  to  America,  and  on  the  return  journey 
took  seriously  ill,  and  found  a  kind  welcome  in  Ste.  Genevieve,  where 
he  died,  August  12th,  1824.6 

Of  the  former  dependencies  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  New  Bourbon  was 
now  no  more ;  St.  Michaels  had  a  pastor  of  its  own  in  the  person  of 
Father  Potini,  and  after  his  departure,  of  Father  Francis  Cellini ;  Cape 
Girardeau  was  attended  from  the  Barrens,  and  only  St.  Joachim's  of 
Old  Mines  remained  in  his  care  until  in  1828.  Father  John  Bouillier 
was  appointed  its  pastor.  Yet,  St.  Genevieve  was  growing  in  population, 
and  certain  parts  of  the  district  were  steadily  gaining  swarms  of  immi- 
grants from  Germany.  At  the  opening  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  there 
were  but  few  Germans  in  the  parish  ;  but  in  the  second  decade  of  that 


G     Kothensteiner,  "Father  Charles  Nerinckx,  and  his  Relations  to  the  Diocese  of 
St.  Louis,"  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  I,  157-201. 


Ste.  Genevieve  Under  Fathers  Pratte  and  Dahmen  369 

Century,  German  immigration  assumed  considerable  proportions  in  both 
Ste.  Genevieve  and  Perry  Counties.  At  first  this  stream  came  from 
Alsace,  then  almost  exclusively  from  the  Duchy  of  Baden.  Matthew 
Ziegler  seems  to  have  been  the  first  German,  after  Father  de  Saint  Pierre, 
to  come  to  Ste.  Genevieve. 

As  the  ever  increasing  immigration  of  German  Catholics  neces- 
sitated a  corresponding  increase  of  the  number  of  German  priests,  the 
authorities  were  on  the  look-out  for  German  Seminarians. 

In  1833  the  Seminary  counted  four  students  of  German  descent, 
among  its  pupils :  J.  H.  Fortman  from  Westphalian  Muenster,  Ambrose 
Heim,  Charles  Rolle  and  Nicholas  Stehle  from  Lorraine,  Casper  Ost- 
langenberg  and  Joseph  Fischer  arriving  a  little  later. 

When  Father  John  Timon  became  Superior  of  the  Lazarists,  he 
thought  of  Father  Dahmen 's  capabilities  as  a  teacher,  especially  his 
knowledge  of  German,  and  he  determined  to  recall  him  to  the  Seminary. 
Bishop  Rosati  appointed  the  Frenchman  J.  Bergeron  as  successor  to 
Dahmen  as  pastor  of  Ste.  Genevieve.  On  the  18th  of  May  Father  Dahmen 
left  the  parish  for  the  Seminary.  But  the  people  of  Ste.  Genevieve 
were  determined  that  the  good  pastor,  who  during  the  fourteen  years 
of  his  ministry  among  them,  had  enjoyed  their  confidence  and  reverence 
and  love,  should  be  sent  back  to  them.  As  the  best  means  to  attain  this 
much  desired  object,  they  determined,  at  a  regular  parish  meeting,  held 
on  Pentecost  Sunday,  at  the  parish  residence,  to  sell,  at  a  nominal 
price,  the  Church  and  all  pertaining  to  it,  to  Father  Timon  the  Superior 
of  the  Congregation  of  the  Missions.  In  notifying  their  Bishop  of  this 
proposed  step  they  hint,  that  this  offer  is  made  in  the  hope  that  Father 
Dahmen  be  left  in  charge  of  the  parish  as  before,  a  measure,  as  they 
declare,  "as  conductive  to  the  progress  of  religion,  as  it  is  calculated 
to  secure  the  prosperity  of  the  village."7 

Bishop  Rosati  prevailed  upon  Father  Timon,  who  was  then  Supe- 
rior of  the  Vincentians  and  Vicar  General  of  the  diocese,  to  send 
Father  Dahmen  back  to  Ste.  Genevieve.  The  transfer  of  the  Church 
property  to  Father  John  Timon  was  duly  affected.  Father  Bergeron 
gracefully  accepted  the  inevitable  and  retired  to  the  "more  hospitable 
land,  New  Orleans."  Father  Dahmen  returned  to  his  flock  and  received 
as  assistants  Father  Mignard  and,  after  him,  the  Italian  Father  Gan- 
dolfo.  For  a  short  time  Father  Brandts  administered  the  parish  until  the 
pastor's  return,  November  13th,  1836.  The  Catholic  Directory  for  1836 
remarks  in  regard  to  Ste.  Genevieve:  "Sermon  in  French  and  German, 
and  sometimes  in  English."  On  the  12th  day  of  November,  "post  sex- 
ennium  absolutum,"  the  new  Church  was  consecrated,  by  Bishop  Rosati, 
assisted  by  a  large  concourse  of  priests. 


7     The  title  to  the  church-property  of  Ste.  Genevieve  was  restored  to  the  parish 
in  the  days  of  Archbishop  Kain. 


370  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Five  months  after  this  memorable  event,  June  25th,  1837,  the  Sisters 
of  Loretto  opened  a  Convent  School  for  girls  in  the  old  Detchmendi 
Mansion.  The  community  consisted  of  nine  religious :  Sister  Agnes 
Ilartt  was  Superior.  One  of  the  nuns  was  Sister  Catherine,  formerly 
Odile  Valle.  The  number  of  boarders  in  1837  was  twelve,  of  day-scholars 
forty-five. 

After  a  few  years  the  school  was  placed  in  care  of  the  Sisters  of 
St.  Joseph.    There  Avas  also  a  school  for  boys  under  a  lay-teacher. 

The  priests  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  at  that  time,  had  in  charge  as  stations : 
Ste.  Annes'  at  Little  Canada,  Ste.  Philomenas  at  Reviere  aux  Vases 
and  St.  Matthews  on  Establishment  Creek.  Later  on  when  chapels 
were  built  at  these  places,  the  parish  of  Reviere  aux  Vases  received 
the  title  St.  Anthony,  and  the  Establishment,  now  Bloomsdale,  that 
of  Ste.  Philomena,  which  it  still  bears,  whilst  that  of  Reviere  aux  Vases 
has  been  changed  to  S.  S.  Philip  and  James.  Father  Dahmen  remained 
in  charge  of  Ste.  Genevieve  until  1840,  when  his  Superiors  recalled  him 
to  the  Seminary.  He  was  succeeded  by  Father  Gandolfo,  with  the  French 
Father  Brands  and  the  German  Nicholas  Stehle  as  assistants.  German 
immigration  was  literally  flooding  the  Counties  of  Ste.  Genevieve  and 
Perry  and,  in  lesser  degree,  Cape  Girardeau  and  Madison.  "One  hun- 
dred thousand  Germans  are  expected,  or  are  on  the  way  to  the  United 
States,"  writes  Father  Gandolfo  to  his  Superior  in  Paris,  "one  can 
scarcely  form  an  idea  of  the  multitude  arriving  daily.  The  German 
language  is  getting  to  be  as  necessary  as  English  and  French,  and  we 
need  a  priest  here,  who  speaks  the  language.  The  few  men  we  have 
are  over-loaded  with  work.  Mr.  Huland,  (Father  Uhland)  instructs 
the  boys  in  the  Little  Seminary  in  German :  I  myself  take  German 
lessons  from  Father  Stehle;  but  "durus  est  hie  sermo. "s 

It  was  in  Father  Gandolfo 's  day,  July  17th,  1841,  that  the  rock- 
church  built  by  Father  Dahmen  was  injured  by  lightning.  The  electric 
fluid  struck  the  gable  end  and,  descending  along  the  roof  to  the  sacristy, 
pierced  the  solid  wall  on  its  way  and  struck  the  frame  of  the  picture 
of  Ste.  Genevieve  without  doing  any  harm  to  the  painting  itself,  then 
descended  to  the  altar,  taking  away  its  guilding,  and  passed  to  the 
ground  floor.  A  pious  parishioner,  John  Doyle,  kneeling  in  prayer  at 
the  altar  rail,  was  touched  by  the  lightning-stroke  and  stunned,  yet 
recovered  from  the  shock.  The  new  brick  church  was  built  long  after,  on 
the  site,  and  partly  on  the  very  foundations  of  Father  Dahmen 's  rock 
structure.9 


s     Draft   of    Father    Gandolfo 's   letter   in    the    Archives   of    the   Parish    of    Ste. 
Genevieve,  Mo. 

9     Rozier's,  "History  of  the  Early  Settlement  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,''  p.  117. 


Chapter  18 
CATHOLIC  NEW  MADRID 


After  the  death  or  departure  of  Father  Gibault,  Pastor  of  New 
Madrid  and  the  Post  of  Arkansas,  Father  Maxwell  of  Ste.  Genevieve 
was  the  only  priest  left,  and  to  his  charge  fell  all  the  parishes  in  the 
wide  territory  of  Upper  Louisiana,  soon  to  be  called  Missouri.  Then 
occurred  that  terrible  visitation,  the  New  Madrid  earthquake,  which 
agitated  the  country  around  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  from  December  1811 
to  February,  1812,  and  which,  as  Senator  Linn,  of  Missouri,  wrote, 
"after  shaking  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  its  center,  vibrated  along 
the  courses  of  the  rivers  and  valleys,  and  passing  the  primitive  mountain 
barriers,  died  away  along  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic."1 

Such  an  appalling  phenomenon,  which  changed  the  course  of  rivers, 
submerged  many  of  the  higher  pieces  of  land  and  elevated  others  that 
had  been  submerged  before,  drained  many  of  the  numerous  lakes,  and 
formed  others,  with  bottoms  deeper  than  the  Mississippi,  had  a  most 
discouraging  effect  on  the  progress  of  the  settlement.  Instead  of  gaining 
accessions,  New  Madrid  was  losing  many  of  its  inhabitants,  and  to 
accelerate  the  decline  of  the  town  the  river  threw  the  weight  of  its  current 
against  the  higher  ground  on  which  New  Madrid  was  built  so  as  to 
constantly  reduce  its  eastern  limits  and  either  wash  away  the  habitations 
or  drive  them  further  West.  The  ancient  site  of  New  Madrid  is  now 
the  channel  of  the  Mississippi.  Father  Gibault 's  church  of  St.  Isidore, 
together  with  his  residence  and  kitchen  and  bake  house,  were  swallowed 
up  by  the  mighty  river.  New  Madrid  seemed  dead,  at  least  spiritually, 
for  about  twenty  years  after  Father  Gibault 's  death,  without  church 
or  priest  or  the  Holy  sacrifice.  But  the  people  did  not  lose  the  faith, 
and  a  rivival  of  religion  was  preparing  under  the  counsels  of  Divine 
Providence.  But  the  Parish  of  St.  Isidore  was  gone  with  its  Spanish 
patron,  and  when  the  church  of  New  Madrid  emerged  once  more  from 
its  dark  night  into  the  broad  light  of  history,  it  was  under  the  new 
name  of  St.  John  the  Baptist. 

It  is  neither  a  very  interesting  nor  a  very  important  account  we 
have  to  offer  in  regard  to  the  religious  growth  of  the  old  river-town 
of  New  Madrid  during  the  last  hundred  years.  Political  upheavals, 
destructive  earthquakes,  a  sanguinary  war  with  armies  traversing  the 
territory  from  south  to  north,  from  north  to  south,  and  chiefly  the 
dearth  of  priestly  help  in  the  very  extensive  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  were 


1     Cf.  Eozier's  History,  pp.  109-208,  and  Houek,  "History  of  Missouri,"'  vol.  I, 
p.  172. 

(371) 


372  History  of  I  In-  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  main  causes  of  the  slow  development,  often  looking,  for  all  the 
world,  like  a  sad  retrogression  of  Catholic  life,  in  the  city  of  New  Madrid 
and  vicinity. 

About  three  years  after  his  arrival  in  the  diocese,  November  1820, 
Bishop  Du  Bourg  wrote  to  Father  Rosati  from  New  Madrid : 

"I  stopped  here  to  see  what  condition  Religion  is  in  at  this  place. 
These  poor  people,  in  all  sixty  Catholic  families,  have  been  in  the  last 
twenty  years  without  any  religious  assistance  whatever,  no  marriages, 
no  baptisms,  no  sacraments.  Still  they  wish  to  have  a  priest ;  but  I  do 
not  think  they  have  the  means  to  support  one ;  neither  do  I  believe  that  it 
would  be  good  for  a  priest  to  stay  here.  Nevertheless,  I  deem  it  necessary 
that  a  missionary  should  come  here  three  or  four  times  a  year.  Mr.  Robert 
McCoy,2  at  whose  home  I  am  now,  will  give  him  lodging  and  board ; 
he  has  a  nice  hall  where  Mass  may  be  said.  The  congregation  will  give 
the  Priest  $70.00  every  time  he  comes :  he  shall  remain  each  time  a 
fortnight  to  instruct,  etc.  I  wish  that  Fr.  Potini  should  undertake  this 
mission.  He  may  go  first  to  Cape  Girardeau  to  Mr.  Steinbeck,  whose 
family  are  Catholic,  and  will  say  Mass  there  for  the  few  Catholics  of 
that  quarter.  Thence  he  will  go  to  Mr.  Hopkins,  29  miles  farther.  He 
will  fare  very  well  there;  Mr.  Hopkins'  family  also  are  Catholic.  From 
Mr.  Hopkins'  to  New  Madrid  the  distance  is  about  30  miles,  and  I  am 
told  the  road  is  good  all  the  way  down.  Father  Potini  should  take  along- 
whatever  is  needed  for  the  celebration  of  Mass  and  the  administration 
of  the  Sacraments.  I  think  that  at  Cape  Girardeau,  they  will  also 
contribute  their  share  of  the  expense  for  the  priests'  journey.  He  may 
begin  as  soon  as  possible. 

L.  Wm.  of  La. 

On  further  reflection,  I  think  Father  Cellini  will  be  more  suitable 
for  this  mission  than  Father  Potini,  on  account  of  his  more  mature 
age."3 

There  is  a  slight  mistake  in  this  letter  as  to  the  length  of  time  during 
which  New  Madrid  was  deprived  of  priest  and  altar.  From  a  letter  of 
Father  Maxwell  to  Father  Gibault  at  New  Madrid  it  appears  that  the  old 
missionary  was  still  the  pastor  of  New  Madrid  in  October  1801.  Louis 
Houck  in  his  History  of  Missouri  states  that  "until  his  death  in  1802  he 
(Gibault)  was  active  in  all  spiritual  matters,  and  as  priest  of  the 
parish  received  a  regular  salary  from  the  government." 

Others  give  the  year  of  Father  Gibault 's  death  as  1804,  which 
opinion  seems,  at  least,  probable. 

Besides,  Father  Maxwell  from  Ste.  Genevieve  and  Father  Lusson 
from  St.  Charles,  visited  the  place  after  Father  Gibault 's  death:  the 


2  Kobert  McCoy  had  been  in  the  service  of  the  Spanish  Government,  as  Secretary 
of  the  Civil  Administration. 

3  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese,  Du  Bourg 's  letters. 


Catholic  New  Madrid  373 

period  of  utter  desolation,  therefore,  was  considerably  less  than  twenty 
years.  Yet  it  was  sufficiently  long  and  dreary  to  bring  on  spiritual 
decay.  In  consequence  of  the  Bishop's  recommendation,  not  Father 
Potini,  but  Cellini  was  sent  to  New  Madrid.  On  May  24,  1821,  Father 
Rosati  writes  to  Father  Francis  Baccari,  Vicar  General  of  the  Congre- 
gation of  the  Missions  in  Rome  as  follows:  "Father  Cellini,  besides 
the  sick  calls  and  confessions,  has  the  charge  and  direction  of  the  work 
here  at  home.  Moreover,  he  has  a  parish  of  French  people,  amounting  to 
70  families,  at  New  Madrid,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  more  than  100 
miles  from  the  Seminary.  He  goes  there  three  or  four  times  a  year, 
and  the  trip  takes  him  four  or  five  weeks  each  time.  Those  poor  people 
have  had  no  priest  for  twenty  years.  You  may  well  imagine  in  what 
condition  they  were.  Ignorance  cannot  go  any  farther.  It  is  morally 
a  forest  to  frighten  the  stoutest  heart.  However,  there  are  good  dis- 
positions. Father  Cellini  went  there  for  the  first  time  during  the  month 
of  March;  he  baptized  there  a  great  many  people,  even  adult  persons, 
and  two  Protestants ;  he  urged  them  to  build  a  church,  and  in  a  short 
while,  when  that  church  is  finished  (it  does  not  take  long  in  this  coun- 
try to  build),  he  will  go  there  again."4 

The  church  was  not  built  at  that  time,  and  there  is  nothing  to 
show  that  Father  Cellini  repeated  his  visit,  except  an  obscure  allusion 
to  other  visits  in  a  letter  of  Father  Cellini  to  Father  Rosati,  dated  Oc- 
tober 22,  1821:  "I  have  written  to  Mr.  McCoy  on  the  subject  you  men- 
tioned to  me  in  your  letter ;  and  I  hope  that  when  our  Brothers  arrive 
there,  they  will  be  assisted  as  we  wish. '  '5 

The  McCoys  were,  no  doubt,  the  family  of  Robert  McCoy  of  New 
Madrid,  with  whom  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  made  arrangements  for  fu- 
ture priestly  services  in  1820. 

By  an  acident,  or  rather  a  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence,  Mother 
Duchesne  of  blessed  memory,  the  first  Superior  of  the  Ladies  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  was  to  bless  the  sadly-forsaken  place  with  her  presence. 
Baunard-Fullerton  gives  the  following  account  in  The  Life  of  Mother 
Duchesne : 

"On  the  return  trip  the  "Cincinnati"  ran  aground  on  a  sandbank 
opposite  New  Madrid,  a  hundred  (nearly  two  hundred)  miles  from 
St.  Louis.  The  river  was  so  low  that  it  was  impossible  to  forsee  when 
the  boat  could  proceed — this  delay  and  uncertainty  were  harassing! 
Mad.  Duchesne  .  .  .  resolved  to  turn  this  interval  to  account  by  making 
her  annual  retreat ...  A  fortnight  elapsed  in  this  way,  and  then  she  re- 
ceived a  pressing  invitation  from  Catholics  in  the  neighborhood,  Mr. 


■*     Rosati  to  Baccari,  Archives  of  Procurator-General  of  the  Lazarists  in  Borne. 
5     Cellini  to  Rosati,  Archives  of  St.  Louis   Archdiocese. 


374  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

and  Mrs.  Kay,  to  come  and  stay  in  their  house.  Mad.  Dchesne  and 
Miss  Pratte  accordingly  spent  five  days  with  these  kind  people."6 

The  next  visit  made  to  New  Madrid  by  Lazarist  misionaries  was  that 
of  Father  John  Mary  Odin,  just  ordained,  accompanied  by  the  deacon 
John  Timon,  who  was  to  rise,  in  the  course  of  time,  to  the  dignity  of  the 
first  Bishop  of  Buffalo.  The  trip  was  made  during  September  and 
October  1824.  In  their  report  the  missionaries  write:  "After  a  three 
days'  journey  (from  Jackson)  we  arrived  at  New  Madrid.  Our  sojourn 
there  was  short,  in  spite  of  the  great  needs  and  the  earnest  prayers  of 
the  inhabitants,  who  have  not  had  a  resident  priest  among  them  for 
nearly  twenty-five  years."7  Mentioning  their  return  in  his  Diary,  on 
October  31,  1824,  Rosati  writes:  "One  priest  should  be  sent  to  New 
Madrid  where  he  is  much  needed." 

And  under  date  of  December  1,  1824,  the  Diary  of  Rosati  reads : 

"I  have  promised  two  men  of  New  Madrid  to  send  a  priest  to  that 
city  at  the  opening  of  the  Spring  of  next  year.     (1825)." 

Some  one  must  have  been  sent,  for  on  April  12,  1825,  Bishop  Du 
Bourg  writes  to  Rosati  evidently  in  answer  to  some  good  and  hopeful 
news  communicated  to  him  by  Bishop  Rosati :  "  I  am  much  pleased  with 
the  dispositions  manifested  at  New  Madrid." 

From  the  Diary  of  Bishop  Rosati  it  appears,  that  Father  John  M. 
Odin,  CM.,  made  another  visit  to  New  Madrid,  this  time  in  company  of 
Father  Leo  DeNeckere,  also  a  future  bishop  of  New  Orleans.  Under 
date  of  April  3,  1826,  he  writes:  "I  have  sent  De  Neckere  and  Odin  to 
New  Madrid  to  remain  there  until  Pentecost."  And  on  April  17: 
"Through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  McCoy  I  have  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Odin,  whom  I  had  sent  to  New  Madrid  on  the  3d  with  Mr.  De  Neckere. 
On  April  4th,  De  Neckere  preached  a  sermon  at  the  town  of  Jackson, 
having  been  very  kindly  received  by  the  people  of  that  place,  among 
whom  there  were  some  few  Catholic  families."  And  again,  on  May 
20th,  he  records  the  return  of  De  Neckere  and  Odin  to  the  Seminary 
from  New  Madrid:  "There  (at  New  Madrid)  they  endeavored  to 
instruct  the  people  (about  eighty  families)  who  had  for  many  years 
been  deprived  of  all  spiritual  help,  by  giving  Catechetical  instructions 
twice  a  day,  and  two  sermons  on  each  Sunday  and  Feast-day.  On  As- 
cension day  they  gave  First  Holy  Communion  to  fifteen  boys  and 
girls.  The  number  of  communions  would  have  been  much  larger,  if 
the  inhabitants  of  the  country  had  not  been  prevented  from  attending 
by  frequent  and  heavy  rains,  which  caused  an  inundation,  and  by  ur- 
gent labors  on  the  farms.     They  gave  Baptism  to  more  than  fifty  in- 


6     L.  Cit.,  cf .  Erskine,  p.  259. 

i     "Annates  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi, "  vol.  II,  p.  380. 


Catholic  New  Madrid  375 

fants.  Being  now  fully  convinced  of  obtaining  a  resident  priest  the 
people  of  New  Madrid  have  decided  to  erect  a  church-building,  for 
which  purpose  they  have  started  a  subscription  and  have  already  raised 
five  hundred  dollars.  It  is  a  pity  that  such  a  dire  spiritual  need  con- 
nected with  so  much  good  will  could  not  at  once  find  relief."8  Still 
a  number  of  years  had  to  pass  before  New  Madrid  was  again  to  have 
a  church  and  a  priest  of  its  own. 

But  Fathers  Odin  and  Timon  were  to  return  to  New  Madrid  once 
more;  Timon  having  been  ordained  priest  on  the  24th  of  September, 
1826.  Bishop  Rosati's  Diary  tells  us  that  Odin  and  Timon  started  for 
New  Madrid  on  October  1st.  On  the  12th  of  October  (1826)  the  Bishop 
writes  to  Odin  at  New  Madrid:  "Father  Niel  has  already  seven  priests 
for  this  country.  We  will  have  wherewith  to  have  someone  at  New 
Madrid.'"9  On  October  19th,  Rosati  received  letters  from  Timon  and 
Odin  who  were  still  at  New  Madrid.  On  October  20th,  the  Bishop 
wrote  to  Odin :  "The  news  that  you  and  Father  Timon  sent  us,  caused  us 
much  gratification.  You  may  assure  those  gentlemen  that  they  will  not 
be  deprived  of  the  visits  of  the  priests,  and  that,  as  far  as  possible,  we 
shall  send  them  the  same.  The  next  visit  may  take  place  in  the  be- 
ginning of  January,  vita  comite. "  On  October  31st,  both  missionaries 
are  at  the  Seminary  once  more.  Bishop  Rosati  remarks  that  they  had 
endeavored  to  excite  the  people  of  New  Madrid  to  the  proper  spirit  of 
gaining  the  indulgence  of  the  Jubilee.  Their  success  was  marked  by 
more  than  sixty  confessions,  forty  holy  communions,  and  a  number  of 
baptisms. '  '10 

Whether  the  promised  visit  was  made  in  Spring  of  1827,  we  can- 
not say,  as  Bishop  Rosati,  at  that  time,  was  absent  in  Kentucky. 

In  searching  the  Archives  for  a  document  concerning  Father  Lewis 
Tucker,  we  found  a  weatherbeaten  paper  of  great  importance  for  our 
present  purpose,  the  Report  of  Father  John  Timon,  CM.,  concerning 
New  Madrid  and  the  Post  of  Arkansas  for  1830.  It  is  addressed  to 
Bishop  Rosati  and  dated  December  4,  1830  : 

"I  can  send,  You,  Monsigneur,  but  very  imperfect  accounts  of 
New  Madrid  and  Arkansas.  The  length  of  time  has  effaced  much  from 
my  memory,  and  I  cannot  now  lay  my  hands  on  my  notes.  What  I  can 
recollect  is  that  at  New  Madrid  there  are  about  90  Catholic  families, 
almost  all  Creole  French,  and  all  in  utmost  want  of  instruction,  ignorant 
but  attached  to  their  religion.     During  the  last  five  years  about  eighty 


«     Rosati,  Diary,  passim. 

9     Father  Niel  was  sent   abroad   to   collect   funds  and   engage   missionaries   for 
the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis.     In  1845  he  published,  at  Paris,  "La  Voie  Du  Salut. " 
lo     Diary  of  Rosati,  passim. 


376  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

persons  received  the  Holy  Communion,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
went  to  confession,  and  a  great  many  children,  both  of  Catholic  and 
Protestant  parents,  were  baptized,  as  were  also  about  eight  adults.  Be- 
fore the  visit  Mr.  Odin  made  to  them,  they  had  not  a  priest,  save  on 
a  passing  visit,  for  many  years,  and  now  they  are  without  one  these 
three  years.  New  Madrid  is  one  of  the  oldest  posts  of  Louisiana;  it 
had  its  Commandant  in  the  times  of  the  French  and  Spanish  domination, 
and  a  church  which  has  been  swallowed  up  by  the  river.  The  ancient 
site,  by  the  encroachments  of  the  Mississippi,  is  now  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  shore  of  the  river.  The  inhabitants  lately  made  a  sub- 
scription for  building  a  new  church,  about  $650.00  were  subscribed,  but 
they  seem  little  inclined  to  begin,  until  they  can  have  assurance  of  a 
clergyman.  All  professions  desire  that  one  might  be  sent.  They  would 
also  wish  that  the  priest  might  superintend  a  school ;  and  that,  if  possible, 
some  nuns  might  be  sent  for  the  instruction  of  female  children,  I  do 
not  know  any  point,  where,  as  I  think,  after  some  privations  and  sacrifices 
in  the  beginning,  a  good  school  or  college  might  be  more  advantageously 
placed."11 

Father  Timon's  suggestion  was  favorably  received  by  the  Bishop 
but  could  not  be  carried  out  until  two  years  had  elapsed.  Now,  two 
young  and  energetic  men  were  detached  for  the  upbuilding  of  New 
Madrid. 

On  April  27th,  1832,  Rev.  Victor  Paillason  departed  for  that  place 
from  Kaskaskia,  where  he  had  been  pastor  since  December  22,  1830, 
in  company  with  the  newly  ordained  Peter  Paul  Lefevere  as  assistant. 
On  October  13,  1832,  Bishop  Rosati  had  given  the  Sisters  of  Loretto 
permission  to  found  a  monastery  and  school  of  their  order  at  New 
Madrid.  Father  Paillasson  entered  upon  this  laborious  task  with  great 
zeal  and  energy.  But  on  the  29th  of  June  he  came  to  St.  Louis  with 
the  sad  news  that  the  house  he  had  almost  completed  was  destroyed  by 
fire.  The  particulars  of  this  undertaking  and  failure  we  learn  from  a 
letter  of  the  youthful  Peter  Paul  Lefevere  to  his  Bishop  : 

"You  are  undoubtedly  already  informed  of  the  great  misfortune 
that  happened  to  us  on  the  eve  of  Corpus  Christi  by  the  combustion  of 
our  house  which  was  already  nearly  completed.  At  that  dreadful  event, 
struck  with  sadness  and  grief,  we  both  thought  immediately  to  abandon 
our  post,  and  to  return  to  St.  Louis;  but  seeing  the  apparent  anxiety 
and  activity  of  the  people  to  renew  what  we  had  undertaken,  Mr. 
Paillason  found  it  expedient  that  he  alone  should  go  up  in  order  to  in- 
form you  of  the  sad  and  serious  condition  to  which  this  misfortune  has 
brought  us,  and  to  know  what  there  should  now  be  done.     As  he  seems 


u      Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Catholic  New  Madrid  377 

to  have  more  courage  than  I,  and  to  show  a  kind  of  punctilio  to  re- 
commence the  establishment :  I  write  these  lines  by  his  instigation  to 
expose  to  you  my  depression,  and  also  the  embarrassment  and  grief  which 
might  cause  too  dangerous  an  engagement.  You  know  Most  Reverend 
Sir,  that  in  the  prospectus  he  has  given  of  this  establishment,  he  has 
expressly  specified  and  determined,  that  it  would  be  erected  and  directed 
on  the  same  plan  as  that  in  the  Barrens,  and  also  that  there  would  be 
erected  a  convent  of  nuns  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  a  female  school. 
Besides,  he  has  expressly  given  notice  that  in  both  of  these  Seminaries 
or  Academies,  as  they  call  them  here,  no  mention  would  ever  be  made 
of  Religion,  or  of  whatever  regards  the  Catholic  doctrine  and  worship. 
Now  the  people,  seeing  the  loss  of  so  great  an  improvement  and  benefit 
for  this  place,  offer  willingly  to  subscribe  for  the  rebuilding  of  that 
Seminary.  We,  after  a  sufficient  inquiry  and  information,  find  that  the 
building,  in  the  manner  the  people  desire  and  will  have  it,  would  cost, 
at  least,  from  nine  hundred  to  a  thousand  dollars,  making  deduction  of 
all  superfluities  and  considering  the  building  as  rough  and  simple  as 
possible ;  and  the  sum  of  the  subscriptions,  calculating  at  large,  could 
only  amount  to  five  hundred  dollars.  So  that  we  would  run  into  debt 
four  or  five  hundred  dollars.  Moreover,  being  once  engaged,  we  would 
incur  debts  upon  debts ;  later,  for  the  convent  and  after  that,  for  the 
church.  You  conceive  very  well  that  this  could  never  be  paid  with 
the  revenue  of  the  school,  which,  I  am  sure,  will  never  exceed  the 
expense  of  our  corporal  sustenance. 

"Besides  you  know  very  well  that  the  school  we  would  be  able  to 
teach  could  and  Avould  never  be  able  to  satisfy  the  idea  and  expectation 
of  the  people ;  which,  since  our  arrival,  they  have  continually  kept  up 
and  increased,  thinking  to  establish  and  erect  themselves  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  Barrens.  So,  considering  the  little  prospect  and  hope  of 
future  progress  in  the  propagation  of  faith,  knowing  the  inconstancy  of 
the  people,  and  that  their  only  motive  and  intent  is  their  temporal  in- 
terest, having  no  money  in  cash,  I  shall  never  venture  to  engage  myself 
for  one  dollar,  under  the  obligation  of  paying  it  with  the  revenue  of 
a  precarious  school.  Because,  Most  Rev.  Sir,  knowing  the  dreadful 
situation  of  many  priests  of  America  merely  on  account  of  debts,  I 
dread  them  more  than  death  itself,  and  would  prefer  to  cultivate  the  land 
from  morning  till  evening  rather  than  entangle  myself  so  far.  It  would 
also  be  very  painful  to  me  to  depend  upon  the  whim  of  the  people,  for 
a  worldly  subsistence,  because  they  would  have  subscribed  for  the  house, 
without  having  ever  the  consolation  of  seeing  any  conversion  to  God, 
and  even  without  having  any  time  of  working  for  my  own  salvation. 
Till  now  we  never  said  Mass  in  public,  but  always  privately,  and  even 
missed  it  often  ourselves  on  account  of  manual  labor.     AVe  preached 


378  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

about  six  times  in  the  court  house,  where  the  people  assembled  merely 
to  see  one  anotber  for  amusement  and  pass-time,  as  they  say  it  them- 
selves. You  see  that  the  present  and  future  consolation  either  temporal 
or  spiritual,  is  very  small,  and  besides  our  characters  differ  in  many 
points,  one  from  another.  If,  therefore,  you  could  apply  some  remedy 
to  my  present  situation  which  is  lamentable,  or  assign  me  some  place, 
where  by  means  of  a  frugal  sustenance,  I  could  work  with  more  fruit 
for  the  salvation  of  others  and  that  of  myself,  which  is  the  only  motive 
that  brought  me  to  America,  you  would  infinitely  oblige.  Your  most 
humble  servant."12 

Bishop  Rosati  requested  Father  Lefevere  to  stay  at  New  Madrid 
until  Father  Paillasson's  return  from  the  Post  of  Arkansas,  whither  he 
had  been  sent.  Then  on  August  29,  1832,  Lefevere  was  appointed  to  the 
mission  of  Salt  River  in  Northeastern  Missouri,  to  do  valiant  work  for 
holy  Church  and  to  become  in  due  time  Bishop  and  Administrator  of 
Detroit. 

Father  Victor  Paillasson  continued  his  ministrations  at  New  Madrid 
until  1836,  when  he  entered  the  Novitiate  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  at 
Florissant,  May  18th. 

After  a  brief  interval  Father  Paillasson  found  a  successor  in  the 
person  of  the  newly  ordained  Ambrose  Heim.  Being  born  at  Rodalbe 
in  the  diocese  of  Nancy  in  1807,  Father  Heim  came  to  St.  Louis  June 
15th,  1833,  and  was  raised  to  the  priesthood  July  23rd,  1837,  by  Bishop 
Rosati  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens.  Immediately  after 
his  ordination  the  youthful  priest  became  pastor  of  New  Madrid,  and 
remained  there  until  1841.  Father  Heim  built  a  church  of  wood  and 
dedicated  it  in  honor  of  St.  John  Baptist.  This  was  the  second  church- 
building  after  Father  Gibault's  church  of  St.  Isidore  had  been  washed 
away  by  the  river  in  1816.  Father  Heim  became  pastor  of  Prairie  du 
Long,  and  in  1843  chaplain  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Visitation  at  Kaskaskia, 
and  in  1847  Secretary  to  the  Bishop.  Father  Heim  was  the  First  Spiri- 
tual Director  of  the  first  Conference  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  in  the 
United  States.13 


12  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

13  Sehulte,  Rev.  Paul,  ' '  The  Old  Cathedral  Conference  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  So- 
ciety, "  in  "  St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review, ' '  vol.  Ill,  pp.  5-14. 


OC 


X 


f. 


if. 


Chapter  19 
ST.  MARY'S  OF  THE  BARRENS  UNDER  FATHER  TORNATORE 


The  Seminar}-  of  St.  Mary's  at  the  Barrens  had  been  under  the 
rectorship  of  Father  Rosati  from  the  time  of  its  foundation  and  re- 
mained so  even  after  Rosati 's  election  to  the  Coadjutorship  :x  but  when 
he  became  Bishop  of  St.  Louis  in  his  own  right  and  Administrator  of 
New  Orleans,  this  burden,  as  well  as  the  Superiorship  of  the  entire 
congregation  in  America,  was  felt  as  a  hindrance  to  all  efficient  work 
as  Bishop,  Superior  and  Rector.  But  where  shall  he  find  a  substitute 
as  Seminary  director?  He  applied  to  his  Superior  at  Rome;  for  the 
American  Congregation  of  the  Mission  was-  still  a  part  of  the  Roman 
Province. 

In  1827,  Bishop  Rosati  was  gladdened  by  the  news  that  Father 
Angelo  Boccardo,  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Mission,  was  on  his  way  to  the  Barrens  to  take  the  position  of  Superior. 
In  order  to  make  his  advent  a  most  joyful  event,  Father  Baccari  had 
intrusted  to  his  care  two-thousand  francs,  partly  granted  by  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  partly  donated  by  private  individuals, 
and  by  Father  Baccari  himself,  all  to  be  delivered  to  Bishop  Rosati  for 
the  use  of  his  missions. 

But,  on  July  27th,  1827,  the  sad  news  was  brought  from  New 
Orleans,  that  Father  Boccardo  had  accidentally  dropped  the  package  that 
contained  the  money  and  also  a  number  of  letters,  into  the  swirling 
waves  of  the  Mississippi.  But  worse  still;  Father  Boccardo,  weakened 
by  the  hardships  of  the  long  voyage,  Avas  shocked  so  dreadfully  by  the 
accident,  that  he  in  his  anguish  and  dread,  determined  to  return  to  Italy 
with  the  next  ship.  Nothing  could  shake  his  resolution,  and  so  they 
had  to  let  him  depart.  In  writing  to  Cardinal  Cappellari  about  this 
double  loss,  Bishop  Rosati  reminded  him,  that  he,  as  Bishop  of  one 
See  and  Administrator  of  another,  really  could  not  perform  the  duties 
of  a  Superior  of  the  Lazarists,  and  begged  him  to  send  back  to  him  the 
good  Father  Boccardo,  whom  he  could  use  so  very  advantageously  at 
the  Barrens.  But,  Father  Boccardo  never  returned,  and  the  heavily 
burdened  Bishop  continued  his  gentle  importunities.2 


i  Propaganda  and  the  Vicar-General  C.  M.,  had  stipulated  that  Rosati  "must 
remain  Superior  of  the  House  and  Seminary  over  there,  and  head  of  the  whole  mis- 
sion in  America."     Cf.  "Catholic  Historical  Review,"  III,  p.  171. 

2  Rosati  to  Cardinal  Cappellari,  July  27,  1827,  rough  draft  in  Archives  of  St. 
Louis  Archdiocese. 

(379) 


380  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Father  John  B.  Tornatore,  the  one  time  professor  of  Dogmatic 
Theology  as  successor  to  Father  De  Andreis,  and  now  Assistant  to  the 
Vicar  General  at  Monte  Citorio,  seemed  the  proper  person.  Father 
Baccari  intended  Father  Tornatore  for  other  important  work,  and 
would  not  grant  Bishop  Rosati's  request:  At  last,  a  very  urgent  letter 
to  the  Superior  General  at  Paris  elicited  the  order  that  Father  Tornatore 
should  be  sent  to  America.  Great  was  Bishop  Rosati's  joy  when  in 
April  1830,  the  long-desired  Father  arrived  in  New  Orleans.  Having 
assisted  at  the  consecration  of  Bishop  De  Neckere,  the  new  Superior 
assumed  control  of  the  house  at  the  Barrens  in  the  early  part  of  July, 
and  was  appointed  Visitor,  (January  6,  1831)  and  also  Vicar  General 
of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis. 

There  were  at  the  Barrens  four  priests,  Odin,  Paquin,  Timon  and 
Brands,  who  had  charge  of  a  College  with  more  than  one  hundred 
boys,  and  a  number  of  Seminarians.  The  College  was  the  main  support 
of  the  entire  establishment.  As  Father  Shaw  tells  us:  "The  'Barrens' 
of  that  far-off  time  boasted  a  log  church,  poor,  small  and  crude.  The 
Home  of  the  Missionaries  was  likewise  poor  and  incommodious.  They 
themselves,  with  hands  unused  to  such  labor,  felled  trees  and  hewed 
them  into  logs  wherewith  to  fashion  their  first  home.  The  record  of 
those  days  spells  toil  and  trial  and  much  resignation.  They  fared  fru- 
gally, went  scantily  clad,  and  endured  with  extreme  difficulty  the  rigors 
of  the  climate,  unused  as  they  were  to  extremes  of  heat  and  cold. 

"Steps  were  soon  taken  to  build  a  larger  and  better  church.  They 
designed  to  build  a  replica  of  the  Lazarist  church  in  Rome.  Only  when 
confronted  with  overwhelming  odds  did  they  consent  to  narrow  the 
dimensions  of  the  original  plans.  The  corner  stone  was  laid  in  1827. 
Work  progressed  slowly  and  funds  were  meager. '  '3 

Father  Tornatore  entered  upon  his  new  duties  with  right  good 
will.  The  four  priests  were  with  him,  heart  and  soul.  But  among  the 
brothers  dissatisfaction  was  rife.  Complaint  after  complaint,  accusa- 
tion after  accusation,  flew  to  Rome,  all  clothed  in,  the  garb  of  piety  and 
zeal  for  the  glory  of  God.  The  rigor  of  the  climate,  the  barrenness  of 
the  land,  the  multiplicity  of  occupations,  were  only  the  reasoning  of 
the  great  accusation  that  the  observance  of  the  Rule  was  made  impossible 
by  the  presence  of  seminarians  and  college  boys  in  the  same  house.  Some 
of  the  priests  insisted  on  Father  Baccari 's  order  that  all  members  of 
the  Congregation  should  be  withdrawn  from  the  parishes,  a  measure 
that  would  have  ruined  the  prospects  of  the  diocese  for  many  years. 

All  were  for  getting  rid  of  the  College,  which  they  said,  was  the 
business  of  the  Jesuits,  and  not  of  the  Lazarist  Community.     Indeed, 


3     Shaw,  T.  M.,  "Our  Lady  of  the  Assumption. 


St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens  Under  Father  Tornatore  381 

they  would  have  closed  the  Seminary  at  the  Barrens  and  transferred  it 
to  Lower  Louisiana,  where  under  a  milder  climate  and  with  greater 
facilities  it  would  be  possible  to  work  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good 
of  souls. 

Father  Rosati,  during  his  rectorship,  had  experienced  this  secret 
opposition.  Father  Cellini  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  chief  fomentors 
of  trouble. 

"As  to  the  observance  of  the  Rule,"  Bishop  Rosati  wrote  in  1828, 
"I  have  tried  my  very  best  and  I  think  I  have  succeeded.  Our  priests 
who  live  here  in  community  are  rather  over-zealous  than  negligent.  It 
it  difficult  to  satisfy  the  brothers.  Cellini  is  not  built  for  community 
life ;  he  should  not  come  back  to  us. ' ' 

Father  Tornatore  met  the  same  difficulties  with  much  less  power 
of  resistance,  than  Bishop  Rosati  had  displayed.  He  was  not  gifted  as 
a  speaker,  he  never  did  acquire  the  idiomatic  use  of  English,  his  health 
was  precarious.  Yet  he  made  use  of  his  authority.  He  gave  orders 
to  the  priests  employed  in  parochial  work  to  repair  to  the  Seminary. 
Not  one  of  the  five  obeyed  him.  With  the  brothers  he  had  recourse  to 
reproofs  and  penance,  and  even  the  denial  of  the  sacraments,  but  all  to 
no  avail.  Within  one  year  after  he  had  assumed  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment, no  fewer  than  nine  subjects  had  left  the  community.  Though 
there  was  no  priest  among  the  recalcitrants,  the  loss  was  a  serious  one. 
Father  Baccari  ordered  that  the  Seminarians  be  kept  separate  from 
the  College  boys :  Father  Tornatore  claimed  that  this  was  impossible, 
as  some  of  the  seminarians  had  to  be  employed  as  teachers  of  College 
classes,  others  as  prefects,  others  as  infirmarians.  The  Seminarians 
were  needed  in  the  College,  the  College  was  needed  for  the  support  of 
the  community.  An  old  grievance  in  regard  to  the  presence  in  the 
kitchen  of  female  negro  slaves,  which  had  been  remedied  long  ago,  still 
lingered  in  the  mind  of  the  Roman  authorities.  Father  Tornatore 
brushed  aside  the  old  spiderweb  and  proceeded  to  enlighten  his  Superior 
on  the  real  condition  of  things  in  America: 

"Now  in  regard  to  the  observance  of  the  Rule,  here  is  our  order  of 
the  day:  At  4:30  rising  for  us  of  the  congregation  (The  Seminarians  and 
College  boys  get  up  at  5:00).  At  five,  meditation  in  the  chapel.  At 
six  Community  Mass;  mass  is  said  at  the  same  time  at  the  College.  At 
7  :30  breakfast  in  common  for  Seminarians,  College  boys  and  those  of 
us  who  care  to  have  any ;  Fifteen  minutes  are  allowed  for  this  meal, 
which  is  taken  in  silence  and  during  which  there  is  reading.  After 
breakfast,  fifteen  minutes  of  recreation  in  silence.  This  practice  I 
found  when  I  came  here :  it  had  been  introduced  by  Bishop  Rosati ; 
and  accordingly  I  have  maintained  it.  After  this  recreation,  that  is, 
at  8  o'clock  all  are  occupied,  the  ones  to  teach  school,  others  to  study, 


382  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  others  to  various  employments,  the  College  boys  being'  apart  from 
the  Seminarians,.  At  twelve,  particular  examen  and  dinner  in  silence, 
during  which  there  is  always  reading,  and,  after  dinner  our  customary 
recreation.  There  is  no  siesta,  but  spiritual  reading  for  Seminarians 
in  the  Seminary  and  for  the  boys  in  College.  Then  study  and  class  for 
Seminarians  and  College  boys  until  four.  At  four,  Seminarians  and 
College  boys  are  given  half  an  hour  of  recreation,  after  which  they  are 
occupied  in  their  respective  duties  until  7:15  at  which  time  there  is 
particular  examen.  Supper  as  usual,  and  recreation  which  the  Sem- 
inarians take  in  the  Seminary,  and  the  boys  in  the  College,  under  the 
Supervision  of  their  Director  Father  Paquin. 

Besides,  we  have  for  us  members  of  the  Community,  the  Conference 
on  Tuesday;  and  on  Sunday,  all  assist  at  the  explanation  of  the  Gospel 
at  high  Mass,  and  the  same  is  to  be  said  of  other  spiritual  exercises. 

Regarding  food  and  clothing,  no  one  is  wanting  anything:  all 
are  provided  both  in  health  and  sickness. 

Now  would  Your  Reverence  please  tell  me  whether  in  all  this  there 
is  anything  out  of  order,  whether  there  is  anything  to  add  or  suppress ; 
if  there  is,  it  will  be  done  with  the  fullest  submission  and  alacrity. '  '4 

Whether  these  explanations  were  considered  satisfactory  or  not 
by  Father  Baccari,  they  were  quickly  followed  by  a  notification  to  the 
writer  that  a  successor  would  be  given  him  ere  long.  Father  Torna- 
tore  accepted  in  all  submission  his  removal  from  office,  awaiting  only 
his  successor's  letter  of  appointment.5  The  death  of  Father  Baccari 
intervening,  Father  Tornatore  was  continued  in  the  office  of  Superior. 
Even  the  erection  of  America  as  an  independent  Province  of  the  Order 
with  Father  Timon  as  Visitor,  did  not  change  the  status  of  Father 
Tornatore  as  Superior  of  the  Barrens. 

Better  days  were  in  store  for  the  Community,  the  departure  of  the 
malcontents  proving  a  blessing  in  disguise.  The  Institute  began  to 
flourish  once  more,  the  number  of  priests  rose  to  fifteen,  with  five 
students  of  theology  and  eight  novices.  Concord  now  reigned  among 
the  brothers,  working  for  the  cause  of  God  under  the  direction  of 
obedience.  It  was  under  Father  Tornatore 's  administration  that  the 
construction  of  the  Seminary  Church  was  finally  completed,  and  its 
solemn  consecration  held  by  Bishop  Rosati,  October  29th,  1837.  Father 
Odin  had  in  the  meantime  journeyed  to  Europe  to  solicit  alms  from 
the  wealth  of  the  old  world  to  speed  the  upbuilding  of  the  Seminary 
Church. 


4  Tornatore  to  Baccari,  April  18,  1833. 

5  Tornatore  to  Baccari,  November  1834. 


St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens  Under  Father  Tornatore  383 

The  danger  to  the  Seminary,  however,  was  not  as  yet  completely 
removed.  In  1836,  Father  Nozo,  the  Superior  General  of  the  Lazarists 
issued  a  decree,  suppressing  the  College  at  the  Barrens  and  demand- 
ing a  payment  of  600  francs  from  the  Bishop  for  every  Seminary 
student's  board  and  tuition:  Another  decree  recalled  all  the  Lazarist 
priests  from  parochial  work,  and  ordered  them  to  live  in  community. 

Under  date  of  March  4,  1836,  the  Diary  of  Bishop  Rosati  has  the 
following  entry : 

"I  answered  the  Rev.  D.  Nozo,  the  Superior  General  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Mission,  and  proved  with  plain  evidences,  that  the 
decrees  concerning  the  House  of  the  Congregation  in  my  diocese  had 
been  made  inconsiderately,  and  that  I  could  not  possibly  give  my  assent 
to  the  proposed  suppression  of  the  College  of  St.  Mary's  and  the  annual 
payment  of  600  francs  for  every  clerical  student :  but,  that  I  did  consent 
to  the  measure  of  recalling  all  the  priests  (of  the  Congregation)  who 
are  now  in  the  Parishes  of  the  Diocese,  to  Community  life.  I  asked 
him  that  the  Seminary  and  College  be  left  in  their  present  condition, 
and  that  another  Seminary  be  erected  in  St.  Louis,  and  still  another 
in  New  Orleans  according  to  the  request  of  the  Illustrious  and  Most 
Reverend  Mr.  Blanc."6 

What  came  of  these  wishes  and  plans  must  be  reserved  as  subject 
matter  for  a  future  chapter.  The  consecration  of  the  Seminary  Church 
of  St.  Mary's  calls  for  our  attention.  The  Catholic  Telegraph  of  Cin- 
cinnati, November  30,  1837,  brought  the  minute  account  of  the  great 
event  by  an  eyewitness ;  from  which  we  have  extracted  the  following 
particulars : 

"The  ceremony  of  the  consecration  of  this  beautiful  church,  the 
corner  stone  of  which  was  laid  on  the  6th  of  January,  1827,  took  place 
on  the  9th  of  October,  (1837).  The  building  is  of  stone  and  is  124  feet 
long  and  64  wide.  The  front  is  of  dressed  stone,  as  well  as  the  two 
towers  at  the  corners.  Over  the  door  is  an  inscription  in  letters  of 
gold,  'The  Lord  is  in  His  holy  Temple:  let  all  the  earth  keep  silence  be- 
fore Him.'  The  whole  front  is  a  lasting  memorial  of  the  devotedness 
and  perseverance  of  the  venerable  Angelo  Oliva,  one  of  the  Brothers  of 
the  Congregation  of  the  Missions,  who  died  about  two  years  ago.  Al- 
though occupied  alone  in  cutting  the  stone  for  this  church  and  super- 
intending its  erection,  this  excellent  man  found  time  to  contribute 
a  considerable  portion  of  his  labour  to  the  churches  of  St.  Louis  and 
St.  Genevieve. 

The  interior  of  the  church  is  of  the  Tuscan  Order.  The  grand  altar 
at  the  extremity  is  of  stone,  elegantly  painted  in  representation  of  green 


6     Rosati 's  Diary,  March  4,  1836. 


:>S4  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

marble,  the  mouldings  and  front  being  beautifully  gilt.  At  each  side 
of  the  nave  are  three  altars,  one  larger  in  the  centre  chapel  and  two 
smaller  ones  adjoining  it.  The  sanctuary  is  30  feet  square  under  a  dome 
45  feet  in  height ;  there  is  a  small  gallery  on  each  side  of  the  sanctuary, 
in  one  of  which  is  the  organ,  and  a  large  one  over  the  principal  entrance 
of  the  church.  Two  capacious  sacristies  are  entered  from  the  sanctuary 
by  lateral  doors. 

The  consecration  commenced  at  7  o'clock  in  the  morning.  After 
the  blessing  of  the  exterior,  the  Bishop  and  his  numerous  clergy  entered 
the  church  and,  the  doors  being  closed  and  the  people  excluded  during 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  ceremony,  one  of  the  Reverend  Gentlemen 
explained  the  ceremonies  before  the  grand  entrance.  He  entered  into 
a  minute  detail  of  the  rites  they  had  assembled  to  witness,  and  concluded 
by  vindicating  the  use  of  ceremonies,  in  general,  and  proving  the  an- 
tiquity of  those  by  which  churches  are  dedicated  to  Almighty  God. 

The  Bishop  and  clergy  then  proceeded  from  the  church  to  the 
chapel  of  the  Seminary,  to  transport  the  relics  which  were  to  be  placed 
in  the  great  altar.  These  relics  were  placed  in  a  shrine  under  a 
richly  decorated  canopy,  and  were  borne  upon  the  shoulders  of 
four  priest  clad  in  chasubles.  On  returning  to  the  church  the 
procession  with  the  relics  passed  around  the  Church  and  then  enter- 
ing the  main  door  proceeded  to  the  altar  near  which  the  relics  were 
deposited.  The  venerable  Bishop  of  Vincennes,  who,  at  the  invitation 
of  the  Superior,  had  come  to  assist  at  the  ceremony,  accompanied  the 
procession.  His  delicate  state  of  health  did  not  permit  him  to  be  present 
at  the  commencement  of  the  ceremony.  The  aged  and  pious,  Mr.  Olivier, 
one  of  the  devoted  pioneers  of  the  West,  and  now  in  his  91st  year,  was 
also  present,  and  contributed  by  his  very  appearance  to  inspire  the 
assembled  multitude  with  devotion  and  recollection. 

After  the  great  altar  was  consecrated,  by  our  Right  Rev.  Bishop 
with  all  the  dignity  and  fidelity  to  the  Roman  Pontifical  for  which  he 
is  distinguished,  the  Pontifical  Mass  was  celebrated,  and  the  whole 
concluded  at  about  half  past  two.  At  half  past  four  the  same  Right 
Rev.  Prelate  celebrated  the  Pontifical  Vespers. 

There  were  present  on  the  occasion  forty-one  clergymen,  including 
seventeen  priests,  four  deacons,  three  subdeacons  and  the  seminarians 
and  novices  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Missions. 

It  is  not  in  the  language  of  exaggeration  we  speak  when  we  say  that 
with  the  exception  of  the  consecration  of  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis, 
a  more  imposing  and  truly  religions  spectacle  has  not  been  witnessed  in 
the  Western  Country.  The  church  itself  may  compare  with,  in  point  of 
architecture,  if  it  does  not  surpass,  any  other  religious  edifice  in  the 


St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens  Under  Father  Tornatore  385 

United  States;  and  a  visitor  from  our  Eastern  cities,  if  suddenly  trans- 
ported to  it,  could  scarcely  believe  that  he  was  in  the  Barrens  of 
Missouri. '  'T 

Father  Tornatore  was  overjoyed  at  the  completion  of  the  church 
after  a  decade's  hard  struggle  and  patient  waiting.8  He  attended  two 
Provincial  Councils  at  Baltimore  (1843  and  1846)  as  theologian  of 
Bishop  Kenrick,  who  had  a  high  regard  for  his  learning  and  piety.  He 
died  at  the  Barrens  February  20th,  1864,  in  his  81st  year,  and  was 
buried  in  the  Community  Cemetery  at  the  Barrens.  Many  are  the  relics 
preserved  here.  But  the  greatest  treasure  this  church  possesses  is  the 
body  of  the  saintly  Father  Felix  De  Andreis,  which  was  reinterred  in 
September  1837,  on  the  gospel  side  of  the  chapel  of  St.  Vincent, 
directly  beneath  the  pavement. 


i  St.  Louis,  at  the  time,  had  no  Catholic  paper;  hence  the  report  was  sent  to 
Cincinnati  for  publication. 

8  Father  Tornatore  in  his  transport  of  joy,  wrote  a  month  after  to  Father 
Ugo,  in  Rome:  "The  service  lasted  7%  hours.  Some  40  Ecclesiastics  were  present; 
during  all  the  time  of  the  function,  which  is  beautiful  and  devotion-inspiring,  there 
was  singing.  A  large  crowd  of  people  were  present,  both  Catholic  and  Protestant, 
and  all  were  astonished  and  edified.  Our  church  is  quite  piety-inspiring.  No  one 
enters,  be  he  Catholic  or  Protestant,  who  does  not  feel  like  saying:  This  is  truly 
God's  house;  and  this  is  a  great  boon  for  religion  and  the  cause  of  the  conversion 
of  many  heretics,  who  never  experienced  in  their  meeting-houses  such  a  sweetness  of 
feeling  as  they  experience  when  they  come  to  our  church  and  assist  at  the  sacred 
functions,  which,  thanks  be  to  God,  are  carried  out  there  with  great  accuracy  and 
devotion. ' ' 


Vol.  1—13 


Chapter  20 
BISHOP  DU  BOURG  AND  THE  COADJUTORSHIP 


The  strangest  and  most  complicated  event  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg's 
Episcopate  is  the  series  of  negotiations  with  Rome  for  the  appointment 
of  a  coadjutor  for  the  diocese  of  Louisiana.  That  the  immense  diocese 
could  not  be  properly  administered  by  one  man,  was  plain  to  everybody 
concerned.  Rome  would,  no  doubt,  have  gladly  consented  to  any  proper 
appointment.  But  the  Louisiana  prelate  had  several  minor  considerations 
in  view,  and  proved  so  vacillating  a  petitioner,  that  the  Propaganda, 
at  last,  resorted  to  measures  of  its  own. 

The  first  candidate  proposed  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  for  episcopal 
honors,  though  not  for  the  coadjustorship,  was  his  old  enemy,  the 
"inimicus  homo"  of  former  days,  Father  Antonio  de  Sedella.  This 
was  early  in  1819.  The  unhappy  dissensions  in  the  church  of  New 
Orleans,  once  fostered  by  Father  Sedella,  were  gradually  being  com- 
posed. 

"In  order  to  promote  and  hasten  such  a  great  work,"  wrote  the 
prelate  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect,  "I  requested  Father  Anthony  de 
Sedella  be  elevated  to  the  episcopal  dignity  with  the  title  in  partibus, 
as  my  assistant,  suppressing  however,  the  right  of  succession.  Through 
this  I  judged  that  the  estranged  sheep  might  be  more  easily  brought  back 
to  the  obedience  and  love  of  their  Shepherd,  and  that  all  might  gradually 
coalesce  in  one  mind. 

"According  to  subsequent  communications  the  work  of  pacification 
progresses  more  happily  from  day  to  day.  For  when  Father  Anthony 
noticed  that  the  trustees  of  his  church,  formerly  most  inimical  to  me, 
were  now,  through  the  influence  mainly  of  my  very  dear  friend,  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Martial,  greatly  inclined  to  my  side,  he  sent  me  a  letter, 
full  of  submissiveness  and  reverence,  and  after  that  showed  himself 
intent  in  correcting  the  abuses  against  which  I  had  frequently  protested 
in  vain."1 

"Having,  therefore,  received  the  above  mentioned  profession  of 
Father  Anthony,  I  sent  him  the  decree  of  suspension  of  his  vicar,  and  he, 
as  well  as  the  trustees,  yielded  immediate  obedience,  and  also  most 
earnestly  requested  that  I  appoint,  as  soon  as  possible,  three  of  my  best 


1  Souvay,  Dr.  Charles,  L.,  "Correspondence  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg  with  Propa- 
ganda," gives  all  the  documents  on  the  matter  preserved  in  the  Archives  of  the 
Propaganda,  America  Centrale,  and  in  the  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese.  The 
correspondence  was  printed  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review, "  vol.  I,  p.  73, 
vol.  Ill,  223,  passim.     1.  c.  vol.  I,  p.  194. 

(386) 


Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  the  Coadjutorship  387 

priests  as  vicars  of  his  church,  which  I  did:  I  even  constituted  one  of 
them,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Joseph  Moni,  of  Bologna,  a  man  of  lovable 
character  and  truly  sacerdotal  discretion,  who,  whilst  holding  for  a 
time  the  place  of  Vicar  General  of  New  Orleans,  had  completely 
captivated  the  mind  of  Father  Anthony,  as  his  assistant  with  the  right 
of  succession.  The  peace  and  government  of  that  church  being  thus 
established,  I  think  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  you  offering  the  mitre 
to  Father  Anthony  as  a  sign  of  approbation  and  a  means  of  confirming 
him  with  a  new  bond  of  union.  Moreover,  as  after  such  a  long  vacancy, 
after  such  deplorable  quarrels,  after  so  many  denunciations  directed 
against  their  actual  bishop  and  even  against  the  Roman  See,  the  in- 
habitants not  only  do  not  feel  the  need  of  a  bishop,  but  even  show 
themselves  disinclined  to  receiving  any  bishop,  no  one  appears  to  me 
more  suitable,  than  the  Father  Anthony  to  conciliate  and  gradually 
accustom  the  minds  of  men  to  the  episcopal  dignity  and  the  authority 
of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  The  way  being  thus  paved  by  him,  any  prudent 
man  will,  after  his  death,  with  little  trouble  take  his  place.  I  therefore 
ask  you  again  and  again  that,  unless  it  seems  otherwise  to  Your 
Eminence  and  the  Sacred  Congregation,  the  Brief  of  his  election  as 
bishop  in  partibus,  be  sent."2 

In  order  that  this  appointment  of  a  man  of  doubtful  character 
do  as  little  harm  as  possible,  the  Bishop  requested,  that  the  new  Bishop 
should  have  only  delegated  authority  in  the  diocese.  But,  as  Du  Bourg 
continues:  "in  this  manner  the  danger  of  schism  will  be  effectively  met, 
yet  the  needs  of  the  diocese,  both  present  and  future,  will  not  yet  be 
sufficiently  provided  for.  I  would  not  have  Your  Eminence  forget :  1 ) 
that  this  diocese  is  the  most  important  one  of  all  North  America,  not 
only  on  account  of  its  well-known  extension,  running,  as  it  does  three 
thousand  miles  in  length,  but  also  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  Cath- 
olics, who  compose  by  far  the  greater  number  of  inhabitants;  2)  that 
the  religious  condition  has  greatly  deteriorated  through  the  long  inter- 
ruption of  the  episcopal  succession,  the  paucity  of  priests,  and  what  is 
even  worse,  the  bad  example  of  many,  and  other  local  circumstances. 
Its  extension  brings  it  about  that,  with  my  increasing  infirmities,  I 
cannot  without  greatest  detriment  to  my  salvation,  and  danger  to  my 
life,  visit  the  more  remote  parts  of  my  diocese.  And  therefore  a  great 
number  of  the  faithful  are  deprived  of  Confirmation,  the  priests  lack 
the  supervision  and  counsel  of  their  bishop ;  the  old  abuses  continue, 
and  new  ones  spring  up  every  day.  And  if  the  hope  of  a  coming  better 
age  has  already  risen,  and  as  the  work  of  reform  is  just  beginning, 
it  will  certainly  be  levelled  to  the  ground  once  more,  if  the  exercise 
of  episcopal  solicitude  should  cease  for  a  few  months.3 


2  Souv.-iv,  op.  cit.,  vol.  T,  p.  194. 

3  Ibidem,  p.  195. 


388  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

"Neither  of  these  will  be  remedied  by  the  promotion  of  Father 
Anthony;  for  he  would  neither,  on  account  of  his  advanced  age,  be  able 
to  go  out  beyond  the  limits  of  the  city,  nor  would  he,  on  account  of 
his  deficiency  of  learning  and  the  sad  memories  of  the  past,  be  able 
to  administer  the  diocese.  It  would,  therefore,  be  expedient  in  my 
judgment  that,  besides  him,  another  be  given  me  as  a  real  coadjutor, 
with  the  right  of  succession,  who  being  endowed  with  virtue,  learning, 
and  vigor  of  mind  and  body,  might  be  capable,  not  only  of  assisting 
my  weakness,  but  also  of  seizing  the  reins  of  Government  in  case  I  should 
be  prematurely  taken  away.  I  fear,  indeed,  that  my  supplication  may 
seem  exorbitant  to  the  Sacred  Congregation,  as  the  case  of  two  titular 
bishops  being  given  to  help  one  ordinary,  if  there  be  any  at  all,  must 
be  very  rare  indeed.  But  I  would  ask  the  Most  Eminent  Fathers  to 
consider  that  to  extraordinary  evils  extraordinary  remedies  are  usually 
applied." 

"If  the  Sacred  Congregation  should  accept  my  judgment,  no  one 
would  appear  more  worthy  to  receive  this  sacred  dignity,  than  the 
Reverend  D.  Joseph  Rosati,  a  Neapolitan,  a  most  distinguished  priest 
of  the  Congregation  of  the  Missions,  about  thirty  years  of  age.  He  is 
wanting  in  nothing  that  would  enable  him  to  gain  the  reverence  and  the 
love  of  all :  Virtue,  especially  prudence  beyond  his  age,  copious  learning, 
a  burning  zeal  for  souls,  resourceful  eloquence,  singular  modesty,  a 
venerable  gravity  of  appearance,  and  an  untiring  strength  of  body.  But 
as  it  is  to  be  feared  that  he  might,  through  his  great  lack  of  confidence 
in  himself,  refuse  the  proffered  honor,  I  believe  that  force  should  be 
applied  to  his  modesty  and  the  command  should  be  added  to  the 
appointment  so,  that  all  occasions  for  dangerous  procrastination  might 
be  removed."4 

The  Bishop  quickly  realized  that  he  had  made  a  serious  blunder 
in  requesting  the  appointment  of  Father  Sedella,  and  hastened  to  retract 
it.  But  this  was  a  difficult  and  dangerous  matter,  as  it  had  been 
bruited  about  in  New  Orleans  that  the  request  for  Sedella 's  appoint- 
ment had  been  urged  at  Rome. 

"The  only  means  I  can  think  of  to  settle  matters,"  writes  the 
Bishop  in  his  anguish  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect,  "is  that  Your  Eminence 
oppose  in  the  Sacred  Congregation  this  appointment  on  account  of  the 
age  of  the  person,  and  have  an  official  letter  sent  me  with  the  remark 
that,  no  matter  how  great  the  merit  of  this  religious  might  be,  his  ad- 
vanced age  would  preclude  the  hope  of  his  surviving  me,  and  the 
expectation  of  his  being  of  assistance  to  me  in  my  travels ;  that,  there- 
fore, it  would  be  against  the  spirit  of  the  Church  to  appoint  him  as  my 


4     Souvay,  op.  cit.,  pp.  195  and  196. 


Bishop  Dn  Bourg  and  the  Coadjutorship  389 

coadjutor;  furthermore,  that  the  partition  of  my  diocese  would  be  a 
premature  measure."5 

"In  consequence  it  will  be  advisable  to  postpone,  for  a  time,  the 
appointment  of  Rev.  Mr.  Eosati,  whom  I  have  already  proposed  for 
the  Coadjutorship  and,  above  all,  not  to  mention  it  in  the  aforesaid 
letter.  I  ask  Your  Eminence's  pardon  for  my  inconsistency,  and  my 
precipitation  in  such  an  important  affair.  But  I  beseech  you  by  the 
love  of  religion  to  support  my  views,  if  you  take  any  interest  in  the 
progress  of  the  faith  in  this  poor  country,  and  in  the  consolation  of  this 
poor  bishop,  whom  his  sorrows,  would  long  since  have  brought  to  the 
grave,  had  not  God  sustained  him."6 

The  friends  and  supporters  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  hearing  of  his 
precipitate  action,  were  surprised  and  hurt.  Father  Rosati  was  their 
choice,  and  Sedella's  candidacy  was  regarded  as  preposterous.  Father 
Martial,  the  admired  of  Sedella  and  Du  Bourg  alike,  sums  up  the  feelings 
of  the  clergy  in  Lower  Louisiana  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  at  the  French 
Embassy  in  Rome ;  "It  is  likewise  necessary  that  they  should  know  in 
Rome  that  the  wish  of  all  the  Missionaries  in  Louisiana  is  that  Father 
Rosati  be  made  Coadjutor :  his  wisdom,  enlightenment,  virtues  and  pru- 
dence fit  him  pre-eminently  for  that  office.  What  a  disregard  of  all 
proprieties,  not  to  say  more,  in  presenting  at  one  time  Father  Anthony, 
a  Capuchin  Monk,  Rector  of  the  Church  in  New  Orleans,  and  a  man 
who  caused  so  much  disturbance,  and  whose  wily  polity  succeeded  in 
keeping  away  the  lawful  Ecclesiastical  Superior."7 

On  June  25th,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  proposed  to  Cardinal  Litta  another 
solution  of  the  whole  matter:  "I  asked  Your  Eminence  to  lock  up  this 
whole  affair  in  your  bosom,  to  let  no  one  near  or  far  suspect  that  I 
withdrew  my  petition,  and  to  command  me  to  designate  another  subject 
who  would  be  younger  and  more  active.  I  had,  however,  already  pro- 
posed one  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Rosati  to  be  my  veritable  Coadjutor, 
not  imagining  that  I  would  ever  think  of  giving  that  title  to  Father 
Anthony.  But  I  have  just  received  news  which  changes  once  more  all 
my  batteries  and  at  last  opens  to  me  a  door  of  escape  from  this 
labyrinth,  whilst  securing  the  welfare  of  the  diocese.  For  five  years 
I  had  at  New  Orleans,  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Sibourd,  a  vicar  general 
who,  by  his  prudence  and  great  virtues,  won  the  esteem  of  all,  even  of 
my  enemies.  The  fortitude  with  which  he  devoted  himself  to  his  dan- 
gerous and  disagreeable  post,  his  many  qualities  which  enabled  him  to 
fill  it  well,  induced  me  at  an  early  date  to  take  him  in  consideration 
as  my  Coadjutor,  when  God,  who,  to  try  us,  seems  to  play  with  our 
apparently  best  concerted  plans,  sent  him  an  illness  which  forced  him 


5  Souvay,  op.  cit.,  p.  302. 

6  Ibidem,  p.  302. 

»     Souvay,  op.  cit.,  p.  302.    Note  5. 


390  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

to  leave  the  country  without  hope  of  return.  Now  since  the  Good  God 
has  made  the  worthy  man  well  and,  against  all  expectations,  even  his 
own,  has  led  him  back  to  us  under  these  painful  circumstances,  I  have 
no  doubt,  but  that  he  is  the  person  upon  whom  He  wants  this  dignity 
to  fall.  He  is  more  fit  for  it  than  anyone  else,  by  his  age,  which  is 
equally  distant  from  the  two  extremes,  as  well  as  by  his  experience, 
and  his  long  services  in  the  administration,  as  also  by  the  general  esteem 
and  consideration  by  which  he  is  surrounded ;  I  therefore  write  to  the 
Sacred  Congregation  a  Latin  Letter  (which  I  ask  Your  Eminence  to 
read  with  particular  attention)  in  which,  whilst  keeping  absolute  silence 
about  Father  Anthony,  I  ask  to  substitute  Mr.  Sibourd  for  Mr.  Rosati. 
I  beg  Your  Eminence,  in  conformity  with  my  last  letter,  to  address 
to  me  a  communication  which  I  may  show,  written  by  Yourself,  from 
which  it  appears  that  I  have  made  a  petition  for  this  Religious,  but 
that  His  Holiness,  on  account  of  the  great  age  of  the  subject,  has  not 
thought  proper  to  grant  it,  and  that,  to  avoid  delay,  having  heard  from 
the  Sacred  Congregation  of  the  merits  of  my  Vicar  General  Mr.  Sibourd, 
He  has  designed,  Motu  proprio,  to  confer  upon  him  the  dignity  which 
I  had  solicited  for  Father  Anthony."8 

On  June  25th,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  returns  to  the  charge  in  favor 
of  Father  Sibourd  as  his  coadjutor,  giving  a  reason  also  for  his  with- 
drawal of  the  name  of  Father  Rosati :  Alluding  to  his  former  letters  to 
Propaganda  the  Bishop  writes:  "I  presumed  to  designate  the  Reverend 
Joseph  Rosati,  a  priest  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Missions,  in  whom 
I  said  nothing  is  wanting,  except,  possibly  the  proper  age,  to  bear  worth- 
ily this  formidable  burden.  However,  I  should  not  have  brought  him 
forth,  if  I  had  had  the  least  hope,  that  my  \Ticar-General,  Rev.  Louis 
Sibourd  who,  suffering  from  some  illness  a  few  months  since,  was 
forced  to  leave  New  Orleans  for  foreign  parts,  should  ever  return.  For 
I  have  no  priest  to  whom  I  am  bound  by  a  stronger  claim ;  I  know  none, 
who  enjoys  among  all,  the  laity  as  well  as  the  clergy,  a  higher  esteem 
for  prudence  and  holiness  of  life,  and  who  has  acquired  a  fuller  knowl- 
edge of  the  diocese. 

"As  he  now,  against  the  expection  of  all,  has  returned  well  and 
strong,  with  the  intention  of  remaining  in  New  Orleans  until  his  end,  I 
would  recall  the  former  designation,  and  ask  most  humbly,  that  the 
above-mentioned  Rev.  Louis  Sibourd,  a  priest  of  the  diocese  of  Embrun, 
later  parish  priest  in  the  Island  of  San  Domingo,  and  during  the  last 
five  years  Vicar  General  of  this  diocese,  a  man,  though  burdened  with 
a  number  of  years,  yet  not  too  far  advanced  in  age,  nor  broken  by 
infirmities,  be  given  to  me  as  Coadjutor,  with  the  right  of  succession. 
To  the  other  things  that  speak  for  him,  this  fact  may  be  added,  a  fact 
making  his  appointment  so  desirable  in  the  present  state  of  the  diocese, 


s     Souvay,  op.  cit.,  p.  306. 


Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  the  Coadjutorship  391 

namely  that  he  enjoys  sufficient  income,  to  serve  almost  at  his  own 
expense.  Lastly,  that  the  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  whose  Congregation  is 
not  yet  firmly  established  in  the  diocese,  cannot  without  grave  detriment 
be  separated  from  it  so  soon,  as  he  is  the  main-stay  thereof."9 

Being  asked  by  the  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda  to  propose 
some  other  priest,  not  older  than  himself,  besides  Vicar  General  Louis 
Sibourd,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  submitted  the  names  of  Fathers  Bertrand 
Martial  from  Bordeaux,  and  Joseph  Rosati,  both  men  of  genuine  piety, 
remarkable  power  of  mind  and  manners.  But,  "as  the  Rev.  B.  Martial 
and  the  Rev.  J.  Rosati  have  undertaken  under  my  auspices,  the  one 
the  foundation  of  a  college  for  the  religious  and  literary  education  of 
boys  in  Lower  Louisiana,  and  the  other  that  of  an  Ecclesiastical  Seminary 
in  Upper  Louisiana,  these  works  which  are,  I  shall  not  say  very  useful, 
but  really  necessary  above  all  others,  will  fatally  crumble  down,  if 
these  two  gentlemen  are  taken  away.  There  remains,  therefore,  but  one 
candidate  to  whom  the  Coadjutorship  may  be  given  without  grave 
inconvenience,  namely,  the  Rev.  Louis  Sibourd.  The  fact  that  he  is  a 
few  years  my  senior  does  not  seem  really  to  be  in  the  way :  first, 
because  his  vigor  and  his  virtue  are  in  proportion  to  his  years ;  secondly 
and  mainly,  because,  as  the  principal  reason  for  giving  me  a  Coadjutor 
is  that  the  minds  in  Lower  Louisiana  may  gradually  grow  reconciled 
with  the  government  of  the  Bishop,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
select  a  man  with  whom  they  are  already  quite  accustomed."10 

As  the  age  of  Father  Sibourd  seemed  to  militate  against  his  chances, 
Bishop  Du  Bourg  in  his  next  communication  substituted  the  name  of 
Father  De  Andreis  for  that  of  Sibourd  adding,  however,  that  De  An- 
dreis  and  Rosati  were  indispensible  for  the  establishment  of  their 
community,  as  Martial  was  for  the  College  he  had  founded  in  Lower 
Louisiana.  When  the  question  of  dividing  the  diocese  arose  once  more, 
the  Bishop  strongly  disadvised  such  a  step  for  the  present.  "Lower  and 
Upper  Louisiana  are  so  necessary  to  each  other,  that  if  they  be  separated, 
the  later  could  not  get  temporal,  and  the  other  spiritual  help.  The 
Episcopal  mensa,  and  the  support  of  the  seminary  are  somehow  supplied 
by  Lower  Louisiana ;  from  Upper  Louisiana  alone  can  priests  be  supplied. 
Each  one,  therefore,  needs  the  society  of  the  other ;  hence,  if  a  division 
is  made,  both  must  of  necessity  suffer.  At  some  future  day,  perhaps 
it  will  be  possible  to  make  this  division,  otherwise,  desirable,  without 
such  great  detriment ;  yet  it  will  always  be  profitable  to  proceed  slowly 
in  a  matter  of  such  importance,  lest,  under  the  specious  appearance  of 
greater  utility,  the  strength  of  both  parts  be  impaired.  For  the  present, 
at  any  rate,  it  is  evident  that  the  division  would  be  a  calamity ;  and  it 


s     Souvay,  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  II,  pp.  309-310. 
io     Ibidem,  vol.  II,  p.  48. 


392  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  both  sections  remain  under  the  author- 
ity of  only  one  Bishop,  to  whom,  however,  a  Coadjutor  should  be  given, 
to  take  a  portion  of  his  solicitude.''11 

As  St.  Louis  was  even  then  (1820)  mentioned  as  a  Metropolitan 
See,  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  gave  his  views  on  the  question.  "But  the  matter 
is  not  yet  ripe  for  consideration,"  he  wrote.  Now,  as  Cardinal  Fontana 
declined  to  give  the  Prelate  his  first  choice,  Father  Sibourd,  as  Coad- 
jutor, Du  Bourg  expresses  his  willingness  to  bear  the  burden  alone,  as 
long  as  his  strength  might  last.  In  the  meantime  the  Bishop  of  Louisi- 
ana felt  it  incumbent  upon  himself  to  visit  the  lower  part  of  his  diocese. 
On  St.  Mathias'  Day  1821,  he  relates  to  Cardinal  Fontana  in  triumphant 
tones  the  welcome  news  of  his  victory  over  all  obstacles:  "Your  Em- 
inence is  aware,  I  believe,  of  the  amount  of  hatred  first  aroused  against 
me  in  this  Lower  Louisiana;  it  went  so  far  that  I  could  go  there  only 
at  considerable  risk.  It  will  be  to  you,  therefore,  a  source  of  great 
wonder  to  hear  that,  in  this  visitation  of  my  Diocese,  I  have  met,  all 
the  way  to  NeAv  Orleans,  a  practically  unanimous  welcome  from  the 
clergy  and  the  people. 

' '  This  is  truly  the  work  of  the  Lord,  and  so  wonderful  has  this  change 
of  spirit  appeared,  that  the  persons  who  knew  the  distress  I  was  in,  can 
scarcely  believe  their  eyes  when  they  behold  the  consolations  with  which 
the  all-merciful  God  gladdens  my  soul.  Among  those  who  exhibited 
the  greatest  signs  of  joy  and  reverence  at  my  coming,  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  was  the  Rev.  Father  Anthony  De  Sedella,  the  very  same 
man  who,  in  former  times,  I  know  not  why,  was  most  hostile  to  me. 
Words  are  unavailing  to  describe  the  honors  with  which  he  welcomed 
me,  and  I  would  dare  say  that  there  is  no  one  more  in  harmony  with 
me,  no  one  to  whom  genuine  affection  prompts  to  more  solicitude  in 
my  behalf.  This  example  has  given  the  tone  to  the  whole  city,  so  that 
I  was  not  afraid  to  celebrate  publicly  a  Synod  in  that  same  city  where 
a  year  ago,  merely  to  show  myself  would  have  meant  extreme  danger. 

"This  Synod  was  made  up  of  some  twenty  priests  from  Lower 
Louisiana.  All  manifested  in  unison  both  their  obedience  to  me  and 
their  zeal  for  the  maintenance  of  Ecclesiastical  discipline.  It  afforded 
me  likewise  much  consolation  to  see  the  change  in  morals  and  the  increase 
of  piety  which,  thanks  to  the  labors  of  my  brother-priests,  has  been 
effected  in  almost  every  parish  within  so  short  a  space  of  time. 

"As  to  the  rest,  the  S.  Congregation  will  be  made  fully  cognizant 
of  it  by  the  Rev.  Angelo  Inglesi,  a  native  of  Rome  whom  I  mentioned  in 
my  preceding  letter.  I  would  not  hesitate  to  ask  him  for  my  Coadjutor 
were  it  not  proper,  according  to  my  judgment,  to  wait  a  few  years,  until 
he  is  more  fully  appreciated  by  his  brother-priests. 


n     Souvay,  op.  cit.,  vol.  II,  p.  131. 


Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  the  Coadjutor  ship  393 

However,  permit  me,  My  Lord,  to  give  you  this  hint  of  my  wish, 
so  that  in  ease  I  should  depart  this  life  before  this  wish  is  fulfilled. 
Your  Eminence  may  know  that  I  deem  no  one  to  be  more  acceptable  as 
my  successor.  I  am  glad  that  the  present  occasion  is  offered  Your 
Eminence  and  the  other  Cardinals  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  to  know 
him  and  bring  about  the  fulfilment  of  my  desires."12 

The  first  mention  of  Angelo  Inglesi  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  is  found 
in  his  letter  of  October  4th,  1815,  to  Father  Simon  Brut6,  in  which  he  is 
styled  a  "Roman  Count,"  an  acquisition  of  the  first  order,  and  a  man 
who  had  made  his  studies  for  the  priesthood,  and  lacked  but  the  final 
touches.  On  October  8th,  he  sings  the  praises  of  Inglesi  to  Father  Rosati. 
On  March  20,  1820,  he  ordains  Inglesi  and  in  May,  1820,  he  sends  him 
to  Rome  as  his  personal  representative.13 

On  the  death  of  Father  De  Andreis,  October  1820,  Bishop  Du  Bourg 
proposed  to  appoint  Father  Rosati  his  Vicar-General,  "sans  reserves," 
But  the  episcopal  visitation  in  Lower  Louisiana  has  once  more  forced 
upon  his  consideration  the  appointment  of  a  coadjutor.  If  he  gets  no 
help,  all  may  be  lost.  He  now  realizes  that  an  old  man  will  not  do.  He 
makes  no  complaint  that  Propaganda  refused  to  give  him  Sedella  and 
Sibourd,  both  old  men,  "But  then  it  remains  to  me  to  choose  from  among 
the  younger  clergy  one  who,  by  the  maturity  of  his  judgment,  his  sin- 
cere devotion  and  his  other  remarkable  qualifications,  may  make  up 
what  he  lacks  in  years. 

Such  a  one,  unless  affection  misleads  me,  I  have  found  in  the 
person  of  my  most  beloved  son,  the  Rev.  Angelo  Inglesi,  whom  Divine 
Providence  has  placed  by  my  side  to  be  to  me  a  comforter  in  my  sorrows 
and  the  staff  of  my  coming  old  age.  To  tell  plainly  the  truth,  never  did 
I  have  anyone  so  congenial  to  me,  and  who  ever  showed  greater  affection 
for;  me  and  greater  solicitude  for  my  flock.  This  solicitude  it  was 
which,  when  he  saw  me  destitute  of  almost  every  means  either  of  support- 
ing myself,  or  of  promoting  the  interest  of  our  missions,  led  him  to 
Europe,  in  order  that  both  with  his  own  fortune,  which  is  not  small, 
and  with  the  offerings  that  he  would  beg  from  the  faithful  he  might 
supply  our  want,  and  recruit  a  new  band  of  laborers  that  we  are  so 
much  in  need  of.  For  this  reason  I  do  not  hesitate  to  salute  him  from 
afar  as  the  chief  founder  of  the  Diocese.  I  believe  that  Your  Eminence 
is  aware  of  the  journeys  he  has  already  undertaken  for  that  purpose, 
of  how  worthily  he  has  acquitted  himself  of  his  mission,  and  of  the 
honors  bestowed  opon  him  everywhere,  even  by  the  greatest  princes  and 


12     Souvay,  op.  eit.,  vol.  II,  pp.  134  and  135. 

i3  Msgr.  Holweek  hns  given  a  very  interesting  though  saddening  account  of 
Angelo  Inglesi  in  the  ' '  St..  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review, ' '  vol.  V,  pp.  14-39. 
The  so-called  "Montmorency  Loan,"  one  of  Inglesi 's  transactions,  is  treated  by  Dr. 
Souvay  in  the  same  Review,  vol.  II,  pp.  199-203. 


394  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  potentates  of  various  countries.  All  this  evinces  certainly  a  prudence 
beyond  his  age  and  leaves  no  doubt  that  this  new  Timothy  will  so  con- 
duct himself  in  the  Episcopate  that  no  one  shall  despise  his  youth.  Why 
should  not,  therefore,  this  satisfaction  be  given,  not  only  to  my  own 
wishes,  but  also  to  those  of  the  whole  clergy  and  people  of  Louisiana, 
who  unanimously  desire  him  for  Coadjutor  and  successor."14 

In  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  fervid  imagination,  Inglesi  is  the  Novus 
Timotheus;  he  is  received  by  princes  and  nobles,  he  deserves  the  title 
of  the  praecipuus  dioceseos  fundator.  On  July  16th,  1822,  he  praises 
Inglesi  for  sending  a  small  band  of  missionaries,  and  on  September 
16th,  he  writes  to  Rosati,  that  he  has  reserved  Ste.  Genevieve  that  had 
become  vacant  through  the  death  of  Father  Hem-i  Pratte,  for  his 
beloved  Angelo.  On  the  same  day  he  receives  the  first  inkling  of  Inglesi 's 
scandalous  conduct  in  Rome.  How  pitiful  this  whole  episode  !  Bishop  Du 
Bourg  would  not  act  rashly.  Yet,  as  the  hasty  ordination  of  Inglesi  was  in 
conflict  with  the  Constitution  "Speculatores"  of  Innocent  XII,  Novem- 
ber 4th,  1694,  enacting  "that  no  Bishop  can  lawfully  raise  anyone  not 
his  own  subject  to  Sacred  Orders,  unless  the  candidate  has  established 
there  his  domicile  for  at  least  ten  years,  and  affirmed  under  oath  that 
he  has  truly  the  intention  of  remaining  there ;  bringing  testimonial 
letters  from  the  Ordinary  of  the  place  of  his  birth,"  Bishop  Du  Bourg 
had  incurred  suspension,  ipso  facto,  for  one  year,  from  conferring 
Orders.  He  was  so  notified  by  Cardinal  Fontana  in  the  name  of  tin1 
Sacred  Congregation,  who,  however  added  "As  their  Eminences  are  fully 
convinced  that  Your  Lordship  broke  the  Apostolic  Constitution  in  good 
faith,  and  not  out  of  contempt,  they  wTere  of  opinion  that  the  Holy 
Father,  should  be  beseeched  to  deign  absolve  from  the  afore-mentioned 
penalties,  by  his  Apostolic  authority,  insofar  as  needs  be,  both  Your 
Lordship  and  those  who  were  thus  ordained  by  you.  The  Holy  Father, 
in  the  audience  granted  to  the  undersigned  Secretary  of  the  15th  inst., 
kindly  acceded  to  the  request  of  the  S.  Congregation.  I  wish,  however, 
to  warn  Your  Lordship  and  all  the  other  Prelates  of  the  United  States, 
that  they  should  henceforth  conform  in  every  point  with  the  above 
mentioned  Constitution."15 

The  division  of  the  diocese,  and  the  erection  of  St.  Louis  into 
an  episcopal  See,  was  again  broached  by  Cardinal  Fontana :  Bishop  Du 
Bourg  answers  on  February  8th,  1822:  "As  to  the  erection  of  another 
See  in  the  City  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  no  one  certainly  can  be  pleased 
with  it  and  desire  it  more  than  myself,  as  it  means  for  me  relief  from 
immense  labors  and  cares.  Still,  there  is  one  reason  why  I  delay  asking 
at  once  for  it,  namely,  the  most  earnest  desire  I  have  to  free  from  all 
debts  and  obligations  certain  quite  extensive  properties  which   I  have 


i*     Souvay,  op.  cit.,  vol.  IT,  pp.  139  and  140. 
15     Souvay,  op.  cit.,  vol.  Ti.  p.  14fi. 


Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  the  Coadjutor  ship  395 

bought  as  an  endowment  for  that  See :  I  trust  that,  God  helping,  I  may 
within  a  year  reach  this  happy  goal.  When  this  is  accomplished  I  shall 
most  gladly  resign  this  part  of  my  solicitude  into  the  hands  of  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff,  hesitating  at  no  sacrifice,  in  order  that  the  Prelate 
who  is  appointed  to  this  new  See  may  be  spared  the  temporal  cares  and 
the  utmost  destitution  which  were  my  lot  for  several  years."16 

Early  in  1822  Bishop  Du  Bourg  received  from  the  Holy  See  the 
magnificent  sum  of  four  thousand  Roman  scudi  as  a  contribution  to  the 
support  of  the  diocese  of  Louisiana.17  But  Father  Inglesi  was  active 
among  the  Roman  nobles,  and  promised  to  send  even  larger  sums.  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  defended  him  in  a  letter  to  Cardinal  Consalvi,  Pro-Prefect  of 
the  Sacred  Congregation,  submitting  a  letter  of  a  certain  Mrs.  Perret. 
The  Cardinal  answered : 

"I  have  received  copy  of  a  letter  supposed  to  be  written  by  the 
Perret  woman  to  Father  Inglesi ;  but  even  if  the  latter  would  try  to 
justify  himself  of  the  grave  misdemeanor  which  is  imputed  to  him  (right 
or  wrong,  I  know  not),  still,  he  exhibited  other  signs  of  levity  and 
impropriety,  both  by  taking  part  in  dances  and  by  a  mode  of  dress 
in  no  way  befitting  an  Ecclesiastic.  For  this  cause,  clever  and  most 
skillful  in  business  though  he  be,  yet  I  do  not  wish  that  your  high 
estimate  of  him  should  dispense  you  from  watching  and  from  carefully 
investigating  his  character. '  '18 

"I  am  confident,"  wrote  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  Father  Martial,  "that 
Father  Inglesi  is  entirely  justified."  He  evidently  disbelieved  the  report. 
At  any  rate,  writing  to  Father  Rosati  on  Easter  Sunday  (April  7),  1822, 
he  spoke  of  Inglesi  in  the  following  terms:  "Father  Inglesi  will  bring  us 
recruits.  He  is  not  a  Bishop,  neither  does  he  wish  to  hear  of  it.  He 
was  sorry  to  have  written  to  me  a  certain  letter  which  I  communicated 
to  you.  He  announces,  he  will  be  here  about  the  beginning  of  the  year 
(1823).  I  cannot  tire  of  admiring  his  devotedness  and  zeal.  But  as 
you  may  imagine,  this  disappointment  causes  me  some  uneasiness.  But 
it  matters  not !  God  knows  what  is  best.  We  ought  not  to  lose  courage. '  '19 
Four  months  later,  and  certainly  after  he  had  received  Cardinal  Consal- 
vi's  letter,  speaking  of  the  unecclesiastical  behavior  of  Inglesi,  and 
recommending  watchfulness,  Du  Bourg 's  enthusiasm  had  not  yet  abated. 
On  August  7,  be  wrote  to  Father  Rosati:  "Good  news!  Five  or  six 
subjects  have  just  arrived  from  France  for  the  Seminary.  One  of  them 
is  Subdeacon,  the  other  have  Minor  Orders.  There  is,  moreover,  a 
Deacon,  who,  I  believe,  is  ready  for  Ordination.  .  .  This  reinforcement 


1(1     Souvay,  op.  cit.,  vol.  II,  p.  150. 

17     Cardinal    Consalvi   to   Du    Bourg,    original    in    Archives    of    St.    Louis    Arch- 
diocese. ' ' 

la     Souvay,  op.  cit.,  vol.  II,  pp.  212  and  273. 
!''     Souvay,  op.  lit.,  vol.  II,  p.  212,  nolo. 


396  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

which  has  just  come  to  us  from  Europe  is  but  the  forerunner  of  another 
including  four  or  five,  perhaps  even  ten,  priests.  You  understand  that 
it  is  the  indefatigable  Father  Inglesi  who  is  sending  them  to  me.  I  expect 
him  towards  the  end  of  this  year."20  The  following  month  (September 
6)  very  much  the  same  note  is  sounded.  "I  am  in  a  quandary  in  regard 
to  St.  Genevieve"  (it  was  only  a  few  days  after  the  death  of  Father 
Pratte).  "The  thought  came  to  my  mind  to  keep  that  place  for  Father 
Inglesi.   I  have  strong  reasons  for  so  doing." 

Inglesi  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  gifts  and  graces,  chief  among 
them  his  power  of  captivating  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
He  was  received  at  the  Courts  of  Versailles,  Naples,  Lucca,  Parma, 
Piacenza  and  Turin.  He  sent  a  number  of  excellent  missionaries  to 
Louisiana,  among  them  such  a  remarkable  man  as  John  Mary  Odin, 
According  to  his  own  report,  published  in  Europe,  he  received  the 
following  sums,  in  virtue  of  his  commission   from  Bishop  Du  Bourg : 

From  the  King  of  France   4.000  Francs 

The  King  of  Holland 1,085  Francs 

The  Emperor  of  Russia   20,000  Francs 

The  Emperor  of  Austria 20,000  Francs 

His  Holiness  the  Pope 20,400  Francs 

The  Duchess  of  Tuscany   11,474  Francs 

The  Duchess  of  Lucca 5,100  Francs 

The  King  of  Sardinia 5,000  Francs 

Sundry  Individuals  .  .  . 29,192  Francs 


116,251  Francs 

Deducting  the  expenses  and  the  sums  required  to  fit  out  the  mis- 
sionaries from  France,  there  remained  a  balance  of  95,051  francs,  which 
Mr.  Inglesi  has  remitted  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  and  he  publicly  appeals 
to  him  for  the  correctness  of  this  statement.21 

The  Roman  authorities,  however,  had  full  proof  of  Inglesi 's  scan- 
dalous conduct  and  expelled  him  from  the  city.  Cardinal  Consalvi  wrote 
to  Bishop  Du  Bourg  on  April  27th.  1822.  "In  regard  to  the  Rev. 
Angelo  Inglesi,  I  reckon  you  are  now  in  possession  of  the  letter  of  this 
S.  Congregation  in  date  of  September  22nd,  last,  in  which  we  informed 
you  of  his  improper  demeanor  in  Rome ;  hence  you  must  no  longer 
be  thinking  of  his  promotion.  One  thing  in  this  connection  vexes  me  very 
sorely,  namely  that  we  heard  from  New  Orleans,  that  as  the  rumor  was 
spread  there  that  Your  Lordship  wanted  him  as  Coadjutor,  a  great 
deal  of  trouble   arose  throughout   Louisiana,   and   all   the  missionaries 


20  Souvay,  op.  cit.,  vol.  II,  p.  212. 

21  Souvay,  op.  cit.,  vol.  II,  p.  215. 


Bishop  Du   Bourg  and  the  Coadjutors]) ip  397 

were  so  downhearted  that  some  left  the  Diocese,  while  others,  forgetful 
of  their  former  zeal  and  solicitude,  became  slack  and  careless  in  the 
discharge  of  their  duties.  Wherefore  I  earnestly  beg  you  in  the  Lord  to 
do  everything  in  your  power  to  suppress  that  evil  rumor,  and  to  recall 
the  clergy  to  their  duty,  in  order  that  what  you  have  built  up  with  so 
much  pain  and  care  may  not,  on  this  account,  fall  in  ruin."22  The1  fears 
of  Cardinal  Consalvi  were  not  without  foundation.  Father  Martial 
reports.  "The  opposition  which  manifested  itself  at  the  time  when  it 
became  known  he  (Bishop  Du  Bourg)  wished  to  have  Father  Inglesi 
for  coadjutor  rent  his  soul  asunder  to  such  an  extent  that  he  fulminated 
a  Circular  Letter  to  frighten  the  priests ;  but  he  was  very  sorry  for  it 
when  he  saw  the  effect  it  had  produced;  clever  men  may  sometimes 
make  great  mistakes.  There  remains  in  the  heart  of  some  missionaries 
a  wound  which  will  be  hard  to  heal.  I  tried,  but  in  vain,  to  stop  some 
from  going  away ;  they  replied  to  me :  "  One 's  first  duty  is  to  save  one 's 
self.  Assure  us  that  in  exercising  the  ministry  as  we  do  here,  we 
can  save  ourselves."23 

From  Washington,  where  he  had  just  made  his  arrangements  with 
the  Government  and  with  the  Jesuits  for  the  missions  among  the 
northern  Indians,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  gave  his  parting  injunctions  to 
Father  Philip  Borgua  CM.  on  the  eve  of  his  journey  to  Rome : 

"1.  For  your  soul,  do  not  forget  your  spiritual  exercises,  ct  in 
omnibus  exhibe  tr  sicui  Dei  ministrum. 

2.  In  the  interest  of  the  Mission,  travel  incognito,  as  much  as  you 
can ;  no  public  collections. 

3.  Bring  us  not  priests  except  two  or  three  good  missionaries  of 
your  Congregation,  capable  to  relieve  Father  Rosati.  You  know  the 
qualifications  they  must  have :  above  all  a  great  mansuetude ;  no  rig- 
orism, and  something  attractive  in  their  manners. 

4.  Make  known  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect  by  what  artifices  the  no- 
torious Inglesi  magnetized  me,  and  Father  De  Andreis  and  all,  both 
priests  and  lay  people,  who  know  him  here.  Say  that  I  acknowledge 
my  mistake  and  deplore  it;  and  that  such  is  the  confusion  and  the 
sorrow  into  which  this  sad  disclosure  has  plunged  me,  that  I  have 
been  several  times  tempted  to  beseech  His  Holiness'  permission  to  re- 
tire, in  order  that  I  may  bewail  this  fault;  that  the  sole  fear  to  see 
my  Diocese  lost  by  that  request  prevented  me ;  but  that  if  His  Eminence 
deems  it  fit  to  relieve  me  of  a  place,  of  which  I  made  myself  unworthy 
by  such  a  great  imprudence,  I  am  ready  to  resign,  and  will  be  most 
thankful  to  him. 


22  Souvay,  op.  cit.,  vol.  II,  p.  215. 

23  Ibidem,  note  5. 


398  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Whoever  speaks  to  you  of  this  sad  affair,  have  no  hesitation  to 
disown  the  wretched  imposter,  and  to  depict  the  sorrow  wherein  he  has 
plunged  me."24 

Of  Angelo  Inglesi's  affairs  from  now  on  we  have  but  little  to  say. 
He  returned  to  the  United  States,  became  entangled  in  the  scandalous 
Hogan  schism  in  Philadelphia;  was  then  shown  up  by  the  Bishop  of 
Quebec  that  he  had  been  a  strolling  player,  and  then  a  saloon-keeper, 
and  was  married  to  a  Catholic  woman  by  a  Presbyterian  preacher. 
From  Philadelphia  he  retired  to  the  "West  Indies  and  died  at  Port  Au 
Prince,  June  13,  1825,  whilst  ministering  to  the  dying  during  an  epi- 
demic of  cholera. 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  states  in  his  letter  that  he  had  proposed  his 
friend  Simon  Brute  for  his  coadjutor,  but  it  is  not  known  at  what  time. 
In  regard  to  Fathers  Sibourd  and  Kosetti  who  were  repeatedly  men- 
tioned for  the  dignity,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  this  to  say:  "The  former 
who  is  now  advanced  in  years  and  infirm,  is  moreover,  afflicted  by  a 
polyp  of  the  nose,  so  that  he  has  become  quite  incapable  to  stand  the 
work  of  the  Episcopate.  As  to  the  latter,  he  never  had  the  bodily  and 
mental  qualifications  fitting  one  for  that  dignity.  Still  less  since  he  has 
become  insane,  a  calamity  which,  to  the  extreme  sorrow  and  annoyance 
of  us  all,  occurred  two  years  ago."25 

Propaganda  thought  it  expedient  to  appoint  Father  Rosati  Ad- 
ministrator of  the  Church  in  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  with  the  title 
of  Bishop  (August  13,  1822)  a  dignity  and  burden  which  Rosati 
promptly  declined.  Rosati  was  now  Du  Bourg 's  only  candidate  for  the 
Coadjutorship. 


24  Souvay,  op.  fit.,  vol.  Ill,  p.  123. 

25  Souvay,  op.  tit.,  vol.  II,  p.  224. 


Chapter  21 
ROSATI'S  ELECTION  AS  COADJUTOR  BISHOP 


In  opening  his  Diary  of  1823,  Father  Rosati  writes  in  truly  lapi- 
dary style,  every  word  pregnant  with  meaning :  "As  the  Most  Rev. 
Ambrose  Marechal,  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  had,  of  his  own  accord, 
resigned  in  the  hands  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  Pius  VII,  all  the  juris- 
diction which  he  held,  and  the  care  which  he  exercised  over  the  ter- 
ritories of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  the  Holy  Father  at  the  request 
of  the  S.  Congregation  of  Propaganda  appointed  me  Vicar  Apostolic 
of  these  two  States,  with  the  character  and  title  of  Bishop  of  the 
Church  of  Tenagra,  in  partibus  infidelium,  by  an  Apostolic  Brief  in 
date  of  August  13,  1822. 

' '  On  receiving  this  Brief,  and  other  letters  from  the  S.  C.  of  Prop- 
aganda, dated  respectively  September  7th,  and  13th,  of  the  same  year, 
together  with  the  faculties  both  ordinary  and  extraordinary,  sent  on 
September  8th,  after  mature  consideration,  feeling  that  I  was  unable 
to  bear  such  a  burden,  I  answered  the  S.  Congregation  to  deign  to 
appoint  somebody  else ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  I  begged  earnestly 
Rev.  F.  Baccari,  Vicar  General  of  our  Congregation,  the  Right  Rev. 
William  Du  Bourg,  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  and  the  Right  Rev.  B.  J. 
Flaget,  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  to  plead  with  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  in 
order  to  deliver  me  from  the  obligation  of  accepting  that  dignity. 
Meanwhile,  at  the  request  of  the  S.  Congregation,  the  Sovereign  Pontiff, 
by  another  Brief  in  date  of  January  21,  1823,  added  to  the  aforesaid 
Vicariate  the  territory  of  the  Floridas.  This  Brief,  however,  never 
reached  me. 

"At  any  rate,  yielding  to  the  joint  entreaties  of  the  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  and  the  Bishop 
of  Bardstown,  Pius  VII,  always  at  the  request  of  the  S.  Congregation, 
abrogated  the  aforesaid  Briefs  of  Aiigust  13,  1822  and  January  21, 
1823,  and  maintaining  to  me  the  title  of  Bishop  of  Tenagra,  made 
me  Coadjutor  to  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  with  this 
provision ;  for  three  years  I  was  to  discharge  the  office  of  Coadjutor 
with  right  of  succession ;  at  the  end  of  this  period  the  Diocese  was  to 
be  divided  into  two :  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  would  then  choose 
whichever  portion  he  preferred,  and  the  administration  of  the  other 
would  be  given  to  me  by  new  Apostolic  Letters  to  be  then  sent  to  me. 
I  was  notified  of  all  this  by  a  letter  of  the  S.  Congregation  and  a  Brief 
dated  July  14,  1823.    Deterred  by  the  advice  of  our  Vicar  General  and 

(399) 


400  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishops  of  New  Orleans  and  Bardstown  from  re- 
sisting the  will  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  and  of  the  S.  Congregation, 
to  the  latter,  by  a  letter  of  December  6,  1823,  I  made  known  my  ac- 
ceptance, together  with  my  purpose  of  receiving  Episcopal  Consecration 
as  soon  as  possible."1 

Thus  far  Bishop  Rosati's  account  of  his  elevation  to  the  Episcopacy. 
The  vexed  question  of  the  coadjutorship  was  now  solved  to  the  satis- 
faction of  all;  and  the  eventual  division  of  the  diocese  Avas  removed 
from  the  changing  fancies  of  Monseigneur.  Within  three  years  St. 
Louis  was  to  have  corporate  existence  as  a  diocese  under  one  or  the 
other  prelate.  How  did  this  solution  come  about?  How  did  the  influ- 
ential men  whose  intercession  for  relief  had  been  invoked  by  Rosati 
respond  to  his  petition?  We  shall  take  up  point  by  point,  the  state- 
ments made  by  Rosati  in  his  Diary. 

It  was  Archbishop  Marechal  of  Baltimore  who  gave  the  first  impetus 
to  the  Avhole  proceeding  by  explaining  the  necessity  of  new  Sees  in  the 
rapidly  expanding  Church  of  America.  He  succeeded  in  obtaining  at 
least  this  much,  that  out  of  the  two  territories  of  Mississippi  and  Ala- 
bama, taken  away  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Baltimore,  a  Vicariate  Apos- 
tolic was  formed,  to  which  Father  Joseph  Rosati  was  appointed  with  the 
title  and  dignity  of  Bishop.  A  Pontifical  Brief  which  settled  these 
matters  was  issued  on  August  13,  1822 ;  the  Archbishop  took  it  along 
with  him  when  he  went  back  to  America,  and  on  reaching  home  sent  it 
at  once  to  Father  Rosati."2 

"This  action  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Propaganda  caused 
consternation  in  the  circle  of  Father  Rosati's  friends.  Father  Rosati 
himself  did  not  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  decide  that,  as  the  Episcopal 
dignity  and  burden  were  beyond  his  strength,  it  was  his  duty  to  refuse. 
He  wrote  so  much  to  Cardinal  Consalvi,  to  our  Vicar  General,  and  to 
some  others.  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  whom  this  oppointment  threatened 
to  deprive  of  a  most  active  co-laborer,  at  once  wrote  to  Rome,  ground- 
ing his  plea  on  three  arguments ;  First,  the  uselessness  of  the  recently 
created  Vicariate,  for  the  Catholics  were  few  in  the  territory  alloted  to 
it;  secondly,  the  inopportuneness  of  the  erection,  as  there  few  Catholics 
were  unable  to  support  a  Bishop ;  and  thirdly  and  foremost,  Father 


1  Two  volumes  of  Bishop  Eosati's  Diary  are  preserved,  the  one  in  the  Archives 
of  Kenrick  Seminary,  the  other  in  the  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese.  Dr.  Souvay 
has  published  a  large  portion  of  this  Diary  in  the  ' '  St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical 
Review/'  commencing  in  vol.  IV,  p.  311,  and  continuing  in  installments  till  vol.  V, 
p.  88.    "Our  Vicar-General"  is  Father  Baceari. 

2  "Life  of  Bosati, "  MS.  in  "Archives  of  Procurator  of  the  Congregation  of 
Mission,"  Rome.     Quoted  by  Souvay  in  "Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  Ill,  p.  13. 


Bosati's  Election  as  Coadjutor  Bishop  401 

Rosati's  departure  would  surely  mean  the  ruin  of  the  establishment 
of  the  Mission,  which  was  the  object  of  his  care  and  solicitude,  and 
on  which  so  much  money  had  been  spent.  It  would  consequently  be 
an  irretrievable  loss  to  religion."3 

The  Prelate  also  sent  the  most  urgent  request  to  Father  Rosati 
to  remain  firm  in  his  refusal  of  the  proffered  honor,  as  his  removal 
to  the  wilds  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama  would  certainly  bring  ruin 
on  the  Seminary  and  the  diocese  of  Louisiana.  "I  pray  God  to  direct 
you  in  your  answer;  but  in.  my  opinion  all  is  lost  in  the  whole  of 
Louisiana,  if  the  thing  comes  to  effect.  And,  besides  the  damage  caused 
to  Religion,  what  an  injustice  to  me !  and  what  motive  of  despondency 
for  all  the  Bishops !  God  preserve  me  from  ever  believing  that  this 
affair  may  be  consummated !  Did  I  believe  it  I  would  not  go  back  to 
my  Diocese,  but  I  would  go  and  tender  my  resignation  at  the  feet  of 
the  Pope."4 

To  the  Congregation  of  Propaganda  he  wrote  in  his  old  impulsive 
way :  "  It  is  the  downfall,  in  all  Louisiana,  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Mission,  which,  under  his  care  was  beginning  to  nourish  nicely,  and  at 
the  head  of  which  no  one,  besides  him,  can  be  put  for  the  time  being. 
It  is  the  downfall  of  our  Ecclesiastical  Seminary,  our  only  hope  for 
this  immense  country ;  and  this  downfall  will  bring  about  the  dispersion 
of  excellently  trained  priests  and  of  the  pupils,  whom  I  had  secured 
at  so  great  a  price.  As  to  me,  seeing  my  endeavors  frustrated,  if  I  do  not 
die  of  sorrow,  I  will  at  least  languish  in  despondency.  Oh !  Your 
Eminence !  What  have  you  done  ?  Who  ever  prompted  you  to  this 
advice  to  take  from  the  poorest  of  Bishops  the  last  and  only  anchor 
of  his  hope  ?  I  had  accepted  the  Episcopate  only  on  the  condition 
that  priests  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission  would  be  given  me  to 
help  me.  I  got  only  two  capable  to  build  up  that  Congregation  in  my 
Diocese,  Father  De  Andreis  and  Father  Rosati.  One  was  taken  away 
by  death,  and  now  you  are  depriving  me  of  the  other,  when  I  have 
consumed  immense  labors  and  a  great  deal  of  money  for  the  foundation 
of  their  Society.  In  one  day  are  annihilated  the  fatigues  and  efforts 
of  seven  years.  It  is  all  over :  if  that  appointment  takes  effect,  there 
is  nothing  for  me  to  hope,  nothing  to  attempt.  Dejected  I  shall  sit, 
bemoaning  the  ruin  of  the  edifice  which,  with  the  help  of  God,  my  labors 
had  begun  to  erect."3 


3  Souvay,  "Rosati's  Election  to  the  Coadjutorship  of  New  Orleans,"  in  "Cath- 
olic Historical  Review,"  vol.  Ill,  p.  15. 

4  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

5  Archives  of  Propaganda,  in  Souvay,  "Correspondence  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg 
with  Propaganda,"  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  II,  p.  221. 


402  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

The  Holy  Father,  had  in  the  meantime,  placed  an  additional  burden 
on  Father  Rosati's  shoulders,  assigning  the  temporary  care  of  the  two 
Floridas  to  the  newly  appointed  Vicar  Apostolic. 

"We,  by  the  advice  of  our  Ven.  Brethren  the  Cardinals  of  the 
Congregation  of  Propaganda,  have  resolved  to  dismember  from  the 
Diocese  of  New  Orleans  the  two  Floridas  and  to  unite  and  annex  them 
provisionally  to  the  recently  created  Vicariate  Apostolic  of  the  Ter- 
ritories of  Mississippi  and  Alabama;  and  finally,  it  being  our  wish  that 
our  Ven.  Brother  Joseph  Rosati,  recently  elected  Vicar  Apostolic  with 
Episcopal  dignity  and  title  of  the  two  territories  of  Mississippi  and 
Alabama,  should  have  care  and  jurisidiction  over  the  two  Floridas  as 
well,  with  all  the  faculties  enjoyed  by  the  other  Bishops  of  the  United 
States;  so,  in  virtue  of  our  Apostolic  authority  by  the  tenor  of  the 
present  letter  we  decree,  this  to  stand,  until  other  provision  shall  be 
made  by  this  Holy  See."6 

This  new  decree  did  not  reach  Father  Rosati,  yet  he  learnt  of  its 
tenor,  after  he  had  taken  the  bold  step  to  send  back  to  Rome  the 
Pontifical  documents.  It  was  Father  Philip  Borgna,  a  priest  of  his 
Community,  that  was  commissioned  by  Father  Rosati  to  carry  them 
back  to  Propaganda  and  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  obtain  the  annulment 
of  the  appointment. 

Archbishop  Marechal,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  Bishop  Flaget  had 
meanwhile,  carefully  reviewed  and  sifted  the  whole  matter,  and  their 
reports  were  unanimously  against  the  erection  of  the  new  Vicariate 
Apostolic.  These  reports  placed  Propaganda  in  a  rather  embarrassing 
position.  Yet  the  wisdom  and  resourcefulness  of  Rome  is  proverbial. 
The  Cardinals  quickly  found  a  favorable  way  out  of  a  difficulty  to  the 
attainment  of  a  long-desired  end.  Suppressing  the  impossible  Vicariate 
Propaganda  fell  back  upon  the  old  idea  of  dividing  Louisiana.  But, 
taught  by  experience,  it  carefully  postponed  taking  measures  for  a 
period  of  three  years,  meantime  appointing  the  Bishop-elect  of  Tenegra 
Coadjutor  to  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans. 

A  quotation  from  the  Brief  of  Pope  Pius  VII,  dated  July  14th, 
1823,  will  be  very  acceptable  here  as  being  probably  the  last  official 
act  of  the  great  Pope,  but  even  more,  as  being  the  great  charter  of 
the  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  Alluding  to  the  divisions  that  had  been  made 
by  Propaganda,  the  Holy  Father  continues:  "But  now  a  recent  report 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  same  Congregation  based  upon  a  letter  of  the 
Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  has  apprized  us  of  the  fact  that  the  establish- 
ment of  the  above-mentioned  Vicariate  and  the  Union  thereto  of  the 


6     Brief  of  January   21,   1823,   in   Souvay,   "Catholic   Historical   Review,"   vol. 
Ill,  p.  16. 


Bosati's  Election  as  Coadjutor  Bishop  403 

Floridas  made  later,  as  well  as  your  designation  for  that  Vicariate  are 
not  only  purposeless,  owing  to  the  small  number  of  Catholics  in  the 
countries  forming  it;  not  only  inopportune  because  these  countries  are 
utterly  unable  to  support  a  Bishop,  but  also  your  very  appointment 
will  be  a  calamity  for  the  cause  of  Religion  in  all  Louisiana,  for  your 
departure  from  Louisiana  will  strike  the  death-blow,  it  is  asserted,  to 
the  house  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission  recently  erected  and 
working  so  usefully  in  Louisiana,  and  to  the  Ecclesiastical  Seminary, 
and  finally  to  the  College  founded  for  the  education  of  young  men  in 
Religion  and  in  'the  liberal  arts,  as  you  are  the  only  person,  on  account 
of  the  scarcity  and  youth  of  the  sacred  ministers  residing  in  those 
parts,  who  can  be  usefully  at  the  head  of  these  establishments. 

Therefore,  the  afore-mentioned,  Apostolic  Letters  whereby  We  made 
you  Vicar  Apostolic  of  the  Territories  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama  in 
the  United  States  and  added  to  it  the  Floridas  dismembered  from  the 
Diocese  of  New  Orleans,  and  elected  you  Vicar  Apostolic,  We,  in  virtue 
of  the  apostolic  authority,  by  the  tenor  of  these  presents  cancel  and 
abrogate ;  and  thus,  as  We  had  elected  you  Bishop  of  Tenegra  as  per 
our  former  Apostolic  letter  of  August  13th,  1822,  and  as  you  now  have 
possibly  received  already  Episcopal  Consecration,  canceling  likewise  your 
appointment  as  Vicar  Apostolic,  We  designate  you  to  aid  the  Bishop  of 
New  Orleans  in  the  administration  of  his  Diocese  in  quality  of  his  coad- 
jutor, the  following,  however,  being  understood  both  by  you  and  by 
that  bishop :  Louisiana  shall  be  divided  into  two  Episcopal  Sees  within 
three  years ;  if,  which  may  God  avert !  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  should 
depart  this  life  before  the  division  be  made,  you  shall  at  first  take  the 
administration  of  the  whole  of  Louisiana;  then  when  the  division  will 
be  made,  you  shall  have  the  government  of  only  one  of  these  two  Sees, 
and  the  other  shall  be  turned  over  to  the  person  designated  by  the  Ap- 
ostolic See."7 

Father  Borgna  reached  Rome  in  the  First  days  of  November. 
Since  leaving  America  on  April  10th,  he  had  had  ample  time 
to  make  reflections,  and  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
good  of  religion  in  America  imposed  upon  him  the  duty  of  disregarding 
the  wishes  of  his  Superior,  and  of  urging  strongly  Father  Rosati's  ap- 
pointment. In  November  1823,  Propaganda  sent  back  to  Father  Rosati 
the  Brief  of  August  13th,  1822,  and  accompanied  it  with  a  letter  ap- 
pealing to  the  appointee's  sense  of  obedience.  But  he  had  already  sub- 
mitted himself  to  the  inevitable.  Both  Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  Bishop 
Flaget  made  it  clear  to  the  Bishop  Elect  that  it  was  his  duty  to  resist 
no  longer.     Father  Baccari  also  had  advised  acceptance.     On  December 


7     Brief  of  July  14,  1823,  in  Souvay,  1.  e.  pp.  18  and  19. 


404  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

6th,  Father  Rosati  wrote  to  his  brother  Nicola:  "I  wrote  to  you  sonic 
time  ago  that  last  year  1  had  been  elected  Vicar  Apostolic  and  Bishop 
of  Tenegra  (in  partibus)  ;  1  refused  to  accept.  My  refusal  has  been 
taken  into  consideration  in  so  far  as  the  Vicariate  Apostolic  is  concerned ; 
but  instead  I  have  been  elected  Coadjutor  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg.  I  con- 
fess to  you  that  that  burden  affrights  me.  But  I  find  myself  in  the 
necessity  of  refusing  no  longer,  as  this  was  made  to  me  a  grave  duty 
of  conscience  by  our  Bishop  and  by  others  whom  I  consulted.  I  must 
therefore  submit."8 

"However,  as  T  had  sent  back  to  Rome  the  Apostolic  Letter  of 
August  13,  1822,  the  S.  Congregation  returned  it  to  me,  adding  a 
new  letter,  dated  November  22,  1823,  commanding  me  to  obey  the 
will  of  the  Apostolic  See.  In  compliance  with  these  orders  of  the  Holy 
See,  and  receiving  from  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  letters  advising 
me  of  the  place  in  Lower  Louisiana  where  the  Consecration  was  to  be, 
and  of  the  most  convenient  time  for  that  ceremony,  I  made  my  prep- 
arations for  the  journey.  Accordingly  I  started  from  the  Seminary 
for  Ste.  Genevieve  as  winter  was  at  its  fiercest.  Received  there  most 
amiably  by  Father  F.  X.  Dahmen,  priest  of  our  Congregation,  and 
Rector  of  that  Church,  I  stayed  with  him  waiting  for  a  boat.  On  the 
Sunday,  (February  1st)  preached  at  high  Mass  to  the  people. 

Septuagesima  Sunday  (February  8th)  preached  at  high  Mass  to 
the  people. 

Sexagesima  Sunday ;  preached  at  high  Mass  to  the  people. 

Quinquagesima  Sunday :  celebrating  Mass  early  in  the  morning, 
went  on  board,  and  we  left  Ste.  Genevieve. 

' '  Until  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  river  trip  quite  difficult,  owing  to  the 
low  stage  of  the  water.  Five  times  we  struck  sand  bars,  so  that  it 
was  only  after  twelve  days,  that  is,  on  March  4,  that  we  reached  there. 
The  remainder  of  the  journey  we  made  most  rapidly,  for  the  Ohio, 
brimful  of  water,  bringing  to  the  Mississippi  its  most  generous  tribute, 
permitted  the  latter  to  carry  the  largest  vessels ;  accordingly  in  three 
days  we  made  Natchez,  and  the  following  day  late  at  night  I  left  the 
boat  and  landed  near  Donaldsonville.  There  for  two  days  I  enjoyed 
the  hospitality  of  Father  Brassac,  welcomed  Father  Acquaroni,  who 
came  to  see  me ;  and,  accompanied  by  Father  Brassac,  went  over  to 
see  the  Bishop  at  the  house  of  his  nephew  nine  miles  from  the  Church 
of  the  Ascension  on  the  left  side  of  the  river;  we  welcomed  him  jnst 
as  he  was  coming  back  from  New  Orleans.  Two  days  I  enjoyed  there 
his  company  and  conversation,  and  accompanied  by  him  I  came  back 
to  Donaldsonville.  The  next  day,  after  the  divine  service.  Father  Brassac 
took  me  over  to  the  Parish  of  the  Assumption ;  there,  as  the  guest  of  the 


8     Bosati  to  his  brother  Nicola,  December  (5,  1823,  in  Souvay,  1.  (it.,  p.  20. 


Rosati's  Election  as  Coadjutor  Bishop  405 

Pastor,  Father  Bigeschi,  I  made  a  few  days  retreat,  after  which  Fathers 
Bigeschi,  Tichitoli  and  myself  set  off  for  Father  Bernard  de  Deva's, 
where  we  remained  over  night ;  the  following  day  we  reached  St. 
Joseph 's  where  we  spent  the  rest  of  that  day  and  the  night  with  Fathers 
Potini  and  Rosti,  priests  of  our  Congregation  who  have  charge  of 
that  Parish.  The  next  day  after  Mass  we  went  back  to  Father  Bernard's 
and  remained  with  him  until  the  following  day,  being  detained  by 
rain.  After  dinner  we  came  to  the  Assumption  and  finally  to  Donald- 
sonville,  where  I  found  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  and  most 
of  those  who  had  been  invited  to  the  Consecration.  Everything  in 
the  church  was  in  readiness;  the  joyous  peal  of  the  church  bell,  the 
roar  of  the  mortar,  the  sound  of  innumerable  pipes,  first  from  the 
houses  near  the  church,  then  from  every  other  house  inside  and  even 
outside  the  Parish  of  the  Ascension  heralded  to  all  the  faithful  the 
morrow's  celebration. 

"Accordingly,  on  the  day  devoted  to  commemorate  the  Lord's  In- 
carnation, in  the  church  of  the  Ascension  at  Donaldsonville,  amidst  a 
great  concourse  of  people,  the  following  pastors  and  members  of  the 
clergy  of  the  Diocese  being  in  attendance :  Revs.  Bernard  Deva,  former 
pastor  of  the  Assumption;  Joseph  Bigeschi,  present  rector  of  the  same 
parish;  Charles  De  la  Croix,  pastor  of  St.  Michael's;  Anduze,  of  St. 
James';  Brassac,  of  the  Ascension;  Potini,  of  St.  Joseph's;  Rosti  and 
Tichitoli,  priests  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission;  Millet,  pastor 
of  St.  Charles ;  Peyretti,  Janvier ;  Mr.  Hermant,  a  cleric ;  the  Very  Rev. 
L.  Sibourd,  Vicar-General,  and  Father  Anthony  de  Sedella,  O.  M.  C,  ful- 
filling by  dispensation  the  office  of  Assistant  Consecrators.  I  was 
anointed  and  consecrated  by  the  Right  Rev.  Louis  William  Du  Bourg ; 
Father  Anduze  preached  the  sermon. 

Assisted  at  the  High  Mass,  after  which  I  administered  the  Sac- 
rament of  Confirmation  to  five  persons."0 

After  the  consecration  in  the  Church  of  The  Ascension,  Donaldson- 
ville, Bishop  Rosati  made  a  round  of  visits  to  his  old  and  new  friends 
in  Lower  Louisiana.  His  first  visit  was  to  Father  Francis  Cellini,  then  re- 
siding in  the  Parish  of  St.  Charles  of  Opelousas.  Father  Hercules  Brassac 
accompanied  him.  Travelling  partly  by  boat,  partly  on  horseback,  they 
reached  their  destination,  the  house  of  Madam  Mary  Smith,  where 
Father  Cellini  and  Rosti  were  staying  on  April  1st.  On  the  next 
morning  the  Bishop  visited  the  Convent  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  erected  there  under  the  auspices  of  Madam  Smith,  and  said. 
Mass,  and  gave  the  Benediction  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  to  the  Nuns 
and  to  thirty  girls  who  were  educated  there. 


0     Rosati 's  Diary. 


406  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

The  next  two  days  Rosati  said  Mass  in  the  same  place,  and  preach- 
ed to  the  Nuns  and  the  girls. 

After  Mass  said  at  an  early  hour,  he  was  taken  back  to  the  boat 
by  Father  Cellini ;  and  going  on  board,  the  party  sailed  through  the 
Bayous,  the  next  day;  thence  in  a  carriage  they  came  about  night  fall 
to  the  Mississippi  river;  the  next  day  they  reached  Donaldsonville 
where  Father  Rosti  was  waiting  for  them. 

On  the  9th,  the  Bishop  took  a  boat  to  carry  him  down  the  river, 
and  at  halfpast  six  he  landed  in  New  Orleans.  From  the  boat  he  went 
straightway  to  the  Bishop's  residence,  and  remained  there.  He  said 
Mass  in  the  Church  of  the  Ursulines,  after  which  he  paid  a  visit  to 
their  Superior  and  to  Father  Anthony ;  and  saw  at  the  Bishop 's  res- 
idence all  the  priests  living  in  the  city,  namely,  Father  Sibourd,  Moni, 
Jeanjean,  Richard,  Acquaroni,  Portier,  Janvier,  Midland,  and  Bertrand. 
On  Palm  Sunday,  he  said  Mass  early  in  the  morning  in  the  church  of 
the  Nuns;  and,  later  on,  in  the  cathedral,  before  the  solemn  Mass,  he 
blessed  and  distributed  the  Palms  and  was  present  at  the  procession 
and  solemn  Mass. 

On  Maundy  Thursday,  he  celebrated  pontifical  Mass  in  the  church 
of  the  Nuns,  to  whom  he  gave  Holy  Communion.  He  assisted  at  the 
solemn  Mass  and  the  solemn  Consecration  of  the  Oils  by  the  Bishop  of 
New  Orleans  in  the  Cathedral,  also  at  the  office  of  Tenebrae. 

On  Good  Friday,  he  celebrated  the  service  solemnly  in  the  church 
of  the  Nuns,  and  at  the  cathedral  attended  the  office  of  Tenebrae,  after 
which  he  went  to  visit  the  tomb  of  Father  Ferrari,  priest  of  the  Con- 
gregation. On  Easter  Sunday,  Celebrated  solemn  pontifical  Mass  in 
the  Cathedral;  during  Mass  the  right  Rev.  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  preach- 
ed the  sermon  from  the  communion  rail,  assisted  at  Vespers  in  the  same 
place. 

On  May  10th,  the  Coadjutor  Bishop  finally  sailed  on  the  Dolphin : 
his  companions  were  Father  Potini  and  the  Seminarian  Hermant. 
After  ten  days  the  boat  landed  at  Bois-Brule,  twelve  miles  from  the 
Seminary.  Here  the  student  disembarked,  whilst  the  Bishop  and  Father 
Potini  continued  the  journey  to  St.  Louis,  arriving  there  on  May  20th. 
After  a  brief  rest  at  the  Cathedral  in  company  of  Father  Niel,  Audizio 
and  Saulnier  the  Bishop  set  out  for  St.  Ferdinand  to  visit  the  Novitiate 
of  the  Jesuits  under  Father  Van  Quickenborne  and  the  Convent  of  the 
Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  Mother  Duchesne.  The  next  morn- 
ing the  Bishop  returned  to  St.  Louis  where  he  had  a  long  conversation 
with  General  William  Clark,  the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  for 
the  West,  about  the  Indian  Missions.  From  St.  Louis  the  Bishop 
started  back  to  the  Seminary.  The  good  people  of  the  Barrens  wished 
to  give  the  returning  Father  and  Shepherd  a  loud  and  hearty  welcome, 


Rosati's  Election  as  Coadjutor  Bishop  407 

and  had  sent  Mr.  Paquin  to  Ste.  Genevieve,  to  give  them  timely  warning 
of  the  Prelate's  approach.  The  Bishop  forbade  the  young  man  to  carry 
out  the  plan.  Hence  the  people  had  no  chance  of  giving  the  Bishop 
a  solemn  reception  on  his  home  coming.10 

"I  shall  continue  to  reside  at  the  Seminary  and  to  live  in  one 
Community,  teaching  my  classes,"  wrote  Bishop  Rosati  to  Propaganda 
on  accepting  the  Episcopacy,  as  it  had  been  stipulated  by  Father 
Baccari,  as  well  as  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg.    The  former  wrote : 

"By  virtue  of  an  agreement  entered  into  with  Propaganda,  you 
must  remain  Superior  of  the  house  and  Seminary  over  there,  and  head 
of  the  whole  Mission  in  America,  with  the  ordinary  powers  of  Visitor. 
or  even  of  Vicar  General,  for  all  cases  where  there  is  no  time  to  write 
to  Rome  and  wait  for  an  answer;  and  therefore  you  are  empowered  to 
appoint  confreres  to  rule  the  houses  with  the  title  of  Vicar-Superiors."11 

The  latter  had  written  to  Propaganda:  "In  a  former  letter  I 
asked  that  Father  Brute,  a  Sulpician  priest  of  the  highest  merit,  be 
given  me  for  Coadjutor,  as  I  was  afraid  that  if  Father  Rosati  were  ap- 
pointed he  would  be  taken  away  from  the  superiorship  of  his  Society. 
But  now  that  he  has  already  been  designated  for  the  Episcopate,  I  ask 
that  he  be  given  the  preference  over  Father  Brute  for  the  Coadjutor- 
ship,  and  may  continue  at  the  same  time  to  be  Superior  of  his  Congrega- 
tion until  some  one  else  may  take  his  place  in  this  office.  This  is  an 
easy  way  of  reconciling  every  interest.  Father  Rosati,  residing  in 
Upper  Louisiana,  where  are  the  headcpiarters  of  his  Congregation  and 
the  Seminary,  will  administer,  in  my  name,  with  Episcopal  authority, 
the  portion  of  the  Diocese,  while  at  the  same  time  he  will  foster  the 
progress  of  the  infant  Society.  I.  on  the  other  hand,  shall  principally 
take  care  of  Lower  Louisiana,  and  continue  to  provide  for  the  little 
flock  in  Mississippi;  finally,  the  Catholics  of  Alabama  and  Florida  will 
have  their  own  Bishop."12 


10  Diary. 

11  Souvay,  "Rosati's  Elevation  to  the  See  of  St.  Louis,"  1.  fit.,  p.  171. 

12  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese,  ef.  Souvay,  "Correspondence  of  Du  Bourg 
with  Propaganda,"  1.  eit.,  vol.  II,  p.  223. 


Chapter  22 
LINKING  OLD  AND  NEW 


The  appointment  of  Rosati  as  Coadjutor  Bishop  with  residence 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  diocese  of  Louisiana,  established  St.  Louis 
an  episcopal  See,  de  facto,  though  not  as  yet  de  jure.  By  Bishop  Du 
Bourg's  consent  Bishop  Rosati  exercised  full  jurisdiction  in  Missouri, 
Arkansas,  Western  Illinois,  and  all  the  territory  to  the  North  and 
West.  Within  three  years  this  arrangement  was  to  become  permanent, 
de  jure  also ;  St.  Louis  with  the  surrounding  territory  was  to  become 
i  separate  diocese  with  Joseph  Rosati  as  its  first  Bishop.  It  seems 
proper,  therefore,  at  this  juncture,  to  link  up  the  new  regime  that 
Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  initiated,  and  Bishop  Rosati  was  to  continue 
and  extend,  with  the  remnants  of  the  old  regimes  of  the  French  Jesuits 
and  the  Spanish  Monks,  that  survived  the  period  of  change  and  disaster. 

There  were  the  ancient  parishes  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi, 
Cahokia,  Kaskaskia,  Prairie  du  Rocher  in  Illinois;  the  Post  of  Arkan- 
sas, the  former  Parish  of  New  Madrid,  Ste.  Genevieve,  then  Father 
Dunand's  stations  in  Perry  County,  the  Catholic  villages  of  St. 
Michael's,  Old  Mines,  Potosi,  Little  Canada;  then  the  old  Catholic 
towns  on  the  Missouri  River,  St.  Charles,  St.  Ferdinand  with  Dardenne 
and  Portage  des  Sioux,  and  lastly  St.  Louis  itself  with  Carondelet  as 
a  dependency.  The  numerous  recruits  brought  from  overseas  by  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  and  his  supporters  were,  of  course,  distributed  over  all 
Louisiana,  Upper  and  Lower  as  well. 

Father  Felix  De  Andreis,  the  first  and  foremost  member  of  the  new 
clergy,  was  stationed  at  the  Pro-Cathedral  in  St.  Louis,  where  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  also  had  his  residence.  Father  De  Andreis  was  retained  as 
Vicar-General,  Superior  of  the  La^arists  and  Pastor  of  the  Cathedral 
until  his  holy  death.  It  was  in  the  primitive  parsonage  of  Father 
Bernard  de  Limpach  on  Church  St.,  now  Second,  between  Market  and 
Walnut,  that  the  Servant  of  God  spent  the  last  years  of  his  life.  It 
was  here  that  he  established  the  first  novitiate  of  his  Congregation  with 
Father  Ferrari  and  M.  M.  Tichitoli  and  Dahmen  as  novices.  Father 
De  Andreis'  successor  as  pastor  of  the  Cathedral,  and  President  of  the 
College  established  under  his  auspices,  was  the  Rev.  Francis  Niel,  with 
Leo  Deys  and  A.  B.  Anduze  as  assistants,  and  Edmund  Saulnier,  then 
but  a  student,  as  teacher  of  languages. 

The  Rev.  Aristide  Anduze,  a  native  of  the  diocese  of  Rennes,  in 
France,   came   to  Missouri    in   (he   summer   of   1820,   after    making   his 

(408) 


Linking  Old  and  New  409 

theological  studies  at  Mount  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore,  and  was 
raisedto  the  priesthood  in  November  1821.  After  teaching  a  while  at  the 
College  of  St.  Louis,  Father  Anduze  was  called  to  Lower  Louisiana. 
He  was  chosen  to  preach  the  sermon  on  the  occasion  of  Bishop  Rosati  's 
consecration ;  and  a  very  eloquent  sermon  it  was,  as  Bishop  Rosati 
bore  witness.  Of  the  three  original  novices  of  Father  De  Andreis. 
Joseph  Tichitoli,  was  a  member  of  that  little  band  of  clerics  who  had 
gathered  around  the  Milanese  priest,  John  Mary  Rosetti,  and  were  ac- 
cepted by  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  when  he  came  to  Milan  in  1816.  And  he 
alone  of  all  the  band  was  permitted  to  accompany  the  advance  guard 
under  De  Andreis;  whilst  the  others  had  to  wait  until  1818. 

Tichitoli  was  a  native  of  Como.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  raised  him  to 
the  priesthood  on  the  15th  of  December  1818  and  sent  him  to  Lower 
Louisiana.  Father  Rosati  speaks  of  him  as  a  most  precious  subject, 
full  of  zeal  and  a  very  able  preacher  both  in  English  and  in  French, 
the  proper  man  for  giving  missions." 

The  second  member  of  this  noble  trio,  Fr.  Andrew  Ferrari,  a 
native  of  Port  Maurice,  was  already  a  priest  when,  in  1815,  he  resolved 
with  his  friend,  Canon  Caretti,  to  enlist  for  the  American  mission. 
While  in  Kentucky  he  begged  admission  into  the  Vincentian  Order, 
and  after  six  months'  novitiate,  was  sent  to  Vincennes,  as  assistant 
of  Father  -Anthony  Blanc,  whom  he  succeeded  as  pastor  in  January 
1820.  He  died  in  New  Orleans,  of  the  yellow  fever,  November  2,  1822. 
Father  Sedella  held  the  funeral  services  over  the  remains  of  his  faith- 
ful assistant. 

The  third  and  last  of  Father  de  Andreis'  novices  was  a  native  of 
Germany,  the  Rev.  Francis  Xavier  Dahmen,  who  Avas  born  at  Dueren, 
in  the  diocese  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  on  March  23,  1789. 

But  of  good  Father  Dahmen  we  have  given  a  partial  account  in 
the  chapter  on  Ste.  Genevieve.  We  shall  meet  him  again  in  a  future 
chapter  at  St.  Vincent's  Church  St.  Louis. 

Father  Henry  Pratte  of  Ste.  Genevieve  was  one  of  the  golden  links 
that  clasped  the  new  regime  to  the  old.  He  was  the  first  native  priest 
of  Missouri,  having  been  born  in  Ste.  Genevieve  on  January  19,  1788. 
He  made  his  theological  studies  in  Montreal  and,  after  his  ordination, 
called  upon  Bishop  Flaget,  the  Administrator,  and  was  appointed 
pastor  of  his  native  city.  The  parish  of  Ste.  Genevieve  had  been  with- 
out a  priest  since  the  death  of  Father  Maxwell,  May  28th,  1814. 

Kaskaskia,  the  glorious  mother  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  but  now  a  mere 
wreck  of  former  greatness,  was  assigned  to  Father  Pierre  Desmoulins. 
who  came  from  France  to  America,  with  Du  Bourg  in  1817,  and 
journeyed  to  the  Barrens  with  Father  Rosati.  After  his  ordination 
at  Ste.  Genevieve,  November  1,  1818 ;  he  was  appointed  to  Kaskaskia, 


•110  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

in  1819,  and  there  opened  a  school.  As  pastor  of  Baton  Rouge,  Father 
Pierre  Desmoulins  caused  much  excitement  by  refusing  to  suffer  masonic 
symbols  to  be  united  with  the  ceremonies  of  the  church  at  a  funeral. 
The  trustees  of  the  church  applied  to  the  Bishop  of  Louisiana  that 
he  might  direct  the  curate  to  conform  to  their  wishes  on  the  subject. 

In  1822  Prairie  du  Rocher  was  still  attended  by  that  grand  old 
man,  Father  Donatien  Olivier,  then  in  his  73rd  year,  but  soon  to 
retire  to  the  hospitable  shelter  of  St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens  (1827). 
Bishop  Rosati  says  of  him:  "He  is  a  saint,  who  has  labored  for  many 
years  in  the  service  of  all  the  Catholics  of  these  regions."  The  parish 
was  attended  from  the  Seminary  by  Father  Cellini,  De  Neckere,  Mascar- 
oni,  and  from  Kaskaskia  by  Father  Paillasson  until  1832,  when  Father 
Vitalis  Van  Clostere  became  its  pastor.  Father  Van  Clostere  came 
to  Missouri  under  the  auspices  of  Father  De  Neckere,  in  company  of 
Peter  Doutreluigne  and  Peter  Paul  Lefevere.  He  was,  as  his  name 
indicates,  a  Belgian.  Cahokia,  the  oldest  town  in  the  valley,  still  had 
its  old  pastor,  Father  Francis  Savine,  the  last  of  the  Canadian  priests 
to  serve  the  people  of  the  Illinois.  On  his  departure  for  the  South, 
Father  Peter  Doutreluigne  officiated  at  the  church  of  the  Holy  Family 
every  Sunday. 

St.  Ferdinand  of  Florissant  remained  in  charge  of  the  Trappist 
Prior,  Mary  Joseph  Dunancl,  until  1820,  when  Father  Charles  De 
La  Croix  took  charge.  The  Nuns  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  on  their  transmi- 
gration from  St.  Charles,  were  deeply  indebted  to  him  for  his  paternal 
solicitude.  Mother  Duchesne's  character  sketch  of  Father  De  La  Croix 
will  be  of  interest  here:  "Simple  as  a  child  and  valiant  as  a  soldier, 
Mr.  De  La  Croix  was  afraid  of  nothing,  he  dreaded  neither  the  floods  nor 
the  depths  of  the  forest  swarming  with  serpents  and  wild  beasts,  nor 
the  pathless  deserts  he  had  to  travel  through  at  night.  In  all  dangers 
his  shield  was  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  he  had  an  unbounded  confidence 
in  the  Angels.  On  entering  into  any  negotiations  he  took  care,  before 
speaking  to  the  persons  he  had  to  treat  with,  to  pray  to  their  guardian 
angels,  and  experience  had  proved  to  him  that  this  expedient  always 
succeeded.  The  Bishop  used  to  call  him  'his  Angel.'  And  he  had  in- 
deed, an  angelic  love  of  God  and  an  activity  in  service  which  made  him 
fly  whenever  work  was  to  be  done  for  religion. ' n 

During  their  stay  at  St.  Charles,  the  devoted  sisters  had  for  their 
Director  and  Confessor,  the  very  Rev.  Benedict  Richard,  the  pastor 
of  St.  Charles.  Father  Richard — not  to  be  confounded  with  Father 
Gabriel  Richard,  pastor  of  Detroit — had  come  to  Louisiana  about  the 
same  time  as  Mother  Duchesne  and  her  companions,  reaching  St.  Louis 


1     Erskine,  "Mother  Du  Chesne, "  p.  208. 


Linking  Old  and  New  411 

on  the  20th  of  August  1818.  He  was  first  assigned  to.  St.  Charles, 
thus  remaining  in  close  contact  with  the  Sacred  Heart  Nuns.  Some 
time  after  the  departure  of  the  Community  to  Florissant  Father 
Richard  himself  was  transferred  to  Louisiana,  where  he  was  appointed 
chaplain  of  the  Ursulines.  During  the  epidemic  of  yellow  fever  in 
1822,  Father  Richard  was  attacked  by  the  disease,  but  "heaven"  wrote 
Father  Odin  some  time  later,  "did  not  Avish  to  deprive  the  Mission 
of  such  a  holy  man." 

He  became  Vicar-General  of  New  Orleans  under  Bishop  De  Neckere. 

St.  Charles  of  the  Little  Hills  on  the  Missouri,  had  been  a  parish 
under  the  Spanish  regime,  but  lay  forsaken  until  the  arrival  of  Father 
Benedict  Richard.  He  was  succeeded  by  Father  John  Baptist  Acquar- 
oni,  a  native  of  Porto  Maurizio,  who  as  a  priest  of  the  Mission  had 
joined  Father  De  Andreis  and  Rosati  on  their  journey  from  Rome  to 
America.  He  remained  in  St.  Thomas'  Seminary,  until  the  arrival  of 
Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  arrived  in  St.  Loins  on  April  25th,  1818.  A  few 
months  later  Bishop  Du  Bourg  put  him  in  charge  of  the  two  parishes 
of  Portage  des  Sioux  and  La  Dardenne,  Mo.  In  October  1820  he  ac- 
companied from  St.  Louis  to  the  Barrens  the  body  of  Father  De 
Andreis.  In  the  summer  1822  he  departed  for  the  South.  "He  lacks 
a  little  the  polite  manners  which  some  people  want  to  see  in  a  priest." 

The  village  of  Carondelet,  or  as  it  was  usually  called,  Vide  Poche, 
with  about  one  hundred  French  families,  had  no  priest  in  1825,  but 
was  later  on  visited  by  Father  Edmund  Saulnier.  St.  Michaels  at 
Fredericktown  also  had  no  resident  priest,  but  was  attended  from  the 
Barrens  until  1827,  when  Father  Potini  took  charge  of  the  parish,  to 
be  succeeded  by  Father  Francis  Cellini.  In  Old  Mines  the  two  hundred 
Catholic  families  had  a  church,  but  no  priest.  It  was  visited  a  few 
times  a  year  from  Ste.  Genevieve.  At  New  Madrid  there  was  neither 
church  nor  priest  in  1824:  but  Father  Cellini  went  there  from  the 
Barrens  about  four  times  a  year,  and  remained  about  a  month  at  a 
time. 

There  now  remains  but  one  of  the  old  foundations  in  Missouri, 
to  be  spoken  of,  the  Barrens,  having  about  two  hundred  Catholic  fam- 
ilies, and  very  good  ones  at  that.  They  were  of  Anglo-American  stock, 
and  spoke  only  English.  It  was  here  that  the  Seminary  was  planted  in 
1818.  In  1825,  the  faculty  of  this  institution  of  learning  was  composed 
of  Bishop  Rosati  and  the  Lazarist  Fathers  Leo  De  Neckere,  Francis 
Collins,  and  Bernard  Permoli,  with  Father  John  Odin  and  the  Deacon 
John  Timon  as  travelling  missionaries,  in  Arkansas  and  Texas.  There 
were  fourteen  ecclesiastical  students  at  the  Barrens. 

Father  Francis  Cellini  was  accompanied  on  his  voyage  to  America 
by  two  scholastics,  Anthony  Potini  and  Philip  Borgne,  both  of  whom 


412  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

became  members  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission.  Father  Cellini's 
long,  and,  at  times,  rather  tempestuous  life  will  be  treated  in  a  chapter  of 
its  own.  His  predecessor  al  St.  Michaels  Fredericktown  deserves  a 
brief  notice  here,  if  it  were  only  for  the  trouble  and  grief  he  caused 
his  Superior  by  his  unpriestly  eonduel  and  his  constant  complaints. 

Rev.  Anthony  Potini  a  native  of  Velletri,  where  he  was  born  in 
1799,  entered  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission  at  Monte  Citorio,  Rome, 
in  January  1816,  and  was  sent  to  America  while  yet  a  scholastic  in 
1818,  arriving  at  the  Barrens  January  5,  1819.  Ordained  to  the  priest- 
hood on  the  Sunday  before  the  feast  of  All  Saints  1820,  he  was  sent 
during  the  Spring  of  1821  to  take  charge  of  the  parish  of  St.  Joseph, 
in  Lower  Louisiana. 

Father  Philip  Borgna  was  a  man  of  far  different  character.  Born 
at  Saluzzo  in  Piedmont  he  came  to  America  with  his  firends  Cellini  and 
Potini  in  October  1818,  and  arrived  at  the  Barrens  January  5,  1819. 
Borgna  was  raised  to  the  priesthood  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  in  St.  Louis, 
March  19,  1820.  He  then  returned  to  the  Seminary,  but  soon  after 
was  stationed  at  the  Cathedral  in  New  Orleans.  During  the  cholera 
epidemic  he  vied  with  Father  Ferrari,  in  his  devotedness  to  the  stricken 
people.  He  was  sent  to  Italy  in  1823  as  Bishop  Du  Bourg 's  agent.  He 
remained  in  Italy  until  the  fall  of  1824  and  then  came  back  to  New 
Orleans,  and  after  a  few  years  Avas  recalled  to  Missouri,  where  he  be- 
came Vicar-Genera!  of  the  Diocese. 

Father  Leo  De  Neckere,  Bishop  Rosati's  right  hand  man  at  the 
Seminary,  who  was  destined  to  become  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  calls  for 
a  passing  notice  here. 

He  was  born  at  Wevelkhem,  in  the  diocese  of  Ghent,  Flanders, 
on  June  5,  1800.  Being  received  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  for  the  Louisi- 
ana Mission,  he  sailed  from  Bordeaux,  with  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  arrived 
in  Kentucky  with  the  others  and  there  studied  theology  for  a  year 
under  Father  Rosati ;  left  Kentucky  with  Rosati  for  the  Barrens,  and 
thence  was  sent  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  was  put  to  teach  in  the  College. 
He  was  received  into  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission  by  Father  De 
Andreis,  on  June  9,  1820.  He  went  back  shortly  after  to  the  Barrens, 
whence  Bishop  Du  Bourg  called  him  again  to  St.  Louis  in  September. 
He  was  there  when  Father  De  Andreis  died,  and  a  few  weeks  later 
returned  to  the  Barrens.  He  was  ordained  subdeacon  in  the  fall  of 
1821,  and  the  next  year  after  his  vows,  deacon  and  priest. 

Concerning  Father  Permoli  we  have  but  little  to  say.  Born  at 
Piacenza,  Italy,  on  February  26,  1797,  he  entered  the  novitiate  in  Rome, 
the  25th  of  November  1815,  he  was  some  time  later  sent  back  to  the 
Alberoni  College  in  his  native  city,  as  a  student.  There  he  made  his 
vows  and  was  ordained  in  due  time.     When  Father  Borgna  returned 


Linking  Old  and  New  413 

to  America  in  the  fall  of  1824,  he  obtained  permission  to  take  along  with 
him  Father  Permoli. 

The  two  "travelling  missionaries"  mentioned  by  Bishop  Rosati  in 
his  report  of  1825,  in  the  course  of  time,  became  Bishops,  John  Mary 
Odin  and  John  Timon,  the  one  in  the  South,  the  other  in  the  East. 

John  Mary  Odin,  born  February  25,  1800,  at  Ambierle,  France, 
arrived  at  the  Barrens  in  August  1822,  with  five  companions;  he 
completed  there  his  theological  studies,  and  was  ordained  to  the  priest- 
hood by  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  May  4,  1823.  Meantime  (November  8,  1822) 
he  had  entered  the  Novitiate  of  the  Lazarists.  After  his  ordination 
he  remained  at  the  Seminary,  occupied  in  teaching  and  in  the  care  of 
the  parish.  After  his  short  stay  at  Cape  Giradeau,  he  returned  to 
the  Seminary,  which  he  left  in  1840  for  the  Texas  Missions.  He  was 
made  (March  6,  1842)  Vicar  Apostolic  of  Texas,  the  title  being  changed 
a  few  years  later  into  that  of  Bishop  of  Galveston.  In  1861  Bishop 
Odin  was  transferred  to  the  Archbishopric  of  New  Orleans.  In  1869 
he  went  to  Rome  to  attend  the  Vatican  Council  but,  falling  sick  in  Rome, 
he  left  the  Eternal  City  for  his  natal  home  in  Ambierle,  where  he  died 
in  May  1870. 

Deacon  John  Timon,  Father  Odin's  companion  on  the  missionary 
tour,  was  born  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  February  12,  1797.  Hav- 
ing stayed  six  months  at  St.  Louis  at  the  Bishop's,  was  sent  to 
the  Seminary  where  he  arrived  the  19th  of  July  1822.  He  was  ap- 
pointed instructor  in  English  and  infirmarian.  He  received  tonsure  on 
October  12,  1822,  and  was  put  at  the  head  of  the  catechism  class  in  the 
church,  was  admitted  to  the  Novitiate  April  25,  1823.  Father  Timon 
eventually  became  Superior  of  the  Lazarists,  Vicar-General  of  the  Di- 
ocese, and  Bishop  of  Buffalo.2 

In  1822  there  appeared  in  New  York  the  First  Catholic  Directory 
in   the   United   States   called   "The   Laity's  Directory   to   the    Church 
Services.     1822."     It  is  a  small  volume  but  full  of  important  matter 
concerning  the  Church  of  that  early  date.    The  chapter  on  the  Diocese 
of  Louisiana  is  of  special  interest  to  us.    As  the  booklet  is  a  rarity  we 
will  give  in  full  the  pari  that  refers  to  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis. 
Bishopric  of  Louisiana. 
Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  William  Du  Bourg,  Bishop. 
Consecrated  In  Rome,  Sept.  24,  1815. 

This  diocese  includes  the  whole  ancient  Louisiana,  as  sold  by 
France  to  the  United  States,  together  with  the  Floridas;  The  Episcopal 

2  Most  of  the  biographical  data  of  this  chapter  were  selected  from  that  rich 
collection  of  historical  facts  bearing  on  the  history  of  Bishop  Rosati  and  his  times, 
made  by  the  loving  yet  critical  zeal  of  the  Very  Rev.  Charles  L.  Souvay,  C.  M.,  D.  D., 
President  of  Kenrick  Seminary,  and  laid  up  for  use  in  the  "St.  Louis  Catholic 
Historical  Review,"  of  which  he  was  the  Editor. 


■±14  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

See  was  erected  in  1796,  when  the  country  yet  belonged  to  the  crown 
of  Spain. 

Ancient  Louisiana  is  now  divided  into  the  state  of  that  name,  whose 
capital  is  New-Orleans;  the  state  of  Missouri,  the  chief  town  of  which 
is  St.  Louis,  and  the  territory  of  Arkansas.  The  extent  of  the  diocese 
has  induced  the  bishop  to  divide  his  residence  between  New-Orleans  and 
St.  Louis,  in  each  of  which  he  has  his  Episcopal  chair.  In  the  probable 
event  of  his  soon  obtaining  a  coadjutor,  the  two  Prelates  would  then 
settle  one  in  each  of  these  two  extremities. 

The  Clerical  Seminary,  founded  about  two  years  ago,  is  in  the 
state  of  Missouri,  Perry  county,  in  a  settlement  called  Barrens.  It 
is  held  by  the  priests  of  the  Mission  of  St.  Vincent  of  Paul,  under  the 
superiority  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati.  The  novitiate  of  that  venerable 
congregation  is  at  present  composed  of  six  or  seven  members.  Several 
priests  of  the  same  holy  Institute  are  disseminated  in  parishes  through 
the  Diocese.  The  Seminary  begins  to  flourish,  and  promises  a  succes- 
sion of  well  informed  and  pious  missionaries.  Among  the  priests  of 
the  seminary,  one  is  devoted  to  the  neighboring  missions  as  far  as  New 
Madrid. 

St.  Louis  has  a  Catholic  college,  under  the  inspection  of  the  Bishop 
and  several  clergymen,  either  priests  or  juniors,  the  priests  are  the 
Rev.  M.  M.  F.  Niel,  Leo  Deys,  and  A.  B.  Anduze,  who  beside  their 
collegiate  duties  perform  also  the  service  of  the  Cathedral,  and  attend 
to  other  parochial  functions,  both  in  St.  Louis  and  neighboring  settle- 
ments. 

The  officiating  clergymen  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Diocess,  be- 
sides the  above  named,  are  the  Rev.  Henry  Pratte,  in  St.  Genevieve, 
a  thriving  town,  sixty  miles  south  of  St.  Louis;  the  Rev.  P.  Desmoulins, 
Kaskaskias,  the  Rev.  N.  Olivier,  Prairie  Du  Rocher ;  the  Rev.  N.  Savine, 
Cahokias;  the  Rev.  Charles  De  La  Croix,  St.  Ferdinand;  who  also  at- 
tends the  infant  missions  on  the  Missouri :  The  Rev.  Joseph  Aquaroni, 
P.  of  the  M.  for  St.  Charles,  Dardenne,  and  Portage  des  Sioux. 

There  are  churches  in  all  the  above  places,  the  most  remarkable 
of  which  are  the  New  Cathedral  in  St.  Louis,  a  brick  building  130  feet 
long,  not  yet  completely  finished,  adorned  with  valuable  paintings, 
organ  and  furniture ;  the  brick  church  now  building  in  St.  Ferdinand, 
on  a  very  handsome  plan,  and  that  of  St.  Genevieve. 

The  State  of  Missouri  is  also  blessed  with  the  institution  of  the 
Religious  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  a  precious  colony  ar- 
rived, from  France  in  1818,  established  in  the  village  of  St.  Ferdinand. 
15  miles  north  of  St.  Louis,  where  they  have  set  up  a  novitiate,  now 
composed  of  five  novices  and  several  postulants;  a  thriving  seminary. 


Linking  Old  and  New  415 

the  resort  of  the  daughters  of  most  of  the  wealthy  inhabitants  of  this 
and  adjacent  states,  and  a  day  school  for  the  girls  of  the  poorer  class. 

The  state  of  Louisiana  has  eighteen  ecclesiastical  parishes,  viz, 
New  Orleans,  St.  Bernard,  St.  Charles,  St.  John  the  Baptist,  St.  James, 
St.  Michael,  Ascension.  Assumption.  St.  Joseph,  St.  Gabriel  at  Iber- 
ville, Baton  Rouge,  Point  Coupee,  St.  Martin,  and  St.  Mary,  (Attacap- 
pas),  St.  Landry.  St.  Charles  Borremeus  (Opelousas),  Avoyelles,  Nat- 
chitoches, to  which  is  to  be  added  Natchez,  in  the  state  of  Mississippi.''3 

The  members  of  Du  Bourg's  caravane  and  their  immediate  suc- 
cessors, who  labored  in  the  southern  part  of  the  diocese  of  Louisiana 
and,  in  consequence,  became  members  of  New  Orleans,  we  will  have  an 
opportunity  to  meet  on  the  occasion  of  Bishop  Rosati's  consecration  and 
his  subsequent  Visitation  of  that  diocese,  of  which  he  was  appointed 
administrator.  All  of  them  have  a  share  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  diocese 
of  Louisiana,  the  mother  of  the  twin  Sees  of  St.  Louis  and  New 
Orleans. 


3     "The  Laity's  Directory  to  the  Church  Services,''  1822,  New  York.     A  copy 
is  in  the  Chancery's  Office  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


PART  TWO 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  ST.  LOUIS 

BOOK  I 
Bishop  Joseph  Rosati  oj  St.  Louis 


Vol.   1-14 


PART  II 

BOOK  I 

Chapter  1 
THE  DIOCESE  OF  ST.  LOUIS 


In  spite  of  the  friendly  relations  that  subsisted  from  the  beginning 
between  Bishop  Du  Bourg  and  his  Vicar-General  Joseph  Rosati,  there 
now  appeared  several  ominous  clouds  on  the  horizon  to  disturb  the 
peace  and  equanimity  of  both.  One  was  Bishop  Du  Bourg 's  oppo- 
sition to  an  early  division  of  the  really  unmanageable  diocese  of  Louisi- 
ana; another  was  the  Prelate's  urgent  proposal  to  have  the  Seminary 
removed  to  the  south,  or  at  least,  to  have  a  Seminary  of  his  own  in 
Louisiana ;  the  last  and  perhaps  the  most  disquieting  one  was  the  ap- 
parent determination  of  the  New  Orlean  's  Prelate  to  withdraw  to  Lower 
Louisana  the  greater  number  of  the  St.  Louis  clergy. 

As  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  already  chosen  New  Orleans  as  his 
special  field  of  activity,  it  seemed  highly  probable  that,  at  the  division 
of  the  diocese,  he  would  retain,  as  he  had  a  right  to  do,  the  southern 
portion  for  his  own.  Although  the  Coadjutor  Bishop  was  rather  reticent 
in  regard  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg 's  frequent  calls  for  northern  laborers 
to  southern  fields,  his  faithful  brethren  of  the  Congregation  spoke  out 
more  boldly.  Thus,  among  others,  Father  John  Mary  Odin,  wrote 
from  the  Seminary  on  August  2,  1823:  "On  his  return  to  his  diocese, 
(from  Washington)  our  Bishop  (Du  Bourg)  remained  a  few  days  with 
us;  he  went  afterwards  to  St.  Louis  and  departed  almost  immediately 
for  New  Orleans,  where  he  intends  to  spend  the  winter.  He  has  not 
written  for  a  long  time.  He  is  busy  visiting  his  missionaries.  It  is 
possible  that  he  will  locate  his  residence  in  New  Orleans  or  its  suburbs. 
Bishop  Rosati,  who  has  been  appointed  his  coadjutor,  will  administer 
in  Upper  Louisiana.  The  Bishop  is  bringing  nearly  all  his  priests 
down  into  Lower  Louisiana.  It  is  sad  to  see  so  many  congregations 
neglected  in  the  upper  part  of  the  state.  If  Providence  does  not  send 
help,  oh,  how  many  souls  will  be  lost ! 

"From  Pointe-Coupee  to  Ste.  Genevieve  there  is  not  one  missionary. 
In  St.  Louis  they  have  but  three  priests ;  and  besides  that  city  and 

(419) 


420  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  neighboring'  villages,  they  have  a  college  with  fifty  pupils  to  look 
after.  Beyond  St.  Louis  there  are  but  two  Jesuits.  In  the  whole  of 
Upper  Louisiana  there  are  only  ten  priests,  and  one  a  good  and  holy 
man,  who  can  scarcely  venture  out  of  doors.  The  cities  of  Natchez, 
New  Madrid,  Cape  Girardeau,  Kaskaskia,  St.  Michael,  Portage,  St. 
Charles,  and  several  small  posts,  are  entirely  abandoned.  We  have 
had  the  misfortune  of  losing  several  missionaries  who  have  returned 
to  Europe,  and  their  departure  has  left  a  great  want  in  our  poor 
mission.  Now  and  then  we  are  called  great  distances  on  sick  calls, 
and  very  often  we  cannot  go,  and  these  poor  people  must  die  with- 
out the  consolations  of  religion."1 

Bishop  Rosati  was  inclined  to  justify  or,  at  least,  to  excuse  the 
Ordinary's  seemingly  arbitrary  acts,  although  he  had  repeatedly  sent 
remonstrances:  "With  regard  to  the  Bishop's  disposing  of  the  sub- 
jects of  the  Congregation,"  he  writes  to  Father  Baccari,  "I  have  had 
sometimes  to  complain  that  I  had  not  been  forewarned  of  the  moves ; 
but  the  case  was  urgent,  and  I  was  far  away;  he  never  failed  to  notify 
me,  and  when  I  insisted,  he  changed  his  policy.  It  is  but  just  to  add 
that  our  own  men  were  the  first  to  ask  him  for  their  change,  some 
even  without  vouchsafing  a  word  to  me  about  it."2 

To  a  man  less  generous  and  considerate  than  Rosati,  it  might 
have  appeared  that  the  New  Orleans  Prelate  was  providing  against 
the  day,  when  Louisiana  should  be  separated  from  Missouri,  and  when 
Du  Bourg  should  be  Bishop  of  the  lower  part  of  the  diocese. 

As  early  as  February  8,  1822,  Du  Bourg  entertained  the  idea  of  a 
Metropolitan  See  in  New  Orleans  with  three  suffragans : 

"As  to  the  erection  of  another  See  in  the  City  of  St.  Louis, 
Missouri,  no  one  certainly  can  be  pleased  Avith  it  and  desire  it  more 
than  myself,  as  it  means  for  me  relief  from  immense  labors  and  cares. 
Still,  there  is  one  reason  why  I  delay  asking  at  once  for  it,  namely, 
the  most  earnest  desire  I  have  to  free  from  all  debts  and  obligations 
certain  quite  extensive  properties  which  I  have  bought  as  an  endow- 
ment for  that  See ;  I  trust  that,  God  helping,  I  may  within  a  year 
reach  this  happy  goal.  When  this  is  accomplished  I  shall  most  gladly 
resign  this  part  of  my  solicitude  into  the  hands  of  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff,  hesitating  at  no  sacrifice,  in  order  that  the  Prelate  who  is 
appointed  to  this  new  See  may  be  spared  the  temporal  cares  and  the 
utmost  destitution  which  were  my  lot  for  several  years.  When  this 
is  achieved  I  will  set  to  work  to  pave  the  way  for  the  formation  of  a 
new  Diocese  midway  between  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans,  which  may 


1     "Anuales   de    la    Propagation    de    la    Foi,"    vol.    1,    5,    pp.    68-77,    Records, 
vol.  XIV,  p.  187. 

-     Rosati  to  Baccari,  Archives  of  Procurator,  Borne. 


The  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  421 

include  the  State  of  Mississippi  and  the  Territory  of  Arkansas.  Thus 
from  one  Diocese  four  shall  be  made  out  within  a  few  years,  and  if  it 
please  the  Holy  See,  these  may  constitute  a  new  Ecclesiastical 
province."3 

But  in  the  course  of  time  it  became  plain  that  this  flattering  dream 
could  not  be  realized  for  a  long  time  to  come.  Whilst,  therefore,  con- 
stantly imploring  the  Sacred  Congregation  for  a  Coadjutor  for  his 
vast  diocese,  "he  was  always  particular  about  the  integrity  of  its 
present  boundaries.  His  reasons  were :  the  disturbed  condition  of  New 
Orleans,  the  poverty  of  Upper  Louisiana,  the  mutual  dependence  of 
New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis  one  upon  another.  After  Rosati's  appoint- 
ment to  the  Coadjutorship  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  importunities  in  regard 
to  the  postponement  of  the  dismemberment,  became  even  more  pro- 
nounced. When  Florida  was  erected  into  a  diocese  with  Father  Michael 
Portier  as  its  head,  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  finds  fault  with  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  new  prelate. 

"I  would  not  have  Your  Grace  conceive  the  least  suspicion,"  he 
wrote  to  Archbishop  Caprano,  "that  I  am  sorry  of  the  dismemberment 
of  Florida,  from  my  Diocese,  or  of  the  loss  of  Father  M.  Portier.  That 
Florida  should  be  taken  away  from  me,  I  have  long  petitioned ;  and 
i  have  never  reaped  anything  but  trouble  from  that  wide  expanse  of 
territory.  As  to  Father  Portier,  on  account  of  his  levity  of  mind 
and  his  affection  of  independence,  I  wish  he  would  go  somewhere  else, 
where  under  the  bridle  of  obedience  that  levity  of  his  might  be  checked, 
and  his  natural  talents  might  grow  to  maturity  for  the  greater  utility 
of  the  Church.  But  there  is  no  use  now  of  me  wishing  either  of  these 
things,  as,  in  so  far  at  I  am  personally  concerned,  I  have  no  other 
longing  and  no  other  thought  but  for  my  freedom ;  however,  even 
though  the  bands  uniting  me  to  this  Church  are  to  be  severed,  yet  I 
shall  never  cease  to  wish  it  good,  and  to  promote  its  increase  by  all 
means  in  my  power."4 

Whilst  Bishop  Du  Bourg  returns  to  the  fruitless  charge  again  and 
again,  Bishop  Rosati,  expressed  himself  as  well  pleased  with  Father 
Portier 's  elevation:  "I  have  just  heard  your  appointment  to  the  Bishop- 
ric of  Alabama,  and  at  the  same  time,  your  refusal.  I  was  glad  that 
you  are  known  in  Rome  and  hope  your  refusal  will  not  be  accepted. 
Owing  to  my  great  affection  for  you  since  I  have  had  the  privilege  to 
know  you,  I  feel  a  personal  satisfaction  at  your  elevation.  I  would 
not  speak  thus  if  the  Episcopate  in  this  country  Avas  a  source  of  honors: 


3  Archives  of  Propaganda,  cf.  Souvay,  "Correspondence  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg 
with  Propaganda,"  in  St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Eeview, "  vol.  II,  p.  150. 

4  Du  Bourg  to  Cardinal  Caprano,  Propaganda  Archives,  Souvay,  1.  cit.,  p.  211. 
A  Life-sketch  of  Bishop  Michael  Portier  may  be  found  in  Richard  H.  Clarke's, 
' '  Lives  of  the  Deceased  Bishops, ' '  vol.  I,  pp.  438-456. 


422  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

but  crosses,  afflictions,  privations,  humiliations,  labors,  and  sufferings 
are  our  lot.  Courageously,  therefore,  take  up  these  crosses,  and  you 
will  be  on  the  high  road  to  heaven."3 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  was  no  longer  in  harmony  with  his  surroundings 
and  felt  it  keenly,  at  a  time  when  his  pet  scheme  of  another  Seminary 
in  Louisiana  had  failed,  through  the  personal  initiative  of  bis  own  best 
friends,  Rosati,  Flaget  and  David. 

Father  Odin  in  his  letter  just  quoted,  thus  alludes  to  Bishop  Du 
Bourg 's  plan  of  a  new  Seminary:  "Opelousas,  a  parish  of  Loavci- 
Louisiana,  in  Avhich  there  is  a  community  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  has  made  a  generous  donation  for  the  establishment  of  a  seminary 
in  that  parish.  The  Bishop  is  deeply  interested  in  this  seminary.  He 
wishes  to  have  the  Lazarist  Fathers  there  and  to  make  of  it  a  retreat 
for  his  priests,  who,  constantly  in  the  midst  of  the  world,  at  great 
distances  from  one  another,  feel  the  necessity  of  retiring  into  solitude 
from  time  to  time,  to  look  after  their  souls'  AA-elfare.  "6 

It  was  at  Opelousas  that  Father  Francis  Cellini  had  obtained  from 
Mrs.  Charles  Smith,  a  valuable  tract  of  land  and  the  promise  of  a 
suitable  building  for  the  establishment  of  a  Seminary.  This  institution 
Avas  to  be  conducted  by  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission,  of  which 
Father  Cellini  was  then  a  member.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  was  delighted 
with  the  prospect,  although  the  offer  contemplated  only  a  ' '  Preparatory 
Seminary."  Father  Rosati,  the  Superior  of  the  Community,  at  first 
accepted,  and  then,  revoked  the  acceptance.  Meanwhile  Mrs.  Smith 
Avrote  her  will,  in  which  she  bequeathed  all  her  property  to  Father 
Cellini,  the  understanding  being  that  he  was  to  use  it  for  the  good  of 
religion  and  education.  The  act  of  the  pious  lady  greatly  irritated  the 
Bishop,  and  caused  much  very  unpleasant  comment  among  the  priests 
and  people  of  Louisiana.  Bishop  Du  Bourg 's  strictures  on  Father 
Cellini's  character  at  this  time,  are  too  passionate  and  seA-ere  to  be  true. 
Father  De  Neckere  judged  the  priest  far  more  kindly;  Father  Rosati \s 
report,  too,  was  very  mild;  and,  at  a  later  date,  after  the  departure 
of  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  give  him  a  place  in  the 
Diocese  of  St.  Louis. 

These  facts  go  far  to  shoAv  that  Father  Cellini's  conduct  Avas  not 
as  bad  as  it  had  been  represented.  When  one  remembers  the  great  praises 
bestowed  on  Father  Cellini  when  the  latter  was  in  Missouri,  and  even 
sometime  after  he  had  gone  to  Grand  Coteau,  La.,  one  cannot  resist 
the  impression  that  this  total  reversal  of  feeling  in  the  Bishop  was  due 
to  some  personal  wound  receiA'ed  directly  or  indirectly  from  Cellini. 


5     Rosati  to  Portier,  in  Rosati 's  Diary,  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review," 
vol.   XIV,  p.  180,  note. 

*>     Annales,  vol.  I,  p.  5,  Records,  vol.  XIV,  p.  190. 


The  Diocese  of  St  Louis  423 

No  doubt  the  latter 's  influence  on  Mrs.  Smith,  and  the  donation  made 
by  her  of  the  property  to  Father  Cellini,  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with 
the  Bishop's  judgment.  In  consequence  of  this  notoriety  Father  Cellini 
asked  and  obtained  permission  to  go  to  Rome,  where  he  formally  left 
the  Congregation  of  the  Missions.  "Had  Father  Cellini  been  less 
precipitate,  and  followed  my  wishes,  everything  would  have  been  done 
without  noise,  scandal  and  opposition,"  is  Bishop  Rosati's  final  judg- 
ment.7 

But,  though  frustrated  for  the  time,  the  idea  of  a  seminary  in  the 
South  had  now  became  fixed  in  the  mind  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg.  At 
Bishop  Rosati's  consecration  in  Donaldsonville  the  two  prelates  discussed 
the  matter  in  all  its  bearings.  A  donation  of  1,000  acres  of  good  land 
had  already  been  received  through  the  generosity  of  Father  Bernard, 
the  retired  Capuchin  at  La  Fourche:  $4,000.00  were  offered  by  one 
of  the  priests  of  the  diocese,  for  the  erection  of  the  buildings.  The 
proposed  location  appeared  to  Bishop  Rosati  as  "one  of  the  most  de- 
sirable in  Louisiana."  As  Superior  of  the  Lazarists,  he  immediately 
submitted  the  offer  to  Father  Baccari  at  Rome,  with  his  own  recom- 
mendation. 

In  the  course  of  a  year,  however,  the  plan  took  on  a  new  and  dis- 
quieting form :  the  actual  suppression,  namely,  of  the  Seminary  at 
the  Barrens  in  favor  of  the  new  Seminary  in  Southern  Louisiana. 
In  the  summer  of  1825,  the  Coadjutor  Bishop  was  requested  by  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  to  meet  him  at  Assumption,  La.,  for  a  most  important  con- 
sultation. The  topics  discussed  were  the  straitened  circumstances  of 
the  Seminary  at  the  Barrens,  which  seemed  to  necessitate  its  discon- 
tinuance, as  well  as  the  pressing  needs  of  the  South,  and  the  favorable 
opportunity  to  secure  the  future  of  the  Church  in  Louisiana  and 
in  Missouri.  The  Coadjutor  could  not  see  the  matter  in  this  light. 
"His  soul  was  pierced  to  the  quick,"  as  he  himself  expresses  it,  and 
lie  represented  to  the  eager  prelate  the  dismal  condition  into  which  the 
Church  of  Missouri  would  be  plunged  by  this  move,  depriving  it  of  all 
spiritual  help.  But  Bishop  Du  Bourg  retorted  with  vehemence,  that 
the  refusal  to  consent  was  tantamount  to  bringing  ruin  upon  the  whole 
Diocese.  Thereupon  the  gentle  Son  of  St.  Vincent  consented,  though 
reluctantly,  and  wrote  to  the  Vicar-General  of  the  Congregation  for 
his  approval.  This  occurred  in  August  1825.  Bishop  Rosati  spent 
the  next  few  months  in  deep  anxiety  concerning  the  outcome  of  the 
matter.8 

On  meeting  the  Prelate  on  November  8th.,  at  St.  John  the  Baptist's 
La.,  he  urged  the  difficulties  besetting  the  contemplated  foundation: 
and  after  weighing  them  carefully,  both  came  to  the  conclusion  that 

i     Holweek,  "  Pastoral-Blatt, "  vol.  59,  pp.  82  ss. 
8     Diary,  August  16,  1825. 


424  History  of  I  lit    Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

it  was  of  the  utmost  importance,  before  anything  else  be  done,  that 
Bishop  Rosati  should  find  out  what  the  priests  of  the  Congregation 
in  Missouri  thought  about  the  change.  Upon  his  return  to  the  Barrens, 
Bishop  Rosati,  on  Friday,  November  25th,  assembled  all  the  priests  of 
the  Congregation,  that  is,  Father  De  Neckere,  Assist, nit,  Fathers  Dahmen, 
Permoli  and  Odin,  and  manifested  to  them  the  Bishop's  desire  of  erecting 
another  Seminary  in  Louisiana,  and  the  utility  which  might  be  derived 
therefrom  for  Religion  in  general,  and  their  Congregation  in  particular; 
the  means  which  the  Bishop  thinks  of  employing  to  realize  it;  the 
very  great  difficulties  to  be  encountered  in  employing  these  means, 
and  the  harm  eventually  to  result  from  this  project  for  the  Seminary 
at  the  Barrens  and  for  practically  all  the  Catholics  of  the  State  of 
Missouri  and  of  the  neighboring  country,  owing  to  the  lack  of  priests. 
All  these  things  being  duly  weighed  before  God,  it  was  unanimously 
resolved  that  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  should  be  begged  to  postpone 
the  erection  of  that  new  Seminary  in  Louisiana,  until  they  had  the 
money  and  the  men  necessary  for  the  undertaking.  Bishop  Rosati  there- 
fore, wrote  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg  for  that  purpose. 

It  may  be  of  interest  here  to  learn  how  the  Coadjutor's  council  met 
the  proposals  of  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  told 
Rosati,  that,  in  order  to  make  the  foundation  of  the  Seminary  a  success : 
1)  he  intended  to  buy  a  house  and  a  plantation,  that  is,  cultivated  land, 
adjacent  to  the  uncultivated  land  which  had  been  donated  for  the 
foundation  of  the  Seminary:  this  purchase,  might  be  concluded  by 
the  immediate  payment  of  $3,000  and  the  obligation  to  pay  a  yearly 
life-interest  of  $1,200  to  the  owner,  who  is  a  man  74  years  of  age,  but 
enjoying  good  health.  2)  In  order  to  have  the  funds  necessary  to  build 
the  College  and  furnish  it,  he  would  ask  a  loan  from  the  State  Bank : 
this  establishment  exacts  an  interest  of  7  per  cent  and  the  annual  pay- 
ment of  one-fifth  of  the  principal.  3)  To  put  in  cultivation  the  land  on 
which  sugar-cane  may  be  raised,  he  would  enter  into  partnership  with 
some  one  who  would  attend  to  the  cultivation ;  the  surplus  realized 
over  and  above  the  expenses  would  be  equally  divided.  All  this  appeared 
very  objectionable  to  Rosati  and  he  communicated  his  misgivings  to 
the  Bishop,  telling  him  that,  before  coming  to  any  definite  conclusion 
he  would  have  to  consult  the  priests  on  his  return  to  the  Barrens.9 

Upon  these  propositions,  the  members  of  the  Council  made  the 
following  observations :  "  1 )  It  would  be  dangerous  for  us  to  run  so  much 
into  debt ;  crops  are  uncertain ;  we  might  expose  ourselves  to  bankruptcy, 
and  would  be  forced  to  sell  everything  to  the  disgrace  of  the  Congrega- 
tion and  Religion  at  large.  2)  The  number  of  our  priests  is  too  small 
to  be  divided  into  two  houses ;  it  will  be  difficult  to  find  one  capable  of 


9     Eosati  to  Baccari,  cf.  "Catholic  Historical  Eeview, "  vol.  Ill,  p.   177. 


The  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  425 

being  Superior ;  this  division  will  oblige  us  to  withdraw  the  priests  from 
the  missions  where  they  are  now  so  fruitfully  employed ;  again,  it  would 
be  unjust  to  do  violence  to  the  reasonable  inclination  these  confreres  have 
for  the  works  of  the  holy  ministry,  if  Ave  were  to  compel  them  to  spend 
the  greater  part  of  their  lives  in  teaching  reading,  writing,  spelling, 
etc.  3)  It  looks  like  downright  injustice  to  abandon  Upper  Louisiana, 
that  is  to  say,  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  practically  to  deprive  of 
workers  a  country  where  there  is  such  immense  fruit  to  harvest."10 

This  decision  was  communicated  to  Father  Baccari  and  to  Bishop 
Du  Bourg.  How  it  was  received  by  the  latter  is  not  known,  yet  it 
must  have  nettled  the  all  too  sensitive  prelate,  in  a  letter  from  New 
Orleans,  dated  December  9th,  1825,  Du  Bourg  sadly  notifies  his  Coadjutor 
of  his  Fiat  to  the  deliberation  of  the  priests  of  the  Seminary,  deciding 
to  postpone  undertaking  the  establishment  of  another  Seminary,  in 
Lower  Louisiana,  and  then  gives  vent  to  his  feelings:  "As  I  have 
only  a  few  years  to  live,  I  shall  probably  not  see  the  extinction  of  the 
Diocese ;  and  even  if  I  do  see  it,  I  shall  have  nothing  to  reproach 
myself  with." 

But  gentle  and  unselfish  as  Bishop  Rosati  was,  he  would  not  act 
upon  his  own  judgment ;  though  seconded  by  that  of  his  colaborers ; 
but  laid  the  matter  before  the  saintly  Bishop  Flaget  and  his  Coadjutor 
Bishop  David  for  their  impartial  decision  to  be  sent  to  Rome.  Their 
letter  to  Propaganda  was  couched  in  the  following  strong  language : 

1.  My  Coadjutor  and  I  firmly  believe  it  is  not  only  expedient, 
but  urgent,  to  make  the  division :  because,  until  it  is  made,  all  the  zeal 
and  talents  of  Bishop  Rosati  are  kept,  as  it  were,  in  concealment ; 
and  for  this  cause,  the  time  limit  stated  in  the  Bull  for  the  division 
ought  not  to  be  extended. 

2.  Our  firm  conviction  is,  that  the  projects  explained  by  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  to  Bishop  Rosati  are  prejudicial  in  every  respect.  If,  in- 
deed, the  transfer  of  the  Seminary  takes  place,  the  blow  will  be  fatal 
to  Religion  in  Upper  Louisiana,  entailing  a  loss  that  cannot  be  easily 
repaired. 

3.  We  are  convinced,  moreover,  that  the  project  is  fraught  with 
danger,  because  it  involves  the  contracting  of  debts  without  any  hope 
of  being  able  to  meet  them.  Furthermore,  we  believe  it  necessary 
that  the  division  should  be  made  as  soon  as  possible,  so  that  Bishop 
Rosati  may  have  the  right  to  call  back  such  clergymen  as  he  may 
deem  fit  to  help  him  in  his  administration.  This  recall  will  have,  of 
course,  to  be  made  with  prudence ;  but  it  is  absolutely  inperative. 

This  is  our  conclusion  grounded  principally  on  the  perfect  knowl- 
edege  we  have  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg.  When  Father  Martial,  V.  G., 
arrives  in  Rome,  you  may  get  more  information  touching  Bishop  Rosati 's 


Rosati  to  Baccari,  1.  cit.,  pp.  177  and  178. 


426  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

situation,  which  will  enable  you  to  take  prompt  measures  to  extricate 
him  from  his  painful  position."11 

The  measure  of  Bishop  Du  Bourn's  troubles  and  bitter  disappoint- 
ments was  now  full  to  overflowing.  He  could  bear  the  strain  no  longer, 
but  he  wrapped  his  intentions  in  secrecy. 

On  Thursday,  April  20th,  1826,  he  arrived  at  the  Barrens  and  in- 
formed the  Coadjutor  that  he  intended  to  leave  for  Europe  in  the 
interest  of  his  New  Seminary  in  La  Fourche.  Both  Bishops  went 
to  Ste.  Genevieve  on  their  way  to  St.  Louis.  On  Ascension  day  he 
preached  at  the  Cathedral  and  immediately  after  Mass  went  to  the 
steamboat,  to  which  he  would  allow  no  one  to  accompany  him,  on 
his  way  to  Prance.  From  New  York  he  wrote  to  his  Coadjutor,  and 
on  June  1st,  sailed  for  Havre,  never  to  return. 

At  the  request  of  the  departing  Prelate,  Bishop  Rosati  had  gone 
down  to  Louisiana,  returning  to  the  Barrens  on  July  19th,  to  celebrate 
the  Feast  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paid.  Resuming  his  ordinary  duties  at 
the  Seminary,  he  was  deeply  surprised  and  grieved  when  on  October 
5th,  he  received  from  Father  Niel,  now  his  agent  in  Europe,  the  intelli- 
gence of  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  resignation.  At  first  Bishop  Rosati  re- 
garded the  report  as  a  pure  invention  of  the  papers  at  home  and  abroad. 
Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  not  dropped  a  single  hint  as  to  resigning :  in 
fact,  his  conversations  with  and  his'  letters  to  the  Coadjutor  had  all 
been  of  a  hopeful  nature.  But  on  November  4th,  Bishop  Rosati,  who 
had  gone  to  St.  Louis  for  the  consecration  of  Bishop  Portier,  re- 
ceived the  Pontifical  Brief  notifying  him,  that  Bishop  Du  Bourg's 
resignation  had  been  accepted,  that  Louisiana  had  been  divided,  and 
that  he  himself  had  been  appointed  administrator  of  both.  Bishop 
Rosati  at  once  informed  all  the  pastors  of  what  had  occurred:  "Two 
briefs  wherewith  His  Holiness  has  honored  me  confirm  most  unfortu- 
nately the  rumor  which  for  several  weeks  has  caused  me  very  pain- 
ful anxiety.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  has  actually  resigned,  and  his  resigna- 
tion has  been  accepted.  The  former  Diocese  of  New  Orleans,  as  Pius 
VII  of  holy  memory  had  decided  by  the  brief  of  my  election  as  coadju- 
tor of  the  same  Diocese,  has  just  been  divided:  the  one  part  including 
the  states  of  Louisiana  and  Mississippi,  and  the  other  the  state  of 
Missouri  and  adjacent  territories.  The  See  of  the  one  shall  be  New- 
Orleans;  and  of  the  other  St.  Louis.  The  Holy  Father  has  entrusted 
to  me,  until  further  orders,  the  care  of  them  both  and  grants  me  the 
necessary  faculties. 

You  will  certainly  share  in  my  regrets  for  the  departure  of  the 
illustrious  Prelate  to  whom  the  Diocese  owes  its  priests,   its  colleges, 


ii     Flaget  to  Baceari,  January  1,  1826. 


The  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  427 

its  monasteries,  its  Seminary,  in  a  word,  all  the  good  done  in  it  since 
Divine  Providence  had  confided  it  to  him."12 

The  question  as  to  what  See  Bishop  Rosati  was  ultimately  to 
occupy  as  his  own,  was  for  the  present  left  in  abeyance.  But  it  was 
clear  that  a  decision  must  soon  be  made.  A  mere  wish  of  His  Holiness 
would  appear  to  the  Administrator  as  a  command.  And  yet  Bishop 
Rosati  felt  that  his  going  to  New  Orleans  would  be  fatal  to  him  and 
to  the  diocese.  He  decided  once  more  to  seek  counsel  from  his  trusted 
friend,  at  Bardstown :  but  in  the  meantime  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Father 
Baccari,  stating  the  reasons,  why  he  should  be  left  at  St.  Louis.  The 
letter  is  dated  January  6,  1827,  and  reads  in  part:  "My  motives  are 
the  following : 

"I  am  now  perfectly  inured  to  the  climate  of  Missouri,  whereas 
that  of  Louisiana  does  not  agree  with  me,  as  I  have  experienced  in 
my  various  trips  there :  as  I  am  now  rather  stout,  the  excessive  heat 
prevailing  there  is  so  hard  on  me,  that  I  am  then  unable  to  study  or 
apply  myself  to  anything:  and  moreover  it  occassions  me  great  incon- 
venience. 

"New  Orleans  is  a  large  city,  the  population  of  which  is  for  the 
most  part  made  up  of  unbelievers  and  other  enemies  of  Religion.  There 
is  needed  there  a  man  capable  of  speaking  the  language  eloquently,  so 
as  to  impose  respect  for  the  Word  of  God,  and  not  expose  it  to  the  danger 
of  being  scoffed  at  in  the  newspapers  by  such  as  go  to  listen  to  the 
preacher,  ut  capiant  <  um  in  sermone.  Now,  I  have  not  the  talent  re- 
quisite for  a  ministry  so  important  and,  in  that  city,  so  difficult.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  Missouri  people  are  more  religious,  they  come  to 
church  with  upright  intentions,  and  on  that  account,  no  such  bad 
effects  are  to  be  feared  as  in  New  Orleans,  and  some  good  is  actually 
done;  moreover  all  here  know  and  esteem  me."13 

In  the  depth  of  winter,  January  7th,  Bishop  Rosati  with  Brother 
Blanka,  started  for  St.  Genevieve,  where  Father  Dahmen  joined  them. 
Their  journey  was  most  difficult  and  trying,  but  they  arrived  safe  and 
sound  at  Bardstown  on  January  19th.  Their  welcome  there  was  cordial. 
All  the  loved  and  hallowed  spots  in  the  neighborhood,  the  Cathedral, 
St.  Thomas  Seminary,  Loretto,  Nazareth,  were  visited.  In  long  and 
earnest  conferences  the  subject  so  new  to  Bishop  Rosati 's  heart  was 
discussed  by  the  three  prelates,  Flaget,  David,  and  Rosati  and  the  con- 
clusion was  reached  that  Bishop  Rosati  should  decline  New  Orleans, 
and  that  the  friends  should  write  to  Rome  on  the  matter.  The  home- 
ward journey  was  to  touch  Vincennes.  At  Nazareth  the  Bishop  of  St. 
Louis  in  spe  took  leave  of  Bishop   David,  and  at  Bethany  two  days 


12  Rosati 's    letter   to    the   Pastors    of    St.    Louis   and   New    Orleans,    November 
6,  L826,  in  "  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  Ill,  pp.  181  and  182. 

13  Archives  of  the  Procurator  General  C.  M.,  Rome,  in  Souvay,  1.  cit.,  p.  183. 


428  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

later,  of  Bishop  Flaget.  Here  it  was  that  took  place  the  touching  scene 
described  by  Archbishop  Spalding  so  characteristic  of  the  faith,  humility 
and  child-like  simplicity  and  candor  of  the  two  prelates.  "So  deeply," 
says  the  historian,  "was  Bishop  Rosati  impressed  Avith  the  sanctity  of 
his  reverend  friend,  that  on  taking  his  leave  he  fell  on  his  knees,  and 
refused  to  arise  until  he  would  receive  a  blessing.  Bishop  Flaget,  taken 
by  surprise,  on  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  imitated  the  example  of  the 
other  prelate ;  and  the  scene  closed  with  a  mutual  benediction  imparted 
to  each  other,  and  a  parting  embrace."14 

Bishop  Du  Bourg,  who  soon  after  his  arrival  in  France  became 
Bishop  of  Montauban,  was  enlisted  by  Bishop  Rosati  in  favor  of  his 
relief  from  the  threatening  burden.  Under  date  of  May  1st,  1827,  he 
wrote  from  his  new  episcopal  city  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the 
propaganda : 

"I  regret  to  see,  Your  Eminence,  that  the  extreme  modesty  of 
Bishop  Rosati  inspires  him  with  an  unsuratountable  aversion  for  the 
See  of  New  Orleans.  He  is  convinced  that  the  position  requires  talents 
more  distinguished  than  his.  I  do  not  share  his  opinion,  and  am  con- 
vinced, that  no  other  Bishop  may  do  there  more  good  than  he.  It  is 
not  so  much  eloquence,  as  solid  knowledge,  profound  wisdom,  and  a 
virtue  above  every  suspicion,  which  are  demanded  in  that  important 
office.  The  first  of  these  qualities  would  perhaps  only  invite  censure ; 
the  others  have  already,  won  for  him  the  affection  and  respect  of  all. 

"I  realize  none  the  less  whatever  deference  is  due  to  so  marked  a 
repugnance  in  a  Prelate  of  such  sterling  virtues.  His  constitution, 
moreover,  does  not  seem  suited  for  the  scorching  heat  prevailing  in  that 
climate  during  half  of  the  year;  and  his  preservation  is  too  precious 
to  Religion  to  permit  to  expose  him  to  too  great  a  danger. 

"There  is  only,  that  I  can  see,  one  means  to  reconcile  all  the  in- 
terests at  stake,  namely  to  leave  to  Bishop  Rosati,  for  an  unlimited  length 
of  time,  the  administration  of  both  parts  of  that  great  Diocese,  and  to 
give  him  a  Coadjutor  to  assist  him  or  supply  his  place  in  Lower 
Louisiana.  All  my  previous  letters  to  the  S.  Congregation  expressed 
this  wish,  and  I  am  glad  that  he  himself  is  saying  the  same.  For  in- 
deed, with  all  his  modesty,  he  could  scarcely  be  blind  to  the  fact  that 
no  other  man  will  be  able  for  a  long  time  to  unite  the  hearts  and  assure 
the  submission  of  a  clergy  made  up  of  all  kinds  of  men,  ever  ready  to 
be  divided  or  to  take  liberties ;  and  his  office  of  Superior  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Mission  gives  him  advantages  which  no  other  can  have. 

"He  proposes  as  Coadjutor,  Father  Leo  De  Neckere,  a  priest  of 
his  Congregation,  native  of  Flanders,  who  has  already  spent  well-nigh 
ten  years  in  Louisiana,  and  is  exceptionally  remarkable  by  his  knowl- 
edge, his  virtues,  and  above  all,  the  gift  of  a  most  distinguished  eloquence 


14     Spalding,  "Sketches  of  the  Early  Catholic  Missions  of  Kentucky,"   p.   261. 


The  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  429 

both  in  English  and  in  French.  Two  objections,  however,  might  be 
raised  against  him,  his  youth  and  his  health.  He  is  scarcely  twenty-six 
years  of  age,  but  his  outward  appearance,  his  gravity  and  his  wisdom 
are  of  a  man  of  forty.  His  health,  undermined  by  application  and 
sedentary  work,  suffered  very  much  from  the  cold  and  dry  climate 
of  Upper  Louisiana;  but  it  benefits  by  the  damp  heat  of  New  Orleans; 
from  this  point  of  view,  he  is  just  the  reverse  of  Bishop  Rosati.  So. 
as  there  is,  after  all,  question  of  conferring  upon  him  only  a  dependent 
authority,  this  choice  seems  well-advised.  Several  secondary  reasons 
might  confirm  the  wisdom  of  it.  Father  De  Neckere  is  universally 
respected  by  his  brother-priests  and  the  people,  and  as  he  is  Flemish, 
it  might  probably  attract  soon  to  the  Mission  a  certain  number  of  his 
fellow-countrymen,  who,  of  all  nationalities,  are  those  who  are  succeed- 
ing best. 

"I  am  afraid  only  that  persuasive  means  may  not  be  able  to  de- 
termine him  to  accept  the  weighty  burden  of  the  Episcopate,  which 
is  doubly  heavy  in  a  country  like  Louisiana.  Probably  nothing  short 
of  a  peremptory  command  of  His  Holiness  will  be  able  to  prevail 
upon  him."15 

This  was  really  the  course  pursued  by  the  Sacred  Congregation. 
Bishop  Rosati  was  appointed  to  the  newly  erected  See  of  St.  Louis  on 
May  20th,  1827,  but  continued  in  the  office  of  Administrator  of  the 
diocese  of  New  Orleans  until  August  4th,  1829,  when  Father  De  Neckere, 
notwithstanding  his  remonstrance,  was  elected  Bishop  of  the  southern 
See.  Owing  to  continued  ill  health  Bishop  De  Neckere 's  consecration 
could  not  take  place  until  June  24th,  1830. 

Bishop  Louis  William  Valentine  Du  Bourg,  in  1833,  was  promoted 
to  the  Archiepiscopal  See  of  Besancon  where  he  died  December  12th. 
1833.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Church  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley  is  deeply  indebted  to  the  strange  combination  of  romantic  hope- 
fulness and  almost  fool-hardy  enterprise,  with  genuine  piety,  solid  learn- 
ing and  a  deep  sense  of  justice,  as  embodied  in  Bishop  Du  Bourg.  The 
real  harvest  was  reserved  for  others :  But  the  praise  of  having  pre- 
pared the  soil  and  cast  the  seed  into  the  furrows  belongs  to  him.  Well 
may  his  heart  have  exulted  at  the  close  of  his  thorny  career  in  the 
thought  of  his  small  beginnings,  of  his  triumphs  and  of  the  glorious 
promise  of  his  work,  as  he  did  in  his  retrospective  letter  to  Abbe 
Lespinasse : 

"Feeling  that  it  was  impossible  to  plunge  into  my  episcopal  city 
(New  Orleans)  without  compromising,  from  the  very  start,  the  holy 
character  and  authority  with  which  I  was  invested,  I  decided  to  begin 


15  Du  Bourg,  to  Propaganda,  May  1,  1827.  Propaganda  Archives,  ef.  Souvay, 
Correspondence  of  Du  Bourg,  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  Ill, 
pp.  219  and  220.  Sketch  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg 's  Life  in  Clarke,  "Lives  of  the  De- 
ceased Bishops,"  vol.  I,  pp.  205  ss. 


430  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

operations  by  attacking  the  weakest  points  of  my  diocese.  Thence, 
as  from  a  stronghold  in  which  I  could  muster  my  forces  I  would  sally 
forth,  and  having  conquered  the  surrounding  territory,  the  citadel  wouli 
finally  be  obliged  to  surrender.  St.  Louis  and  the  immense  territory 
of  the  Missouri  were  the  first  scene  of  my  maneuvers.  I  had  difficulties 
here,  of  all  kinds  to  struggle  with.  Profound  ignorance,  and  its  at- 
tendant evils,  general  corruption,  lack  of  morals,  dire  poverty.  I  had 
not  whereon  to  lay  my  head,  and  I  was  accompanied  by  fifty-three 
brothers  in  arms. 

"We  fell  back  into  the  woods,  to  serve  as  a  shelter.  We  laid  the 
foundation  of  an  edifice,  which  after  four  or  five  years  of  trial,  we 
had  the  happiness  of  seeing  completed.  The  fields  were  cultivated; 
the  live  stock  increased;  a  mill  was  built.  From  this  center,  my  pioneers 
went  forth  in  all  directions.  They  cleared  the  country.  They  even 
penetrated  into  the  chief  city,  were  received  with  confidence,  and 
finally  succeeded  in  disposing  the  inhabitants  to  accept  their  leader. 

"This  seminary,  finally  established  in  Missouri,  I  turned  my  at- 
tention to  St.  Louis.  I  renovated  the  dilapidated  parsonage.  I  built 
a  school  house,  which  was  taken  in  charge  by  my  clergy.  They  also 
contributed  to  its  support,  the  parish  giving  absolutely  no  aid.  Each 
one  contributed  so  much,  however,  towards  the  construction  of  a  church. 
We  established  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  their  institution  was  flourishing,  for  a  time.  Then,  on  account  of 
great  poverty  in  that  section  of  the  city,  it  languished,  but  is  now  en- 
joying its  former  success.  This  convent  is  in  a  beautiful  locality. 
They  have  a  fine  house,  a  church,  etc.,  and  accomplish  a  great  deal 
of  good.  They  have  a  great  many  poor  girls  and  also  some  little 
savages.  I  had  the  happiness  of  establishing  the  Jesuits  in  the  same 
quarter,  sometime  after,  in  a  very  pretty  house,  which  I  gave  them. 
They  are  seven  in  number,  Avithout  counting  the  brothers.  They  will 
surely  do  great  good  in  the  future,  but  they  are  destitute  of  everything, 
save  what  they  can  raise  themselves.  I  trust  that  Providence  will  come 
to  their  aid.  God  never  abandons  those  who  work  for  Him,  though  He 
sends  them  trials,  sometimes,  to  try  their  faith  and  increase  their  merit. 
The  government  pays  them  for  the  support  of  a  few  savages.  In  order 
to  secure  a  piece  of  bread  for  the  bishop  and  his  clergy,  I  bought 
some  waste  land  near  the  city,  but  through  lack  of  laborers  to  work 
upon  it,  it  produces  nothing  as  yet.  It  will  perhaps,  be  a  source  of 
revenue  in  the  future,  as  will  be  also  about  ten  other  lots,  in  the  city 
itself.  To  sum  up,  five  years  ago,  I  arrived  for  the  first  time  in 
New  Orleans.""' 


16  "Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  vol.  II,  pp.  403  and  409.  Eecords, 
vol.  XIV,  pp.  163  and  164.  Concerning  Bishop  Leo  De  Neckere  see  Clarke,  vol.  T, 
pp.  518  ss. 


Chapter  2 
ROSATI'S  VISITATION  IN  THE  DIOCESE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS 


One  of  the  chief  duties  of  a  Bishop  is  the  visitation  of  his  diocese 
at  regular  intervals.  Accordingly  Louisiana  claimed  the  Adminis- 
trator's immediate  attention.1  Early  in  March  1827,  he  had  gone  to 
New  Orleans  to  organize  an  Episcopal  Council,  composed  of  Father 
Sedella,  the  Vicar-General,  and  Fathers  Moni,  Richard,  Borgna  and 
Jeanjean  as  members.  The  first  meeting  was  held  on  Thursday,  March 
29th.  On  June  16th,  the  Administrator  returned  to  his  own  flock  in  Mis- 
souri :  but  in  November  he  started  once  more  for  the  South,  to  set 
everything  in  order  pending  the  coming  of  the  new  Bishop.  The 
journey  down  the  river  proved  a  vivid  exemplification  of  St.  Paul's 
"perils  bjr  water." 

Of  the  events  which  marked  the  journey  the  Bishop's  Diary 
affords  a  narrative  worth  quoting  here : 

"At  about  two  o'clock,  the  boat,  which  was  going  downstream 
at  quite  a  rapid  pace  ran  into  a  huge  snag  lying  some  four  feet  under 
water;  and  such  was  the  impact  that  a  hole  was  torn  in  the  craft,  so 
that  the  latter  filled  rapidly.  The  wheels,  now  deep  in  the  water,  could 
no  longer  obey  the  force  of  steam.  Then  the  helmsman  turned  all  his 
might  to  directing  the  boat,  now  full  to  overflowing,  towards  the  shore ; 
providentially  it  happened  that  we  soon  reached  in  the  attempt  a  part 
of  the  river  where  the  water  was  only  nine  feet  deep;  there  the  boat 
stopped,  resting  on  the  bottom,  and  so  we  were  snatched  from  what 
seemed  imminent  death.  When  we  were  told  by  the  Captain  that  all 
danger  of  death  was  now  over,  we  went  down  into  a  rowboat  which 
carried  us  to  the  bank  of  the  river ;  and  there,  after  we  had  somewhat 
recovered  from  the  stupor  caused  us  by  the  imment  danger  of  death 
which  we  had  just  escaped,  we  had  to  think  about  the  necessary  means 
of  building  up  some  huts  to  spend  the  night  and  the  following  days. 
For  we  were  on  a  desert  river-bank,  and  there  was  no  hope  of  saving 
our  boat.  Accordingly  before  night  we  had  some  huts  erected  which 
we  roofed  with  pieces  of  linen  and  of  cloth." 


i  For  a  detailed  account  of  this  Episcopal  Visitation  of  the  Diocese  of  Mew 
Orleans,  see  the  article  of  Dr.  Souvay  in  ' '  St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Eeview, ' ' 
vol.  1,  pp.  215,  ss.  As  most  of  the  facts  are  taken  from  Rosati's  Diary,  March 
16-29,  1827,  we  need  not  mention  the  source  of  information  for  the  various  state- 
ments. 

(431) 


432  History  of  the   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

The  boat  is  destroyed,  and  out  of  its  planks  a  few  huts  are  con- 
structed. At  last,  ten  days  after  this  shipwreck,  the  passengers  are  taken 
up  by  the  Steamer  Lafayette,  with  the  Amazon  in  tow.  Nine  days  later, 
December  28th,  when  about  twelve  miles  from  New  Orleans,  the  Laf- 
ayette caught  fire,  and  it  was  feared  she  was  to  be  the  prey  of  the 
flames.  Fire  had  broken  out  in  the  hold.  As  soon  as  the  alarm  was 
sounded,  Ave  all  rushed  to  the  Amazon  near-by.  But  our  fear  did  not 
last  long,  for  in  a  short  while  the  crew-men  were  able  to  put  out  the 
fire  completly.  "We  reached  New  Orleans  about  3  p.m. 

On  Monday  the  Episcopal  Visitation  began  at  the  Parish  of  the 
Ascension,  Donaldsonville,  where  Father  Joseph  Tichitoli  was  Pastor. 
On  the  following  Wednesday  the  Bishop,  accompanied  by  Father  John 
Bouillier,  reached  the  parish  of  the  Assumption. 

Returning  to  Donaldsonville  for  the  Christmas  festivities,  he  jour- 
neyed to  St.  Josephs,  seven  leagues  from  the  Assumption,  where  Father 
Audizio  received  him  with  great  joy.  Returning  from  St.  Josephs  to 
Assumption  and  Donaldsonville  he  started,  on  January  4,  1828,  for  St. 
Gabriels,  Iberville,  where  Father  Paul  de  Saint  Pierre  had  spent  his 
declining  years.  A  Solemn  Requiem  Mass  was  celebrated  for  the  repose 
of  the  soul  of  the  former  pastor  of  Cahokia,  Ste.  Genevieve  and  St. 
Gabriels.  On  January  8th,  the  Bishop  in  company  with  Father  Eugene 
Michaud,  the  pastor  of  St.  Gabriels  and  Father  Bouillier,  set  out  for 
Baton  Rouge,  the  home  of  Father  Anthony  Blanc.  Illness  compelled 
the  Bishop  to  prolong  his  stay  at  Baton  Rouge. 

On  the  following  Saturday  he  was  at  last  able  to  take  his  departure 
on  the  boat  The  Lady  of  the  Lake,  which  took  him  and  his  companion 
Father  Bouillier  to  St.  Michael's  where  they  arrived  on  Sunday,  rather 
late  in  the  morning,  during  the  celebration  of  the  parochial  High  Mass. 

Following  the  Visitation,  Father  Auguste  Jeanjean  was  appointed 
Confessor  and  Superior  of  the  Sacred  Heart  Convents  of  St.  Michael's 
and  Grand  Coteau,  while  Father  Dussossoy  was  officially  Rector  of 
St.  Michael's. 

Once  more,  on  the  morning  of  Friday,  January  25,  Bishop  Rosati 
and  his  fidus  Achates,  Father  John  Bouillier,  crossed  the  Mississippi; 
they  were  headed  this  time  towards  the  parish  of  St.  John  the  Baptist, 
on  the  German  Coast,  where  they  arrived  in  mid-afternoon.  The  evening 
and  the  next  day  were  given  to  rest  and  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  whole- 
hearted hospitality  of  the  pastor  Father  Louis  Mina  and  his  guest 
for  the  time  being,  Father  De  Angelis.  From  St.  John  the  Baptist  the 
Administrator,  together  with  his  inseparable  Father  Bouillier  and  Father 
De  Angelis,  boarded  the  Paul  Jones,  for  New  Orleans.  Thus  ended  the 
first  round  of  Visitations. 


Rosati's  Visitation  in  the  Diocese  of  New  Orleans  4:!:! 

Trouble  had  been  brewing  in  the  City  during  the  Bishop 's  absence. 
"The  Trustees,"  Bishop  Rosati  tells  us,  "led  and  persuaded  by  one  Mr. 
Cavelier,  had  been  circulating  among  the  Catholics  a  petition  which 
they  requested  the  latter  to  sign,  and  which  they  meant  to  present  to 
the  Legislature  of  Louisiana,  in  order  to  obtain  from  that  body  that  a 
law  be  passed  enabling  the  same  Trustees  to  refuse  henceforth  any 
pastors  in  whose  appointment  they  did  not  concur.  I  summoned  to- 
gether to  a  meeting  all  the  clergy  actually  present  in  New  Orleans;  the 
Right  Rev.  Michael  Portier,  Bishop  of  Oleno  and  Vicar  Apostolic  of 
Alabama  and  Florida,  and  the  Right  Rev.  Bonaventure  Esperon,  Bishop 
of  Jericho  in  partibus,  who  happened  to  be  then  in  the  city,  were  pleased 
to  grace  our  meetings  by  their  presence.  There  were  at  this  meeting 
the  Very  Rev.  Anthony  de  Sedella,  V.  G.,  and  Pastor,  the  Reverend 
Fathers  Moni,  Richard,  Borgna,  De  Angelis,  Maenhaut,  Ganihl,  Per- 
moli,  Bouillier,  Medina  and  Cunsade.  Having  read  the  aforementioned 
petition,  I  asked;  1.  Whether  or  not  it  was  in  conformity  with  the 
doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  Catholic  Church;  2.  Whether  or  not 
a  Rector  elected  by  the  Trustees  was  to  be  regarded  as  an  interloper. 
It  was  answered  unanimously:  1.  that  the  petition  was  contrary  to 
the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  Catholic  Church ;  2.  that  the  priest 
elected  to  a  pastorship  by  the  Trustees  should  be  held  to  be  an  interloper. 
Then  it  was  decreed  that  the  Proceedings  of  this  meeting  should  be 
written  in  full  and  signed  by  all  present,  and  that  an  authentic  copy 
of  these  proceedings  should  be  sent  to  the  Trustees  by  a  Committee 
made  up  of  Father  Anthony  de  Sedella,  Moni  and  Maenhaut.  Accord- 
ingly, minutes  of  the  meeting  were  at  once  written  by  Father  Ganihl 
and  signed  by  all  present." 

The  Administrator  did  not  believe  his  action  in  the  matter  should 
be  ended  by  the  holding  of  this  meeting ;  he  made  it  a  point  to  see  some 
of  the  members  of  the  Senate  of  Louisiana,  and  to  impress  upon  them 
the  idea  that  the  petition  circulated  by  the  Trustees  was  in  opposition 
to  the  laws  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  that,  therefore,  the  State  law- 
makers could  not  legislate  on  the  matter  without  violating  the  Consti- 
tion  of  the  United  States  which  guarantees  the  freedom  of  all  worship. 

In  explanation  of  Bishop  Rosati's  action  the  following  passages 
from  his  letter  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda  will  be  service- 
able : 

I  am  under  the  impression  that  Your  Eminence  is  well  aware  that 
The  temporalities  of  all  the  parishes  of  the  Diocese  of  New  Orleans, 
and  their  revenues  are  administered  by  a  Board  of  laymen,  commonly 
called  Marguilliers  (Trustees),  elected  by  the  Catholics  of  the  Parish. 
Whatever  is  done  by  these  Trustees  is  approved  and  held  valid  before 


434  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louix 

civil  law.  Now  it  occurs  quite  frequently  that  men  who  have  no  idea 
whatever  of  religion,  moved;  by  the  Inst  of  authority,  present  their 
candidatures  to  such  an  office,  and  are  actually  elected.  A  majority  of 
Trustees  of  that  kind,  who  are  administering  the  revenues  of  the  church 
of  New  Orleans,  sent  in  to  the  State  Legislature  a  petition,  which  they 
persuaded  quite  a  number  of  the  Catholics  of  New  Orleans  to  sign, 
asking  the  privilege  to  refuse  to  accept  any  Pastor  in  whose  appoint- 
ment or  election  they,  or  the  whole  Catholic  people,  had  no  part. 

The  argument  of  the  Trustees  is  that  in  a  Republic  the  people  ought 
to  enjoy  the  same  rights  as  are  exercised  by  kings  and  princes  in 
monarchies.  But  they  do  not  advert  to  the  fact  that  those  rights  are 
in  no  way  inherent  in  the  monarchs  or  in  the  Republic  officials;  but 
were  bestowed  by  the  Church  herself,  as  a  recognition  of  some  impor- 
tant temporal  benefits  conferred  upon  her  by  these  monarchs  and  princes. 
As,  on  the  other  hand,  there  has  never  been  made  here  any  such 
concession,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  any  should  ever  be  made,  because 
the  Government  has  never  granted  nor  can  grant  any  benefices,  or  any 
privileges  to  the  Church,  without  violating  the  Constitution,  one  does 
not  see  whence  this  right  to  make  appointments  could  ever  arise.  They 
argue  that  the  jus  patronatus  gives  to  the  patron  the  faculty  to  appoint 
to  parishes  and  benefices;  but  this  jus  patronatus  is  granted  by  the 
Church  to  the  Founders,  not  to  the  parishioners.  Even  here,  in  New 
Orleans,  this  right  was  not  granted  to  that  Spaniard  who  built  the 
Cathedral  at  his  own  expense ;  nor  was  it  ever  asked  by  him ;  therefore, 
even  though  his  heirs  should  claim  the  exercise  of  this  right,  they  could 
not,  because  prescription  to  the  contrary  has  intervened.  Moreover,  what 
has  not  the  Church  to  fear,  if  ever  the  election  of  a  pastor  should 
depend  on  laymen  with  no  ecclesiastical  knowledge  whatever,  men  of 
whom  scarcely  a  few  have  any  religious  sense,  and  some  are  openly 
haters  of  religion?  God  avert  this  calamity,  the  worst  that  could  befall 
this  Diocese  ! '  '2 

Bishop  Rosati  then  requests  a  declaration  by  the  Holy  Father 
on  the  matter  in  order  to  settle  once  for  all  the  disturbances  constantly 
raised  by  the  marguilliers.  "For,"  says  he  "the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  provides  that  nothing  can 
be  enacted  which  would  tend  to  impede  the  free  exercise  of  religion. 
Accordingly  as  soon  as  it  will  be  proven,  and  will  be  made  evident 
that  it  is  contrary  to  the  principles  and  to  the  discipline  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  that  the  people  of  any  parish  refuse  to  receive  a  Pastor,  because 


2     The  draft  of  this  letter  is  preserved  in  the  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Rosati's  Visitation  in  the  Diocese  of  New  Orleans  435 

they  had  no  part  in  his  appointment  or  election,  ipso  facto  any  con- 
cession made  on  this  point  by  the  Legislature  will  be  null  and  void"3 

It  was  an  appeal  to  the  law-makers  the  enemies  of  the  Church 
had  made :  Bishop  Rosati  countered  their  move  by  an  appeal  to  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Who 
should  win  could  no  longer  be  doubtful. 

In  any  case  the  Bishop's  courage  and  firmness,  so  different  from 
his  predecessors  vacillating  policy,  quelled  the  incipient  revolution  for 
the  time  being ;  so  that  the  visitation  of  the  diocese  could  proceed  in 
peace. 

On  February  11th,  the  Bishop  always  with  Father  Bouiller,  boarded 
the  Integrity,  bound  for  Western  Louisiana.  Slowly  the  craft  plowed 
its  way  along,  passing  on  February  12,  in  sight  of  St.  Michaels 's  and, 
the  next  day  entering  the  Bayou  Plaquemine.  Up  the  stream  they 
proceeded  that  day  and  the  whole  of  the  next  day ;  and  about  night- 
fall they  reached  the  Caron  landing,  where  they  disembarked  and  spent 
the  night.  Early  the  next  morning  Father  Flavius  H.  Rossi,  Pastor  of 
Opelousas,  came  to  fetch  our  Apostolic  traveler  to  his  residence,  three 
miles  away,  and  after  a  suitable  refection  put  them  on  their  way  to 
the  tOAvn  of  Vermillionville,  which  was  already  beginning  to  be  popularly 
designated  by  the  name,  destined  to  supplant  the  former,  of  Lafayette. 
Before  night  the  weary  travelers  had  reached  the  Rectory  of  St.  John 
the  Evangelist's  and  were  enjoying  the  hospitality  of  the  pastor,  Father 
Lawrence  Peyretti.  From  Vermillionville  to  St.  Martinville,  the  dis- 
tance is  only  fourteen  miles ;  it  was  easily  covered  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  18th.  Old  Saint  Martins,  the  quaint  Acadian  village,  amid  its 
venerable  oaks,  from  whose  branches  garlands  of  Spanish  moss,  and 
mystic  mistletoe  flaunted,  is  one  of  our  Country's  most  venerated 
shrines  of  poetry.  But  Bishop  Rosati's  visit  to  St.  Martin  was  no 
pilgrimage  to  poetry's  shrine,  but  an  errand  of  mercy.  "For,"  he  tells 
us,  "the  pastor,  Father  Marcel  Borella,  had  been  lying  abed  for  three 
months  with  his  thigh-bone  broken,  and  five  days  ago,  as  he  was 
beginning  to  convalesce,  the  thigh  was  broken  again.  We  were  most 
kindly  received  by  him,  and  I  could  not  but  admire  the  sweetness  of  his 
character  and  his  patience."  Two  full  days  the  Bishop  edified  himself 
at  the  bedside  of  the  pious  rector. 

St.  Charles  du  Grand  Coteau  was  the  next  parish  scheduled  to  be 
visited.  From  St.  Martin  the  Administrator  had  first  to  retrace  his 
steps  to  Vermillionville,  whence  he  started  on  Friday,  February  22, 
Just  on  the  bridge  crossing  the  Bayou  Carencro,  the  horse  draAving  the 


3     Rosati  to  Cardinal  Prefect  oi'  Propaganda. 


436  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

episcopal  carriage  fell,  and  it  was  only  by  the  narrowest  of  margins 
that  horse,  carriage  and  travelers  escaped  being  thrown  into  the  Bayou. 
At  the  Rectory  of  St.  Charles,  Bishop  Rosati  was  at  home,  as  the  Pastor. 
Father  John  Rosti,  was  a  Lazarist. 

Moreover,  the  prelate  was  keenly  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the 
new  Sacred  Heart  Convent  of  Grand  Cotean,  which  was  as  yet  quite 
a  modest  establishment  —  five  choir  Sisters,  and  one  lay  Sister;  the 
Academy  numbered  thirty-three  pupils — indeed  during  the  whole  length 
of  his  sojourn  at  St.  Charles,  he  made  the  Convent  chapel  his  Episcopal 
oratory :  Particularly  worthy  of  notice  is  the  fact,  carefully  recorded 
in  his  Diary,  that  on  Friday,  February  29,  at  half  past  three  in  the  after- 
noon, he  solemnly  administered  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  to  three  of 
the  Academy  girls  converted  from  Protestantism :  Mary  Elizabeth 
Gordon  and  Martha  Frances  Bell,  both  twelve  years  old,  and  Mary 
Clarissa  Curtis,  nine  j'ears  of  age.  All  three  had  obtained  the  consent 
of  their  parents. 

After  a  full  week  at  St.  Charles,  it  was  now  the  turn  of  Father 
Rossi,  pastor  of  Opelousas,  to  entertain  the  Administrator.  Father 
Rossi,  indeed,  went  to  St.  Charles  to  bring  the  Prelate  to  his  home  and 
to  the  new  church  of  St.  Landry  which  he  was  to  consecrate.  Although 
the  journey  by  a  driving  rain  and  through  muddy  roads  had  been 
rather  trying,  still  the  Prelate  was,  the  next  morning,  second  Sunday  in 
Lent,  ready  for  work.  March  4,  was  the  day  appointed  for  the  conse- 
cration of  the  new  church  of  Opelousas,  and  everything  was  in  readiness. 
All  the  requirements  of  the  Pontifical  were  carried  out,  Father  Flavius 
Rossi,  the  pastor,  and  Father  Bouiller,  C.  M.,  acting  as  assistants  to 
the  Bishop.  There  was,  too,  an  immense  crowd  of  people  in  attendance, 
and  the  Prelate  marks  with  wonderment  that  there  had  been  counted 
no  less,  than  five  hundred  saddle-horses,  and  thirty  carriages  of  every 
description  parking  around  the  church. 

In  the  meantime  the  Mississippi  River  had  risen  to  extreme  height 
and  broken  the  levees  at  Point  Couppee  and  Iberville ;  all  the  low  lands 
were  flooded  seven  feet  deep.  The  Bishop  left  for  Donaldsonville  and 
spent  two  weeks  there  in  company  of  Father  Joseph  Tichitoli.  Thence 
he  went  down  the  river  on  a  passing  flat-boat  and  arrived  at  New  Orleans 
on  Holy  Thursday. 

On  the  12th  of  May,  Bishop  Rosati  boarded  the  steamship  Jubilee 
Captain  Price,  bound  for  the  Barrens  where  he  arrived  on  the  22nd. 

This  visitation  of  the  parishes  of  Louisiana  was  Bishop  Rosati 's 
fond  adieu  to  the  priests  wdth  whom  he  had  been  connected  so  long 
both  officially  and  in  holy  friendship.    Most  of  them  he  was  not  to  see 


Rosati's  Visitation  in  the  Diocese  of  New  Orleans  437 

again  in  life.  But  he  remained  in  charge  of  the  diocese  as  Administrator, 
and  consequently  took  a    lively  interest  in  its  affairs. 

The  closing  words  of  his  letter  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the 
Propaganda  manifest  his  deep  interest. 

"I  have  now  gone  through  the  two  Dioceses  committed  to  my  care, 
and  made  the  Visitation  of  almost  all  the  parishes.  Everywhere,  in  the 
midst  of  difficulties  which  confront  Religion  in  this  Country.  I  have 
found  ample  motives  to  extol  and  bless  the  infinite  goodness  of  God, 
for  the  graces  which  He  bestows  so  abundantly  upon  the  Faith.  During 
the  last  six  months  I  have  confirmed  more  than  twelve  hundered  persons, 
all  of  whom  had  gone  to  communion  and  were  in  excellent  dispositions; 
everywhere  the  word  of  God  is  bringing  fruit — more  or  less — ,  in 
patience;  everywhere  the  Protestants  show  veneration  towards  the  Cath- 
olic religion  and  its  priests,  and  in  many  places  some  Protestants 
embrace  the  Catholic  Faith ;  all  are  willing  to  listen  to  the  word  of 
God  preached  by  the  Catholic  priests ;  nay  more,  I  myself,  after  preach- 
ing in  French  to  the  Catholics,  was  asked  by  Protestants  to  preach  in 
English.  There  are,  in  the  two  Dioceses,  nine  religious  Communities  and 
Monasteries,  two  of  men  and  seven  of  women :  in  them  piety  and  regu- 
larity are  flourishing  and  their  success  is  evidenced  by  the  number  of 
their  pupils.  New  churches,  either  of  stone  or  brick,  have  been  erected  ; 
in  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  two  are  not  yet  completely  finished,  but  three 
are  finished  in  the  Diocese  of  New  Orleans;  of  these  I  have  already 
consecrated  one,  and  shall  consecrate  another  in  a  short  while."4 


-i     From   Kosati's   letter  to   the   Cardinal   Prefect   of   the   Propaganda. 


Chapter  .'1 
PROGRESS  OF  A  DECADE 


After  the  visitation  and  confirmation  trip  in  Louisiana,  Bishop 
Rosati,  with  energy  and  prudence,  devoted  himself  to  the  reorganization 
of  his  own  diocese  and  especially  his  episcopal  city.  From  New  Orleans 
he  had  written  on  January  7,  1827:  "The  diocese  of  St.  Louis  which 
includes  the  State  of  Missouri  and  the  territory  of  Arkansas,  is  much 
more  prosperous  than  New  Orleans,  although  destitute  of  the  means 
necessary  for  the  support  of  priests.  The  Bishop  has  as  yet  no  income; 
he  has  only  land;  but  the  outlay  necessary  to  render  it  of  value,  is 
greater  than  the  revenue  it  brings  in.  The  church  is  burdened  with 
debts  contracted  in  building  it.  I  have  sent  Father  Niel  to  beg  for  help 
from  the  charitable  in  Europe.    I  trust  his  mission  will  be  successful."1 

The  financial  difficulties  of  the  church  in  St.  Louis  dated  from  the 
early  days  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg.  Immediately  on  his  arrival  in  the  city 
liberal  subscriptions  had  been  obtained  for  the  purpose  of  building  a 
worthy  house  of  God  in  place  of  the  ramshackle  building  that  had  served 
the  people  for  divine  worship  since  the  early  Spanish  days.  The  ex- 
pense of  the  ' '  Cathedral ' '  was  very  great,  and  funds  were  soon  lacking 
to  continue  building  operations.  Various  circumstances  contributed  to 
this  depressing  fact,  among  them  the  money-stringency  that  hampered 
trade  and  reduced  the  number  of  inhabitants  who  had  or  might  have 
subscribed.  Every  nerve  was  strained  to  put  the  church  under  roof; 
the  commissioners  giving  their  bond  to  the  workmen  for  the  amounts  due 
Them.  As  no  new  sources  of  revenue  opened  themselves,  the  commission- 
ers, Auguste  and  Pierre  Chouteau  and  Bernard  Pratte  and  others  who. 
as  we  have  already  shown,  had  become  personally  responsible  for  the 
church  debt  of  $4500,  obtained  from  the  Legislature  the  authorization 
"to  sell  at  public  sale  by  the  sheriff,  so  much  of  the  church  block  in  St. 
Louis  as  was  not  used  for  Church  and  Cemetery  purposes,  as  would  be 
necessary  to  indemnify  them  for  the  amount  they  had  advanced  and 
had  become  personally  responsible  for  in  the  erection  of  the  Brick  church 
to  the  extent  of  $4500.00.- 

The  sale  of  the  southern  half  of  the  church-block  inherited  by  the 
parish  of  St.  Louis  from  its  founder,  was  effected:  the  northern  half 
with  the  church  and  the  cemetery  remained  in  control  of  the  trustees, 


i     "Annates  de  la  Propagation  <le  la  Foi, "  vol.  II,  p.  410. 

2     Cf.  Bishop  Du  Bourn's  Difficulties  in  Part  I,  Book  III,  c.  5,  of  this  history. 

(438) 


-^/-J&yJ.  A .  o&-  o&g&U, 


Progress  of  a  Decade  439 

and  the  lot  on  which  the  College  stood  was  the  property  of  Father 
Niel. 

At  the  time  Bishop  Rosati  made  his  first  report  to  Rome,  November 
1,  1825,  almost  all  the  property  of  the  church  of  St.  Louis  was  in  alien 
hands.  The  Bishop  had  no  home  in  the  city,  only  an  unfinished  church 
already  crumbling  away.  Truly,  the  affairs  of  St.  Louis  were  in  a  bad 
condition. 

Father  Francis  Niel,  the  successor  of  the  saintly  De  Andreis  as 
pastor  of  the  Cathedral,  was  not  a  man  of  ecclesiastical  learning,  but 
a  good  manager  and  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  an  eloquent  preacher. 
One  of  his  sermons  on  Charity  was  reprinted  in  the  United  States 
Catholic  Miscellany  of  July  1824,  and  the  editor,  Bishop  England, 
praised  it  saying:  "What  strikes  us  as  peculiarly  remarkable  is,  this 
is  the  English  composition  of  a  gentleman,  who  is,  we  believe,  a  native 
of  France  and  who  has  but  lately  become  conversant  with  our  lan- 
guage. '  '3 

Yet,  this  sermon  alone  would  show  why  Father  Niel  found  so  much 
opposition  among  his  people :  though  intended  as  a  charity  sermon,  it 
contained  an  intemperate  attack  on  the  morals  of  the  men  of  St.  Louis. 
Father  Niel  also  led  the  movement  of  establishing  an  Orphanage  for 
Catholic  and  Protestant  children. 

The  College  of  St.  Louis  caused  its  President  many  a  worry  and 
heart-burn.  But  his  main  difficulty  was  the  debt  of  $4500,  on  the 
Cathedral,  and  a  personal  debt  of  $1200,  which  he  could  not  pay.  Col- 
lections were  pitifully  small ;  An  attempted  lottery  failed  to  work.  The 
creditors  were  importunate;  prospects  were  gloomy,  indeed,  and  at  last, 
Father  Niel  gave  way  to  the  haunting  idea  of  returning  to  France. 
On  December  2,  1824  Father  Niel  was  commissioned  to  go  to  Europe  to 
collect  funds  and  engage  priests  for  the  diocese  of  Louisiana.  He  left 
in  March  1825,  after  a  splendid  farewell  celebration.  Father  Saidnier 
was  appointed  his  sucessor  at  the  Cathedral.  On  March  14,  1828  Bishop 
Rosati  wrote  to  the  new  pastor :  "  I  am  very  sorry  on  account  of  the 
condition  of  affairs  in  St.  Louis.  If  they  (the  Commissioners)  could 
have  a  little  patience,  things  could  be  adjusted  in  a  friendly  way  without 
noise.  Still  if  they  insist  to  sell  the  lots  and  the  house  which  was  origi- 
nally destined  for  the  use  of  the  priests,  and  if  they  want  to  throw 
you  out  of  it,  I  ask  you  to  protest  and  to  publish  your  protest  in  the 
papers  and  to  stop  all  ecclesiastical  functions.  I  set  my  hope  on  the 
piety  and  religiousness  of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis,  that  things  will 
not  go  that  far."4 


3  July  1,   1824. 

4  Rosati  to  Father  Saulnier.     Letter  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


440  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

On  the  next  day  he  wrote  Father  Niel  at  the  College  Stanislaus 
Paris:  "The  temporal  affairs  of  St.  Louis  are  in  a  deplorable  condition. 
Interest  amounts  to  $2000.  These  gentlemen  threaten  to  sell  the  house 
and  lots,  if  they  are  not  paid  by  May  25th,  or  if  the  contract  is  not 
renewed.  Tiny  want  my  signature.  If  the  sum  collected  had  been 
sent,  we  might  have  paid  part  of  the  interest  and  restored  confidence. 
Please  answer  and  send  what  you  have  collected.  After  Easter  I  shall 
go  to  St.  Louis  and  renew  the  contract  in  my  name."5 

On  the  23rd  the  Bishop  wrote  a  touching  appeal  to  Mr.  Bernard 
Pratte,  the  chief  creditor,  in  which  he  praises  him  for  what  he  has  done 
in  the  interest  of  the  church,  collecting  funds  and  superintending  the 
workmen,  concluding  with  these  words:  "You  have  just  claims,  you 
must  be  paid.  But  collections  from  Europe  are  poor.  M.  Niel  suffered 
an  apoplectic  stroke  and  cannot  do  much.  I  hope  to  satisfy  your  claims 
right  soon:  but  have  patience,  and  do  not  precipitate  matters."6 

This  was  done  on  July  1,  1828,  when  the  Commissioners  conveyed 
all  their  holdings  in  the  Church-Block  to  Bishop  Joseph  Rosati  in  con- 
sideration of  his  personal  note  for  $4748.28  at  6  percent  per  annum. 

On  April  4  he  had  made  a  personal  appeal  to  Cardinal  de  Croy, 
Archbishop  of  Rouen,  Grand  Almoner  of  France,  for  help  to  pay  the 
debt  on  the  Cathedral.  On  December  22  he  writes  to  Father  Saulnier : 
"We  need  not  hope  for  anything  from  Niel,  at  present:"7  His  anxieties 
were  relieved,  however,  by  a  remittance  from  the  Society  of  the  Pro- 
pagation of  the  Faith,  amounting  to  about  20,000  francs,  intended  for 
the  immediate  needs  of  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis.  Of  this  sum  the 
Bishop  devoted  6325  frs.  to  the  Jesuit  establishment,  1000  to  the  Nuns 
of  the  Sacred  Heart,  9532  to  pay  the  debts  of  the  Bishop's  House 
in  New  Orleans  and  of  the  rest  he  paid  1582  dollars  to  Messrs.  Pratte 
and  Chouteau,  as  the  first  installment  on  the  Cathedral  debt  in  St.  Louis. 
The  entire  debt,  capital  and  accrued  interest,  was  eventually  paid  out 
of  funds  sent  to,  Bishop  Rosati  from  Europe.  In  April  1829  Father 
Niel  sent  2400  frs.  to  pay  for  the  debts  he  had  made  whilst  at  the 
Cathedral.  At  various  other  dates  up  to  March  1830  he  forwarded 
smaller  sums  amounting  to  $2252.  ' '  If  you  have  not  done  what  we 
expected,"  wrote  Bishop  Bosati,  with  all  the  kindness  of  his  nature, 
"it  is  not  your  fault."8 

Father  Niel  had  been  sent  to  Europe  by  Bishop  Rosati,  not  only 
for  the  purpose  of  collecting  funds  for  the  diocese,  but  also  of  gaining 


Rosati   to  Niel,   Draft  in   Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 
Rosati 's  Letter  Book  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 
Ros.-iti,   to   Saulnier  in   Archives  of   St.   Louis   Archdiocese. 
Rosati 's  Letter  Book. 


Progress  of  a  Decade  441 

new  recruits  for  the  missions.  In  this  also,  he  was  a  disappointment, 
for  the  only  time  he  did  send  new  recruits  to  St.  Louis,  he  let  them 
borrow  the  money  for  the  journey,  which  the  Bishop  had  to  repay. 
Among  these  recruits)  was  Father  Joseph  Lutz  of  Odenheim  in  the 
Black  Forest,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Bishop  to  assist  Father  Edmund 
Saulnier  at  the  Cathedral.  He  arrived  November  5,  1827.  As  Father 
Francis  Savine  left  Cahokia  for  the  south  in  May  1826,  the  priests 
of  the  Cathedral  visited  his  forsaken  mission  and  also  Carondelet. 
Father  Holweck  has  written  a  very  lively  account  of  Father  Edmund 
Saulnier 's  checkered  career.9 

Much  of  what  the  loquacious  Gascon  said  and  wrote  is  of  no  value 
for  the  history  of  the  Diocese,  however  characteristic  it  may  be  for  the 
man.  He  never  could  get  along  with  any  assistant :  he  often  quarrelled 
with  his  bishop;  he  was  jealous  of  De  Neckere's  popularity;  he  con- 
stantly complained  of  his  "beggarly  income;"  he  was  a  kind  of  clerical 
Pepys.  whose  letters  would  enrich  the  world  with  a  very  picturesque 
memoir. 

The  one  memorable  event  of  Father  Saulnier 's  long  life  must  find 
its  record  here.  On  February  1829  Saulnier  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati 
that  he  gave  the  last  sacraments  to  Auguste  Chouteau  who  received 
them  with  great  devotion.  Auguste  Chouteau  was  the  man  who  on  February 
15th,  1764  had  directed  the  founding  of  St.  Louis.  It  seems  that  Auguste 
Chouteau  had  been  a  practical  Catholic  all  his  life — at  least  according 
to  Colonial  ideas.  On  February  24th  Choteau  died;  the  following  day 
Saulnier  sang  the  Exequial  Requiem;  he  received  three  dollars  and 
fifty  cents  for  his  services — also  according  to  Colonial  ideas! 

We  shall  meet  Father  Saulnier  again  when  we  come  to  the  account 
of  the  Arkansas  Mission  in  November  1831. 

The  old  Brick  Cathedral  was  to  witness  a  number  of  solemn  func- 
tions before  its  lurid  destruction.  But  the  ordinations  usually  took  place 
at  the  Seminary.  On  January  29,  1826,  the  Jesuit  John  E.  Smedts, 
and  on  March  11  of  the  same  year,  Peter  J.  Verhaegen  were  ordained 
to  the  priesthod.  Both  were  placed  at  Florissant  with  Fathers  Van 
Quickenborne  and  Theodor  de  Theux;  the  latter  had  joined  the  St.  Louis 
Province  in  August  1825.  At  the  Barrens  the  Lazarist  John  Bouillier 
was  ordained  on  the  11th  of  March  1826,  and  on  the  23rd  of  September 
of  the  same  year,  three  other  Lazarists,  Peter  Vergani,  John  Timon  and 
Joseph  Paquin,  likewise  received  Holy  Orders.  Father  Paquin  was  the 
second  native-born  Missourian  to  be  raised  to  the  priesthood ;  Father 
Henry  Pratte  of  Ste.  Genevieve  being  Missouri's  native  proto-priest. 


9     Holweck,  F.  G.,  Father  Edmond  Saulnier  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical 
Review,"  vol.  IV,  pp.  189-219. 


442  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

The   third    in   the   list   is   Father   Francis   Regis   Loisel,    ordained   in 
1828.10 

"In  the  Jesuit  house  at  Florissant  there  were  now  four  priests, 
five  ecclesiastics,  a  few  brothers  and  a  dozen  little  savages  who  were 
being  instructed  in  their  religion.  Of  the  Jesuit  novices  of  early  St. 
Stanislaus,  John  Felix  Livinus  Verreydt,  Jodocus  Francis  Van  Assche, 
Peter  John  De  Smet  and  John  Anthony  Elet  were  ordained  to  the 
priesthood  at  Florissant  on  September  23,  1827,  by  the  Administrator 
Bishop  of  Louisiana.  As  they  were  assigned  to  the  establishment  at  Floris- 
sant ;  the  four  priests  there  had  now  become  eight. 

In  1828,  ten  years  after  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  arrival  in  St.  Louis, 
the  new  diocese  contained  sixteen  parishes  or  missions  with  churches, 
six  stations  without  churches,  one  Bishop,  seven  secular  priests,  six 
Lazarist  Fathers  and  eight  Jesuit  Fathers,  making  a  total  of  twenty- 
one  priests  under  their  own  Bishop.  But  as  Bishop  Rosati  wrote:  "We 
need  a  great  many  priests,  and  moreover  a  little  more  constancy  and 
perseverance  among  those  who  come  to  work  in  this  mission." 

"Therefore"  continues  the  Bishop,  turning  to  brighter  vistas, 
"When  I  am  in  Missouri,  I  reside  at  the  Seminary.  It  is  about  eighty 
miles  from  St.  Louis,  in  a  parish  which  is  a  model  of  piety.  This  semi- 
nary is  conducted  by  the  Lazarists.  It  has  sent  forth,  inside  of  eight 
years,  over  twenty-five  priests,  some  of  them  natives  of  the  country. 
Their  studies  were  pursued  in  some  cases,  entirely,  in  others,  in  part, 
in  this  Seminary.  The  community,  consists  at  the  present  time,  of 
about  fifty  individuals,  of  whom  five  are  priests,  twelve  ecclesiastics, 
ten  brothers,  and  the  others  are  pupils."11 

"I  am  fortunate"  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  written  about  1827,  "in  hav- 
ing, besides  my  Seminary  in  Missouri,  a  colony  of  sisters  founded  in  Ken- 
tucky. They  live  by  the  work  of  their  hands  and  devote  themselves, 
almost  gratuitously  to  the  instruction  of  poor  children,  in  religion, 
reading,  writing  and  the  first  rules  of  arithmetic."12 

"This  Institution"  Bishop  Rosati  now  tells  us,  contained  seventeen 
religions,  some  orphans  and  a  large  boarding  school.  Of  Florissant  he  had 
written :  "In  the  same  village  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  have  a 
convent.  They  have  many  pupils  and  a  few  little  savages.  Another 
house  of  the  same  Order  has  just  been  established  in  St.  Louis,  chiefly 
for  orphans  and  day  scholars."13 


io     Rosati 's  Diary,  passim. 

ii  Rosati  to  Abbe  Perreau,  June  7,  1827,  "Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la 
Foi,"  vol.  II,  p.   416.    Records,  vol.  XIV,  p.  202. 

12  Du  Bourg,  to  Abbe  Lespinasse,  Annales,  vol.  II,  p.  409.  Records,  XIV,  p. 
166. 

1^     Ibidem. 


Progress  of  a  Decade  443 

This  convent,  the  third  foundation  from  Florissant ;  Grand  Coteau 
and  St.  Michael,  both  in  Louisiana,  having  preceded  it,  was  established 
in  1827  by  Mother  Duchesne  through  the  munificence  of  John  Mullanphy. 
It  was  opened  May  1  of  that  year,  Mother  Duchesne  being  its  superior. 
In  the  same  year  at  the  request  of  Father  Verhaegen,  S.  J.,  the  con- 
vent at  St.  Charles  was  reestablished,  Thus,  in  less  than  ten  years. 
Mother  Duchesne  had  planted  five  successful  houses  of  the  Society  in 
the  United  States,  and,  when  at  the  direction  of  Mother  Barat,  she 
called  a  Provincial  Council  of  the  Superiors  in  1829,  she  was.  able  to 
report  to  the  Mother-house  a  most  satisfactory  condition  of  affairs  in  the 
Xew  World. 

The  great  event  of  the  Year  1826  was  the  consecration  of  Bishop 
Michael  Portier,  first  Bishop  of  Mobile,  by  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis. 
It  took  place  on  the  second  Sunday  of  November,  in  the  Cathedral 
built  by  Du  Bourg,  now  beautifully  and  splendidly  prepared  "for  the 
grand  occasion."  Bishop  Rosati  in  his  Diary  records  the  names  of  all 
the  clergymen  of  Illinois  and  Missouri  gathered  from  the  various  par- 
ishes to  be  present  at  the  consecration  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Portier :  Father 
Olivier,  pastor  of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  and  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  Su- 
perior of  the  House  of  Socitey  of  Jes;is  at  St.  Ferdinand  and  pastor 
of  that  Parish,  supplied  the  place  of  Assistant  Bishops,  according  to 
Apostolic  dispensation ;  Father  Odin,  priest  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Mission,  exercised  the  office  of  assistant  priest  in  cope ;  Father  Saulnier, 
Vice-Rector  of  St.  Louis,  and  Father  Verhaegen  S.  J.,  that  of  Deacons 
of  Honor ;  Father  Dahmen  C.  M.,  pastor  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  and  Bouiller 
C.  M.,  Deacon  and  Subdeacon  of  the  Mass ;  Father  De  Theux.  S.  J. 
preached  in  English  after  the  Gospel ;  Father  Permoli,  Vergani  and 
Paquin,  C.  M.  and  Father  Smedts  S.  J.  assisted  in  chasubles;  Messrs. 
Loisel  and  Chalon,  subdeacons,  Saucier  cleric  of  the  Seminary  and  one 
of  the  scholastics  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  in  Dalmatics.  Mr.  Labadie 
with  three  other  scholastics  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  in  copes,  were, 
respectively,  mitre,  book,  candle  and  crozier-bearers. 

Mr.  Mascaroni  was  first,  and  Mr.  Jourdain  second  Master  of  cere- 
monies; Messrs.  Hilary  Tucker  and  Isaac  Walker  were  acolytes  and 
Mr.  Louis  Tucker  censer-bearer.  Two  other  ecclesiastics  in  surplice  and 
ten  altar -boys  in  red  cassocks  and  white  surplices  served  also  at  the 
Mass.  After  chanting  Tierce,  the  consecration  was  performed  solemnly 
according  to  all  the  prescriptions  of  the  Roman  Pontifical,  in  the 
presence  of  an  immense  crowd.     The  ceremony  ended  at  three  P.  M. 

At  5  P.  M.,  solemn  Pontifical  Vespers  were  chanted  by  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Portier,  who  at  the  end,  addressed  the  people  in  French,  the 
function  being  concluded  by  the  Benediction  of  the  Bl.  Sacrament.14 

14     Rosati 's  Diary. 


444  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Bishop  Rosati  mentions  "the  clergymen  of  Illinois  and  Missouri 
gathered  from  the  various  parishes,"  as  one  body:  the  examination 
of  the  Parish  Records  of  the  old  Illinois  towns  along  the  river,  shows 
that  the  priests  in  charge  were  subjects  of  the  See  of  St.  Louis.  The 
somewhat  anomalous  condition  of  Illinois  is  explained  at  length  by 
Bishop  Rosati  in  his  report  to  Propaganda,  dated  March  21,  1828 : 

The  boundary  line  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  to  the  East — to  the 
West  which  is  a  desert,  there  is  no  need  of  assigning  limits — is  con- 
stituted by  the  Mississippi  river;  so  that  the  State  of  Illinois  and  the 
so-called  North-West  territory  are  outside  the  diocese.  If  these  regions 
were  properly  settled  by  Catholics,  the  ecclesiastical  division  might 
well  be  made  to  coincide  with  the  civil  division ;  but  in  proportion  to 
the  area,  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  is  quite  small,  and  among  these, 
Catholics  are  few.  These  Catholics  are  established  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Mississippi  River.  Most  of  the  Catholics  of  the  diocese  of  St. 
Louis  are  likewise  in  villages  or  in  districts  near  the  river.  In  Europe 
and  in  countries  thickly  populated,  large  rivers  are  on  the  outskirts; 
here  in  this  part  of  North  America,  they  are  centers.  On  this  account 
both  banks  of  the  river  are  naturally  connected  together,  and  would 
seem  to  belong  to  the  same  diocese.  Owing  to  the  small  number  of 
Catholics,  it  happens,  that  the  same  priest  has  charge  of  parishes,  or 
congregations,  as  they  are  called  here,  situated  on  both  banks  of  the 
river ;  this  is  even  necessary  for  his  maintenance,  for  none  of  these 
parishes  is  able  by  itself,  to  support  a  pastor.  Thus,  .for  instance,  the 
rector  of  Carondelet,  in  Missouri,  looks  also  after  the  parish  of  Caho- 
kias,  in  Illinois;  so  likewise  the  Missionary  in  charge  of  Portage  des 
Sioux,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  visits  the  settlements  and  the  Catholics 
east  of  the  river.  The  Bishop  of  St.  Louis  himself,  going  from  one  to 
another  of  the  parishes  of  his  diocese,-  has  to  pass  through  several  par- 
ishes of  Illinois,  because  this  is  the  shorter  and  better  road.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  these  Illinois  parishes  were  in  the  diocese  of  a  Bishop 
residing  at  Vincennes,  he  would  have  to  undertake  a  two-hundred  mile 
journey  to  visit  them.  For  this  reason,  as  soon  as  the  Right  Reverend 
Louis  William  Du  Bourg  established  his  residence  in  St.  Louis,  he  was 
asked  by  the  Right  Reverend  Bishop  of  Bardstown  to  take  these 
parishes  under  his  charge.  At  the  request  of  the  same  prelate  and  of 
the  bishop  of  Cincinnati,  I  too,  continue  to  take  care  of  them."15 

This  private  arrangement  of  the  prelates  concerned  was  made  official 
by  Decree  of  Propaganda,  assigning  the  western  half  of  Illinois  to 
the  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  Bishop  Rosati  always  showed  a  lively  interest 
in  the  old  French  towns  of  the  Illinois  border.    In  October  1824  he 


15     Kosati  to   Propaganda,    draft   in   Archives    of    St.    Louis   Archdiocese. 


Progress  of  a  Decade  445 

made  his  first  episcopal  visitation  of  Cahokia  and  repeating  it  in  1827 
met  a  most  hearty  reception  from  the  parishioners  and  their  pastor 
Father  Lutz.  In  August  of  the  same  year  he  came  to  Kaskaskia  for 
confirmation.  In  September  1826  and  October  1827  Prairie  du  Rocher 
was  taken  into  the  circuit.  These  confirmation  trips  were  repeated  every 
year,  or  at  least  even-  other  year,  until  1839. 

"Among  the  Illinois  missions  entrusted  to  Bishop  Rosati's  care" 
says  Dr.  Souvay,  "those  of  Kaskaskia  and  Prairie  du  Rocher  had 
the  first  claim  upon  his  solicitude.  The  prelate,  indeed  ever  kept  a 
heart-stirring  remembrance  of  that  evening  of  October,  1817,  when, 
on  descending  the  Illinois  bluffs  after  a  harassing  journey  of  nine  days, 
he,  with  Bishop  Flaget  and  Father  De  Andreis,  beheld  at  a  distance 
the  cross  looming  above  the  old  church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception 
of  Kaskaskia ;  and  a  few  moments  later,  as  the  sun  was  sinking  beyond 
the  Missouri  hills  in  autumnal  splendor,  felt  their  hearts  swell  to  over- 
flowing on  hearing  the  old  French  church-bell  tolling  the  sweet  notes 
of  the  Angelus.  But  much  more  than  mere  sentiment,  did  the  zeal  of 
God's  house  enter  into  the  Bishop's  solicitude.  Kaskaskia,  the  oldest 
Illinois  town,  which  but  yesterday  had  been  the  capital  of  the  young 
State,  was  now  only  an  out-mission  of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  overtaxing 
the  rapidly  waning  strength  of  saintly,  but  age-worn  Father  Donatien 
Olivier.  The  church,  moreover,  much  dilapidated,  was  in  sore  need 
of  repairs.  Furthermore,  there  were  Catholics  scattered  about,  and  they 
too,  had  to  be  taken  care  of.  Truth  to  tell,  the  priests  were  few  at  the 
Seminary,  and  around  the  "Barrens"  there  were  a  few  out-missions  to 
attend.  However,  the  Bishop  would  see  to  it  that  someone  went  over 
to  Illinois  from  time  to  time.  The  first  to  be  sent  was  Father  Francis 
Cellini,  lately  arrived  from  Louisiana  (November  5,  1824)  for  a  visit 
to  the  Bishop.  Starting  from  the  Seminary  in  November  22,  he  returned 
on  the  30th.  "1G 

Father  Cellini  returned  to  Louisiana,  on  his  way  to  Rome,  and 
the  Bishop  had  no  one  to  send  to  Illinois.  But  the  Seminary  priests, 
and  Father  De  Xeekere  on  their  journeys  to  and  from  St.  Louis  would 
stop  at  Prairie  du  Rocher  or  Kaskaskia  and  the  other  Catholic  settle- 
ments by  the  way.  On  September  27,  1826  Bishop  Rosati  was  at  Prairie 
du  Rocher.  He  had  started  from  Ste.  Genevieve  with  Father  Dahmen, 
C.  M.,  the  pastor  of  the  old  Missouri  village,  and  Mr.  Loisel,  a  subdeacon 
from  the  Seminary.  He  records  with  emol  ion  the  hearty  welcome  tender- 
ed him  by  Father  Olivier,  and  tells,  how  he  himself,  the  next  morning. 
September  28  "at  half  past  seven  celebrated  Mass;  and  after  Mass,  foi- 


ls    Souvay,  "The  Lazarists  in  Illinois,"  iu  "Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,' 
vol.   r,  p.  310. 


446  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

lowed  by  a  short  exhortation,  administered  the  Sacrament  of  Confir- 
mation to  twenty-five  boys  and  girls."  Nor  is  this  all.  For  he,  who,  as 
a  Bishop,  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  a  country  pastor  at  "the 
Barrens"  was  ever  eager  to  do  missionary  work,  and  after  Mass,  heard 
the  confessions  of  seven  Americans  living  in  the  neighborhood,  who,  for 
fifteen  months,  had  not  been  able  to  receive  the  sacrament  of  Penance, 
because  there  was  no  English-speaking  priest  whom  they  coidd  go  to. 

Father  John  Timon  preached  the  Jubilee  of  1826  in  St.  Louis, 
Cahokia,  and  Prairie  du  Rocher,  and  Father  John  Bouillier  was  appointed 
to  perform  the  same  service  at  Kaskaskia.  Bishop  Rosati's  return  from 
Bardstown,  February  20,  1827,  marked  the  departure  of  the  last  res- 
ident priest  of  Illinois. 

' '  Crossing  the  Mississippi,  we  arrived  at  half -past  eleven  A.  M.  at 
at  Ste.  Genevieve.  .  .  In  the  afternoon  came  Father  Olivier,  who  is 
going  to  go  with  us  to  the  Seminary.  This  most  saintly  priest,  well- 
nigh  eighty  years  of  age,  is  now,  after  thirty  years  spent  on  the  Illinois 
missions,  quite  broken  by  old  age  and  his  labors;  still  he  could  hardly 
be  prevailed  upon  to  leave  his  parish  of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  where  he 
lived  alone,  without  even  a  house-keeper,  to  come  and  spend  the  rest  of 
his  life  in  the  Seminary."17 

For  some  months  priests  from  the  Seminary  attended  regularly, 
Prairie  du  Rocher  and  Kaskaskia,  The  Parish  Registers  of  Prairie 
du  Rocher  show  that  Father  John  Timon  and  Father  Peter  Vergani 
were  visiting  the  parish  regularly ;  once  or  twice  a  month  they  went 
to  Kaskaskia.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  of  the  two,  Father  Timon, 
perhaps  because  he  spoke  French  better,  had  the  preference  of  the 
people.  At  any  rate,  on  August  26,  when  the  Bishop  came  to  Kaskaskia 
for  Confirmation,  a  number  of  the  parishioners  called  on  him  at  the 
house  of  Madame  Saint-A;rrain,  Avhere  he  was  staying,  to  obtain  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  resident  priest,  and  preferably  Father  Timon,  who,  they 
said,  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  Protestants,  as  well  as  by  Catholics.  As 
owing  to  the  scarcity  of  priests,  the  Bishop  could  dispose  of  only  one 
for  Illinois,  it  was  decided  that  Father  Cellini,  appointed  pastor  of 
Prairie  du  Rocher,  would  give  one  Sunday  every  month  to  Kaskaskia, 
and  that  Father  Timon  would  also  come  one  Sunday  every  month  from 
the  Seminary.18 


it     Rosati's  Diary,  February  20,  1827. 
is     Rosati's  Diarv. 


Chapter  4 
THE   SISTERS   OF   CHARITY 


An  event  of  uncommon  importance  to  the  city  and  the  entire 
diocese  of  St.  Louis  now  demands  our  attention;  the  advent  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  and  the  establishment  of  the  first  hospital  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River.  These  Sisters  of  Charity  were  of  the  branch 
planted  in  Amercan  soil  by  that  noble  convert,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Seton, 
and  in  consequence,  were  often  styled  Mrs.  Seton 's  Daughters.  Since 
July  30,  1809,  they  had  their  mother-house  at  Emmetsburg,  Md.  At 
the  time,  they  were  not  affiliated  with  the  Daughers  of  Charity  of 
Prance,  founded  by  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  but  their  institute  was  modelled 
on  that  of  the  great  apostle  of  Charity.  "The  poor  of  all  descriptions 
and  ages,  the  sick,  invalids,  foundlings,  orphans  and  even  insane  persons 
were  embraced  within  the  sphere  of  their  solicitude  and  care."  An- 
other object  of  their  zeal  was  the  instruction  of  young  persons  of  their 
sex  in  virtue,  piety  and  various  branches  of  useful  knowledge,  to  be 
given  gratis  to  poor  orphans.  This  rule  of  St.  Vincent  was  modified 
so  as  to  include  the  education  of  young  ladies  who  were  able  to  pay 
for  their  instruction.  Through  this  modification  it  was  hoped  to  obtain 
the  necessary  means  of  subsistence,  and  of  carrying  on  the  main  work 
of  charity.  The  care  of  hospitals,  orphan-homes,  foundling  asylums, 
institutions  for  the  insane  and  academies  for  young  ladies  was,  there- 
fore, within  the  competence  of  the  American  Sisters  of  Charity.  In  St. 
Louis  they  began  with  a  hospital. 

June  23,  1828,  Bishop  Rosati  reports  to  Father  Brute  at  Emmets- 
burg, that  Mr.  John  Mullanphy  had  offered  land  in  the  city  of  St. 
Louis  as  the  site  of  a  hospital  and  two  houses  for  an  endowment.  The 
rent  of  the  houses  would  amouHt  to  $600.  a  year.  Besides  this  the 
founder  would  give  $150  for  the  journey  of  these  Sisters  of  Charity 
to  St.  Louis.  "It  is  too  difficult  to  get  them  from  France;  the  Sisters 
of  Kentucky  will  not  take  hospitals — my  only  hope  is  Emmetsburg." 
"Mr.  Mullanphy  made  his  offer  without  being  asked,"  the  Bishop  writes. 
"Besides  the  two  houses  he  will  give  another  lot  with  other  houses; 
$350  he  will  give  to  furnish  house  of  Sisters.  Please,  send  the  Sisters."1 
This  hearty  appeal  was  bound  to  bring  results.  On  August  28,  Bishop 
Rosati  could  write  to  John  Mullanphy,  "I  have  received  a  favorable 
answer  from  Emmetsburg.  They  will  send  four  sisters  to  take  charge 
of  the  hospital."2 


i     Bishop  Rosati 's  Letter-book  in  Diocesan  Chancery. 

-      Ibidem. 

(447) 


448  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Archbishop  Whitfield  of  Baltimore  also  gave  his  consent,  writing' 
or  October  11,  1828:  "The  request  you  make  as  to  a  colony  of  Sisters 
of  Charity  going  into  your  Diocese,  I  willingly  grant,  hoping  thai 
these  good  Sisters  will  do  much  good,  as  they  do,  I  hope,  wherever  they 
have  been  placed."'*  On  November  25,  of  the  same  year  there 
arrived  in  St.  Louis,  Sister  M.  Xaverius,  Superior,  with  Sisters,  M. 
Elizabeth,  M.  .Martina  and  M.  Regina.  On  November  16,  the  Bishop 
uotified  Father  Deluol  in  Emmetsburg  of  the  arrival,  and  on  the  28th 
wrote  to  Mother  Augustine.  "The  Sisters  will  depend  on  nobody  but 
the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis.  The  buildings  are  poor,  the  furniture  is  not 
splendid,  everything  bespeaks  the  poverty  of  the  country."4 

But  Per  aspera  ad  astro.  The  work  of  the  sisters  grew  apace  with 
the  growth  of  the  city,  and  in  a  few  years  a  new  and  larger  building 
became  a  necessity. 

In  his  first  letter  to  the  Leopoldine  Society  of  the  Austrian  Empire, 
dated  March  10,  1830,  Bishop  Rosati  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of 
praise  of  the  Hospital,  in  care  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  Emmetsburg. 
"This  is  the  means  Divine  Providence  makes  use  of  in  order  to  preserve 
the  lives  of  a  large  number  of  laborers,  sailors,  negroes  and  others, 
who  are  there  received,  gratis,  and  treated  with  a  kindness  and  solicitude, 
which  moves  Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics  to  admiration  and  pious 
veneration.  Conversions  are  frequently  effected  there,  which  bestow 
on  those  who  came  there  with  the  sole  intention  of  regaining  bodily 
health,  true  life  and  vigor.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  however,  that  the 
Institution  has  no  suitable  building,  for  it  was  not  possible  to  acquire 
any  other  than  old  and  dilapidated  houses  of  wood."5 

Mr.  Mullanphy,  seconded  by  other  charitable  citizens,  again  came 
to  the  rescue,  and  the  spacious  Mullanphy  Hospital,  on  Spruce  and 
Fourth  Streets,  was  the  result.  On  .December  6,  1831,  Bishop  Rosati 
blessed  the  new  chapel  and  hospital  which  the  Sisters  entered  on  this 
day.  On  December  20,  John  Mullanphy  bought  the  lot  adjoining  the 
Hospital  and  gave  it  to  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  There  were  two  houses 
on  the  lot,  one  of  them  was  to  be  set  aside  for  the  orphan  boys.  In 
February  1830,  the  good  Bishop  gave  them  $500  out  of  the  funds  con- 
tributed by  the  Society  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith.  On  March  12, 
1832,  Dr.  Fiffin  gave  the  Sisters  a  lot  of  ground  in  Carondelet,  which 
was  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  sick  and  convalescent 


3  Whitfield  to  Eosati,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese.  A  small  collection  of 
Archbishop  Whitfield's  Letters  to  Bishop  Eosati  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical 
Review,"  vol.  V,  pp.  237-248. 

i     Letter-Book  of  Eosati. 

5     "Berichte  der  Leopoldinen  Stiftung, "  vol.   I,  p.  29. 


The  Sisters  of  Charily  449 

members  of  the  Order  a  place  to  recuperate.6  The  Directory  for  1833 
mentions  the  Sisters  of  Charity  as  conducting  a  Hospital,  an  Orphan 
Asylum  in  St.  Louis  and  a  house  in  Carondelet  with  twelve  nuns.  On 
October  22,  1832,  Bishop  Rosati  makes  the  first  reference  to  that  dread- 
ful visitation,  the  Asiatic  Cholera:  "The  disease  is  spreading;  there  are 
no  nurses  to  take  charge  of  the  Hospital  conducted  by  the  city  authorities 
for  the  care  of  the  cholera  patients.  The  Sisters  of  Charity  eight  in 
number,  considering  it  impossible  to  form  two  separate  bands,  offered 
their  own  Hospital  for  the  reception  of  all  the  afflicted.  The  Mayor  of  the 
city  gladly  accepted  the  offer.  They  (the  Sisters)  removed  their  printing- 
press  from  the  old  Hospital-building  and  all  the  cholera  patients  were 
brought  there.  They  were  visited  by  us  day  and  night  with  the  greatest 
alacrity  and  without  any  fear  of  death.  Not  one  of  the  Catholic 
patients  refused  to  receive  the  sacraments,  and  day  by  day  some  of 
the  Protestants  desired  a  visit  from  the  priests,  that  they  might  pre- 
pare them  for  their  return  to  the  Catholic  religion  before  death. 
Some  of  those  unaffected  by  the  plague,  also  were  converted.  What- 
ever time  was  left  us  after  visiting  the  sick,  was  devoted  to  hearing 
confessions  of  men  and  women.  Invalid  marriages  were  validated ; 
Catholics  who  had  neglected  their  duties  for  thirty,  twenty,  or  ten 
years,  were  noAV  seen  to  approach  the  Sacred  banquet  .  .  .  The  names 
of  the  priests  who  so  readily  exposed  their  lives  for  the  salvation  of 
their  brethren  are :  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  Benedict  Roux,  Peter  Paul 
Lefevere  and  August  Boniot.  Some  of  the  Protestant  ministers  fled 
the  city.  The  Sisters  of  Charity  filled  the  hearts  of  all  with  admiration 
and  brought  them  to  a  better  understanding  of  the  Church.  Father 
Borgna  joins  the  priests  visiting  the  cholera  patients."7 

It  is  also  recorded  that  two  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  died  as  martyrs 
of  charity.  On  November  7  the  epidemic  begins  to  decline.  On  the  14, 
three  new  sisters  arrive  from  Emmetsburg. 

In  1834  Bishop  Rosati  gave  to  this  most  charitable  Sisterhood  a 
small  house  on  Third  and  Walnut  Streets,  to  be  used  as  an  asylum  for 
boys  and  girls.  Prior  to  this  the  orphan  boys  were  cared  for  at  the 
Mullanphy  Hospital,  whilst  the  girls  were  with  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred 
Heart.  In  1835  six  Sisters  of  Charity  had  charge  of  a  band  of  forty- 
six  orphan  boys  and  an  equal  number  of  day-scholars  from  the  city. 
This,  the  first  Catholic  Orphan  Home  of  the  West,  stood  within  the 
church  block,  west  of  the  Cathedral. 

The  St.  Louis  Hospital  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  or,  as  it  was 
afterward  named  in  memory  of  its  most  generous  patron,  the  Mullanphy 
Hospital,  being  the  first  institution  of  its  kind  west  of  the  Mississippi 


6  Rosati 's  Diary. 

7  Rosati 's  Diary. 


Vol.  1-15 


450  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

River,  was  singled  out  for  a  special  favor  by  the  State  authorities.  In 
1832  some  influential  friends  of  the  Sisters  obtained  the  passage  of  a 
bill  in  the  legislature  of  the  State,  authorizing  a  lottery  for  the  purpose 
of  creating  a  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars  for  building  a  hospital  for 
them.  The  commissioners  appointed  by  the  legislature  had  sold  this 
lottery  to  James  S.  Thomas.  It  was  now  made  to  appear  that  the 
purchaser  would  derive  untold  gains  for  himself  from  his  system  of 
lottery-drawing.  A  committee  of  investigation  was  appointed  con- 
sisting of  seven  representative  citizens.  After  a  thorough  examination 
of  Mr.  Thomas'  system,  the  Committee  reported  as  follows:  "the  charge 
made  against  the  scheme,  that  it  affords  the  manager  an  opportunity 
of  fraudulently  realizing  a  great  and  unusual  proportion  of  profit  is 
not  sustained."  After  this  declaration  the  public  looked  with  addi- 
tional favor  on  the  lottery,  thinking  that  all  the  profits  went  to  the 
erection  of  a  hospital  under  the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  which 
it  certainly  did  not.8 

August  29,  1833,  was  the  last  day  of  John  Mullanphy's  life.  With 
him  died  the  noblest  Catholic  layman,  St.  Louis  has  ever  known ;  in 
his  death  the  orphans  and  afflicted  have  lost  a  most  liberal  benefactor, 
and  the  Church,  as  sincere  and  practical  a  Christian  as  ever  lived.  Still, 
John  Mullanphy  was  a  shrewd  business-man,  and  remarkably  success- 
ful in  his  ventures.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  the  political 
life  of  the  city,  a  far-sighted  open-handed  citizen.  Brave  in  battle, 
loyal  to  his  friends,  just  to  all,  he  was  indeed  "A  man  with  men,  with 
God  a  trustful  child.''  The  Sisters  of  Charity  lost  in  him  their  great- 
est benefactor.9 

On  August  30,  1833,  the  Bishop  assisted  at  the  last  solemn  rites 
for  John  Mullanphy,  whom  he  praised  as  a  great  benefactor  of  the 
Church  and  religion,  a  generous  helper  of  the  poor,  the  founder  of  the 
hospital  and  the  orphanage  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  and  the  girls 
orphanage  conducted  by  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  The  Bishop 
himself  presided  at  the  ceremonies  in  "pontificalibus,"  and  preached 
the  funeral  sermon,  stressing  above  all  the  charity  of  the  departed 
benefactor.10 

On  the  3rd,  4th  and  5th  of  June,  1834,  from  3  o'clock  to  10,  a  Fair 
and  Festival  was  held  at  the  National  Hotel  by  a  number  of  prominent 
young  ladies  and  matrons  of  the  city  for  the  benefit  of  the  proposed 
Orphanage  for  boys  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  The  pro- 
ceeds amounted  to  $1507.n 


8  Edwards' "Great  West,"  p.  348. 

9  Cf.  Kenny,  Laurence,  S.  J.,  "The  Mullanphys  of  St.  Louis,"  in  "Historical 
Eeeords  and  Studies,"  vol.  XIV,  pp.  70-111. 

10     Eosati's  Diary, 
n      Eosati's   Diarv. 


The  Sisters  of  Charity  451 

The  Mullanphy  Hospital  on  Fourth  and  Spruce  Streets  remained 
for  a  long  time  one  of  the  show-places  of  the  city,  partly  for  its  own 
sake,  partly  for  its  historical  associations.  In  1842  Canon  Salzbacher, 
on  his  tour  of  inspection  for  the  Leopoldine  Society,  came  to  St.  Louis 
and,  in  company  with  Coadjutor  Bishop  Kenrick,  paid  a  visit  to  the 
Mullanphy  Hospital  and  the  other  institutions  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity. 
He  gave  high  praise  to  the  Sisters  for  their  kindness  and  unselfish  love 
for  the  poor  and  afflicted.  He  mentions  a  department  for  the  insane 
at  the  hospital,  and  describes  the  Orphan  Asylum  and  Day-School  of 
the  Sisters  as  flanking  the  Cathedral  on  the  left  side,  as  the  Bishop's 
house  flanked  it  on  the  right.  The  Superior  at  the  Orphans  Home  at 
the  time  was  Mother  Angela  Hughes,  the  sister  of  Archbishop  Hughes  of 
New  York.12 

The  Sketch  Book  of  St.  Louis  published  by  Taylor  and  Crooks  in 
1858,  writes  as  follows  of  the  St.  Louis  Hospital:  "The  buildings  are 
ample  and  possess  every  requisite  necessary  to  alleviate  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  sick.  The  Sisters  Hospital  has  been  many  years  in  operation 
and  was  the  first  establishment  of  its  kind  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
It  has  been  judiciously  managed  and  has  acquired,  as  it  doubtless 
richly  deserves,  the  confidence  of  the  community.  It  is  not,  however, 
a  public  charity  in  the  general  acceptation  of  that  term :  the  public 
use  it,  but  it  is  self-sustaining :  very  many  go  there  and  pay  for  at- 
tendance, preferring  it  either  to  a  public  or  private  hospital.  There  they 
can  have  their  room,  their  attendant,  their  own  physician  if  they  wish  it. 
or  the  services  of  those,  among  the  best,  who  are  physicians  to  the 
hospital. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  gentlemen  of  eminence  and  Pro- 
fessors of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College,  who  attend  the  wards  of  the 
sick  daily : 

Surgeons:  Drs.  Charles  Pope  and  E.  Gregory. 

Physicians:  M.  L.  Linton,  J.  B.  Johnson  and  T.  Papin. 

It  should  be  here  stated  that  the  professional  services  of  the  above- 
named  gentlemen  are  administered  to  the  poor  of  the  Hospital  gratui- 
tously. '  '13 

The  patients  treated  in  the  Hospital  during  1857  numbered  about 
2000. 


12  Salzbacher,  Jos.,  "Meine  Keise  Nach  Nord-Amerika,  im  Jahre  1842,"  p.  217. 

13  Taylor  and  Crook's  "Sketch  Book  of  St.   Louis,"  1858,  pp.  44-46. 


Chapter  5 
FATHER  JOSEPH  ANTHONY  LUTZ,   INDIAN  MISSIONARY 


One  of  the  earliest  efforts  to  bring  the  Indian  nations  of  the  West 
into  the  pale  of  the  Catholic  Church  was  made  by  a  member  of  the 
secular  clergy  of  St.  Louis,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz.  It  was 
early  in  May  1827,  that  a  delegation  of  the  heathen  Kansas  Indians1 
with  their  great  Chief  White  Plume,  came  to  Governor  AVilliam  Clark, 
the  Superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  for  the  West,  residing-  at  St.  Louis, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  Catholic  missionaries.  General  Clark  sent 
them  to  the  Cathedral.  Here  Father  Lutz  heard  of  their  wishes  and 
immediately  decided  to  undertake  the  mission,  if  Bishop  Rosati  would 
consent.  The  Bishop  was  absent  from  St.  Louis  at  the  time.  But 
on  his  return  Father  Lutz  gave  him  no  respite,  begging  him  to  grant 
his  request  that  the  Kansas  mission  be  assigned  to  him.  General  Clark 
seconded  the  petition  of  the  enthusiastic  young  missionary.  At  last 
Bishop  Rosati  yielded  to  his  importunities,  not,  however,  without  some 
misgivings.  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz  was  born  on  June  9th,  1801  at  Oden- 
heim  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden.  He  made  his  studies  with  the 
Jesuits  at  Brieg  in  Switzerland,  and  coming  to  Paris,  then  the  center 
of  missionary  activities,  he  received  ordination,  and  was  engaged  for 
the  Louisana  mission  by  Father  Francis  Niel,  whom  Bishop  Rosati  had 
appointed  as  his  representative  in  Europe.  He  was  sent  to  St.  Louis 
by  Father  Niel  in  company  of  the  subdeacon  Chiavarotti  and  the  cleric 


i  The  first  mention  of  the  Kansas  or  Kanzas  tribe  of  Indians  is  that  in 
Don  Juan  de  Oiiate's  account  of  his  Expedition  to  the  Great  Plains  in  search  of 
the  elusive  city  of  Quiviras,  in  1601:  "Proceeding  on  the  day  of  the  glorious 
levite  and  martyr,  San  Lorenzo"  Oiiate's  narrative  states:  "God  was  pleased  that 
we  should  begin  to  see  those  monstrous  cattle  called  cibola  (buffalo).  Although 
they  were  fleet  of  foot,  on  this  day  four  or  five  of  the  bulls  were  killed,  which 
caused  great  rejoicing.  On  the  following  day  we  saw  great  droves  of  bulls  and  cows, 
and  from  there  on  the  multitude  which  we  saw  was  so  great  that  it  might  be 
considered  a  falsehood  by  one  who  had  not  seen  them.  .  .  they  were  so  tame, 
that  nearly  always,  unless  they  were  frightened  or  chased,  they  remained  quiet, 
and  did  not  flee." 

Marching  onward,  the  Spaniards  came  to  the  temporary  villages  of  the  roving 
Escanjaques  (Escansaques)  or  Kansas  Indians.  "They  wore  not  a  people  that 
sowed  or  reaped,  but  lived  solely  on  cattle  (buffalo)  meat,"  Ofiate  reports.  "They 
were  ruled  by  chiefs,  and  like  communities  that  are  freed  from  subjection  to  any  lord, 
they  obeyed  their  chiefs  but  little.  They  had  large  quantities  of  hides,  which, 
wrapped  about  their  bodies,  served  as  clothing,  but  the  weather  being  hot,  all  the 
men  went  about  nearly  naked,  the  women  being  clothed  from  the  waist  down.  Men 
and  women  alike  used  bows  and  arrows,  with  which  they  were  very  dextrous."  Cf. 
Fr.   Zephyrin   Engelhardt,   O.   F.   M.   in    "Franciscan    Herald,"    March,    1920. 

(452) 


Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  Indian  Missionary  453 

Sarault.  The  gentlemen  had  to  borrow  part  of  their  traveling  expenses 
from  some  Flemish  Nuns,  and  Bishop  Rosati  was  obliged  to  repay  the 
amount.  Father  Lutz  was  assigned  to  the  Cathedral  as  assistant  to 
Father  Saulnier. 

On  December  18th,  the  Pastor  of  the  Cathedral  wrote  to  the  Bishop 
about  his  new  acquisition  :  ' '  Mr.  Lutz  appears  to  be  a  zealous  missionary. 
I  sent  him  to  Kahokia  and  to  Vide  Poche  on  account  of  the  Jubilee. 
He  is  all  afire  to  convert  others.  Now  he  has  learned  to  mount  a 
horse,  but  a  short  time  ago  he  tumbled  down,  without  however,  hurt- 
ing himself.  He  is  timid  and  does  not  speak  French  well,  but  the 
present  practice  will  encourage  him  and  be  useful  for  his  knowledge 
of  French."2 

Another  remark  is  in  a  letter  of  February  24th,  1827:  "Mr.  Lutz 
performs  miracles.  He  now  is  very  busy  at  Kahokia  or  at  Vide  Poche. 
He  has  effected  several  reconciliations."3 

But  Father  Lutz  had  the  consuming  zeal  of  youth  and  of  a  ro- 
mantic turn  of  mind :  he  conceived  it  to  be  his  vocation  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  savage  children  of  the  forest  and  prairie.  Chateaubriand's 
glowing  descriptions  of  the  noble  red  men  in  Atala  and  Rene  had  cast 
a  glamour  over  American  seenei-y  and  life.  Father  Lutz's  impression- 
able nature  dreamt  of  the  wonderful  things  that  might  be  accomplished 
among  the  unspoiled  children  of  nature.  Bishop  Rosati  was  not  un- 
willing to  send  him,  but  in  company  of  another  priest.  Saulnier  writes 
on  July  2nd,  1827 :  ' '  Mr.  Lutz  is  well  satisfied,  since  you  will  let  him 
go  to  the  savages.  He  is  zealous,  but,  as  you  say,  needs  a  companion. 
It  seems,  he  does  all  things  'primo  motu,  sed  sine  nimia  prudt  ntia-'  (on 
the  spur  of  the  moment,  but  without  much  prudence).  He  has  some 
peculiarities,  which  very  much  betray  his  youth.  He  is  only  twenty-four 
years  of  age.    Perhaps  he  is  so  peculiar,  because  he  is  a  typical  German."4 

Everybody  at  St.  Louis  knew  by  this  time  that  the  ambition  of 
Father  Lutz  was  to  be  a  missionary  to  the  Indians.  On  March  1,  1828, 
Father  Bouillier,  CM.,  wrote  to  the  Vicar-General  of  Lyons:  "At  St. 
Louis  there  is  a  priest  who  for  quite  a  length  of  time  has  been  begging 
Monseigneur  Rosati  to  send  him  into  the  Indian  Mission.  His  name 
is  Lutz ;  he  is  full  of  glowing  zeal.  He  has  presented  himself  to  General 
Clarke  of  St.  Louis,  who  is  superintendent  of  the  affairs  of  the 
savages  with  the  government.  Hardly  had  the  redskins  heard  of  this, 
when  they  begged  him  to  come  to  them.  They  assured  him  that  they 
would  respect  him  in  every  way,  that,  when  out  hunting,  they  would 
give  him  the  best  pieces  of  meat.  The  saintly  priest,  touched  by  their 
good  will,  does  not  cease  beseeching  Monsigneur  to  consent  and  permit 


-'     Saulnier    to    Rosati,    Archives   of    St.    Louis   Archdiocese. 
3     Idem,   ibidem. 
*     Idem,  ibidem. 


454  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

him  to  go.  I  believe,  Monseigneur  will  give  him  permission  when  he 
returns  to  St.  Louis.  He  is  to  start  a  mission  amongst  the  Kansas, 
a  tribe  which  lives  to  a  still  greater  distance  than  the  Osages  and  whose 
village  is  on  the  Kansas  River  which  empties  into  the  Missouri."5 

When  Bishop  Rosati  returned  from  New  Orleans  Father  Lutz  again 
and  again  "implored  the  Bishop  to  let  him  go  to  the  Indians ;  General 
Clark,  himself  not  a  Catholic,  insisted  that  a  Catholic  mission  must  be 
established  among  the  Kansas,  but  the  Bishop  hesitated:  he  did  not 
dare  to  send  Lutz  alone.  Events  proved  that  the  Bishop  was  right. 
Rosati  returned  to  the  Barrens  without  having  given  a  decision  in  favor 
of  Lutz.  But,  when  it  was  found  .that  a  Protestant  preacher  who  re- 
peatedly had  offered  his  services  to  General  Clark,  was  ready. to  go  to 
the  Kansas  Indians,  Lutz  hurried  to  the  Barrens  and  on  the  very  day 
when  the  cornerstone  of  the  new  church  was  blessed,  July  23rd,  Father 
Lutz  was  given  the  major  faculties  for  the  Indian  Mission.  The  same 
day  Lutz  hastened  back  to  St.  Louis :  His  appointment  was  dated 
from  the  Barrens,  July  23rd,  1828: 

"As  you  have  manifested  to  us  from  the  very  first  day  of  your 
coming  to  St.  Louis  your  ardent  desire  of  devoting  yourself  to  the 
salvation  of  the  indigenous  tribes  that  wander  through  the  forests  of 
this  vast  diocese ;  and  as  Divine  Providence  seems  now  to  open  a  way 
to  the  conversion  of  the  nation  called  the  Kansas,  we,  in  accordance 
with  your  fervent  wish,  and  knowing  you  well  qualified  as  to  the  science, 
prudence  and  doctrine  necessary  for  this  undertaking,  send  you  as 
messenger  of  the  Gospel  to  the  aforementioned  people  and  appoint  you 
as  missionary  of  that  and  of  the  neighboring  tribes,  giving  you  the 
necessary  faculties  arbitrio  nostro  valituras.  In  the  meantime,  we  hum- 
bly pray  the  Supreme  Pastor  of  souls  that  he  may  deign  to  accompany 
you  on  your  journey  with  His  all-powerful  grace,  sustain  you  in  your 
undertaking  and  give  abundant  fruit  to  your  labors."6 

Father  Lutz  was  only  26  years  old  when  he  set  out  for  the  land 
of  the  Kansas.  Father  Saulnier  in  his  letter  to  Bishop  Rosati  expressed 
grave  doubts  as  to  the  young  man's  qualifications.  Not  very  robust 
physically,  of  a  lively  disposition,  impatient  of  contradiction,  and  lack- 
ing in  perseverance.  Father  Lutz,  indeed  was  not  the  man  to  make 
an  ideal  missionary  among  savages ;  yet,  though  his  zeal  outran  his 
discretion,  he  certainly  deserves  credit  for  his  good  will  and  for  the 
results  obtained.  On  July  30,  1828,  the  young  and  enthusiastic  apostle 
of  the  Kansas  started  in  company  of  the  Indian  Agent,  Baronet  Vasquez, 
and  several  others,  for  his  destination  near  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas 


5     ' '  Annales  de  1  'Association   de  la  Propagation   de  la   Foi, ' '  vol.  Ill,   c.   18, 
pp.  519  and  520. 

C     Archives   of   St.  Louis   Archdiocese. 


Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  Indian  Missionary  455 

River.  Baronet  Vasquez7  was  a  Catholic.  The  great  influence  of  this 
gentlemen  with  the  Indians  seemed  to  insure  the  success  of  Father 
Lutz's  mission.  But  before  the  end  of  the  journey,  early  in  August, 
Baronet  Vasquez  died,  and  the  good  Father  had  to  convey  the  sad  news 
to  the  family  of  the  departed.  The  Chouteaus  had  a  great  trading  es- 
tablishment on  the  Kansas  River.  They,  too,  were  Catholics,  and  most 
of  their  employes  also.  Father  Lutz  speaks  of  the  morals  of  these 
frontiersmen  in  rather  harsh  terms.  Of  the  savages  his  opinion  was 
even  worse,  so  much  so  that  he  declined  for  the  present  to  confer  bap- 
tism on  any  adult  among  them  saying  "that  they  must  first  be  made 
human  beings,  then  members  of  Christ's  body."  As  far  as  we  know, 
Father  Lutz  sent  three  letters  from  the  Kansas  mission  to  Bishop  Rosati. 
The  first  of  these  seems  to  be  lost.  It  contained  an  account  of  the  death 
of  the  Indian  Agent,  Baronet  Vasquez.  The  opening  of  the  second 
letter,  dated  September  28,  1828,  alludes  to  this  unfortunate  circum- 
stance. This  second  letter  is  of  utmost  importance  and  interest.  It 
is,  in  the  words  of  Father  Garraghan,  "the  earliest  record  extant  of  the 
exercise  of  the  Catholic  ministry  along  the  Kansas  River."8  It  is  dated 
from  the  Territory  of  the  Kansas  Indians,  and  the  river  of  the  same 
name,  September  28,  1828,  and  addressed  to  Bishop  Rosati.  It  reads 
like  one  of  the  old  Jesuit  Relations  and  gives  the  clearest  possible  view 
of  what  transpired  among  this  heathen  Kansas  in  those  shadowy  days 
of  1828: 

"Your  Grace  must  realize  that,  owing  to  the  great  distance  between 
the  settlements  here,  it  is  very  difficult  to  send  letters  from  this  country. 
The  agent's  house,  where  I  fixed  my  residence  is  on  the  banks  of  the 
Kansas  River  sixty-five  miles  from  the  former  home  of  the  late  Mr. 
Vasquez.  The  little  towns,  however,  which  supply  mailing  facilities, 
are  more  than  fifteen  miles  away.  Therefore,  when  we  wish  this  thing 
to  be  done,  we  have  either  to  take  our  letters  there  ourselves  or  send 
them  by  a  trusted  messenger.  One  of  these  towns  is  named  Liberty,  the 
other  Independence.  The  latter  town  is  situated  on  our  side  of  the 
Missouri  River,  the  former  on  the  opposite  side.  .  .  .  The  town  of  Lib- 
erty I  was  not  as  yet  able  to  visit,  but  in  a  little  while  I  can  and  must 
do  so,  as  I  am  resolved  to  see  the  entire  surrounding  region.  Indepen- 
dence I  have  visited  but  once,  and  at  times  I  have  sent  messengers 
there  for  my  mail,  if  there  was  any.  Camp  Leavenworth,  which  is  35 
miles  from  our  home,  has  no  service  of  public  conveyances,  so  that  its 
inhabitants  are  forced  to  send  their  mail  to  Liberty,  a  distance  of  36 
miles.     Considering1  these  facts,  you  will  eertainlv  not  blame  me  if  you 


~i      Baronet    Vasquez,    son    of    Benito    Vasquez,    of    St.    Louis,    was    of    Spanish 
extraction. 

8     Garraghan,    "Catholic   Beginnings    in    Kansas    City,"    p.    27,    note    24. 


456  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

should  fail  to  receive  a  letter  from  me.  .  .  In  regard  to  this  preliminary 
visit  to  the  country  of  the  Indians,  it  must  he  confessed  that  it  was 
altogether  necessary.  I  myself  feel  deeply  its  various  advantages.  I 
will  relate  them  briefly :  It  is  there  I  began  to  learn  the  very  alphabet 
of  apostolical  life,  to  accustom  the  body  to  its  hardships,  and  to  put  a 
correct  estimate  on  the  greatness  as  well  as  the  excellance  of  my  office ; 
then  to  know  the  Indian  ways  of  living,  their  mode  of  feeling  and  their 
superstitions,  the  various  conditions  of  these  regions  and  the  distance 
between  places ;  to  understand  the  characters  of  the  various  persons  with 
whorn  I  certainly  or  probably  may  have  to  live,  to  decide  what  per- 
sons should  be  consulted,  what  persons  avoided  by  me,  who  of  them  are 
of  good  will,  who  of  evil  disposition.  I  also  learned  the  peculiarities  of 
the  Kansas  dialect,  wherein  it  seemed  different  from  our  idioms,  and 
what  special  difficulties  it  offered ;  lastly,  I  was  helped  to  decide  where 
the  missioner's  residence  should  be  established,  what  provisions  could 
be  made  for  their  sustenance,  and  what  matters  we  should  lay  before  the 
civil  authorities.  I  hope  and  wish  that  an  occasion  may  be  offered  when 
I  can  speak  to  you  about  these  matters. 

Now  permit  me  to  recount  in  detail  how  my  time  in  these  parts 
was  passed.  I  departed  from  St.  Louis  on  July  30th ;  on  August 
12th  I  arrived  at  the  former  home  of  Mr.  Vasquez,  the  Indian  agent, 
where  I  remained  five  days  before  starting  for  the  Kansas  River; 
on  August  19th  I  reached  the  house  erected  by  the  government 
on  the  banks  of  the  Kansas  River.  On  August  20  I  had  the 
first  interview  with  the  chief  of  the  Kansas  nation ;  on  August 
24,  I,  together  with  an  interpreter,  visited  the  family  of  the  chief  and 
other  families,  sixteen  in  number,  living  only  about  two  miles  from  our 
stopping  place ;  and  this  I  did  several  times.  On  September  17th  I 
obtained  my  fervent  wish  of  organizing  a  meeting  with  the  barbarians. 
On  September  18th,  I  set  out  for  Camp  Leavenworth,  where  I  remained 
six  days,  certainly  longer  than  I  had  intended.  On  October  1st  I  will 
return  to  the  home  of  Mrs.  Vasquez,  as  I  find  no  means  of  subsistence 
here,  and  the  Kansas  tribe,  with  the  exception  of  three  families,  has  al- 
ready gone  on  its  hunting  excursion.  These  things  here  mentioned  in 
a  general  way,  you  may  be  pleased  to  read  at  greater  length.  The  house 
of  the  agent,  Vasquez,  on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri  River,  was  hereto- 
fore considered  the  meeting  place  of  the  Indians,  but  now,  after  his 
death,  the  visits  of  the  Indians  are  becoming  less  frequent,  the  house  of 
the  new  agent  having  been  established  elsewhere,  I  believe  on  the  Kansas 
River.  The  widow  Vasquez  still  resides  at  the  old  house.  She  is  a  matron 
of  great  piety.  She  has  a  small  family,  but  a  well-educated  one ;  she 
takes  good  care  of  me,  almost  as  if  I  were  one  of  the  children  of  the 
household,  providing  me  with  the  necessaries  of  life  on  my  journey ;  she 
shines  forth  with  good  example  in  frequenting  the  sacraments  and  prac- 


Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  Indian  Missionary  457 

ticing  devotion;  and  she  edifies  her  family  with  her  virtues.  Not  so 
the  other  Catholics,  alas !  that  live  in  the  neighborhood.  They  are  "sloth- 
ful bellies,"  not  much  different  from  the  Cretans,  addicted  to  drink  and 
much  talking1,  ignorant,  to  pass  over  in  silence  the  rest  of  their  vices.  T 
except  two  or  three  persons  from  this  charge.  Some  of  them  live  with 
Indian  concubines,  refusing  the  grace  which  is  offered  to  them  by  my 
ministry.  Only  two  could  I  prevail  upon  to  dismiss  their  concubines 
and  contract  in  legitimate  marriages.  The  third  one  tried  to  deceive 
me,  but  in  vain.  .  . 

"I  leave  this  corner  of  the  earth  with  no  small  regret,  but  I  feel 
a  stronger  impulse  towards  the  Barbarians,  and  I  desire  to  arrive  among 
them  as  early  as  possible,  as  it  is  to  be  feared  that,  through  a  longer 
delay  I  might  find  the  chief  of  the  nation  (Nombe-ware,  i.  e.,  the  Furious, 
or  Moushouska,  White  Plume),  no  longer  among  the  living.  Having 
been  ailing  for  a  long  time  he  began  to  carry  things  to  extremes,  and 
that  in  a  two-fold  manner.  Indignant  at  the  evils  that  had  befallen 
him,  White  Plume,  armed  with  a  pistol,  rushed  forth  and  threatening 
death  to  God,  directed  a  shot  towards  heaven,  exclaiming,  "Oh,  would 
that  I  had  destroyed  thee  this  time  for  having  sent  so  many  evils  to 
my  family  and  to  my  whole  nation!"  (During  the  past  year  about  180 
of  the  Kansas  tribe,  together  with  the  chief's  principal  wife,  twd  sons 
and  many  other  members  of  his  family,  were  taken  by  death).  As  White 
Plume's  illness  became  worse,  he  repented  of  his  word  and  deed  and 
earnestly  asked  forgiveness  from  Heaven.  But  Ood  delayed  hearing 
the  prayer  of  the  sick  man  and  willed  that  the  barbarian  should  begin 
to  improve  in  health  only  two  days  before  my  advent.  White  Plume 
was  hardly  notified  of  my  coming  when  he  gathered  all  his  strength 
and  had  himself  placed  on  a  horse,  in  order  to  welcome  the  Tabosco" 
(the  name  by  which  he  always  addressed  me).  I  was  greatly  surprised 
at  seeing  him  enter  my  room,  especially  as  rumors  were  current  that 
he  had  died.  I  ran  to  meet  him,  and  as  he  seemed  to  stagger,  I  supported 
him  with  my  hand,  offered  him  a  chair  and  pressed  his  proffered  hand. 
He  that  was  wont  to  speak  with  stentorian  voice  now  gave  forth  such 
a  gentle  whisper  that  the  meaning  of  his  words  covdd  hardly  be  gathered 
by  the  interpreters:  "0,  my  Father,  you  are  welcome.  At  last  you 
are  here  whom  I  have  so  long  desired.  I  am  happy ;  but  I  would  rejoice 
still  more  if  I  could  celebrate  your  coming  in  perfect  health.  .May  the 
Great  Healer  (Washkanta),  I  pray,  restore  my  health.  It  is  my  inten- 
tion to  assist  you  in  all  things  thai  you  wish  to  do  among  the  Kansas. 
My  only  son  (the  others  had  all  died),  I  will,  send  to  be  educated  by 
you  as  soon  as  you  have  a  home.    Tn  the  same  way  all  the  chiefs  of  our 


9     The  Tabosco    is  the   Kansas   word   for   Black   down,   or   Black    Robe,    meaning 
the  Catholic  priest.    "Washkanta"  also  Wakonda,  is  the  Great  Spirit. 


458  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

nation  in  my  obedience  shall  act  towards  you.  How  long  will  you  stay 
with  us  ?  When  will  you  house  ?  Remember  this :  Do  not  have  your 
house  too  far  away  from  mine.  The  nearer  it  is  the  more  it  will  please 
me,  so  that  I  may  consult  with  you  in  the  government  of  the  Kansas. 
I  am  not  able  to  talk  with  you  very  long  to-day,  my  voice  having  be- 
come so  weakened ;  but  I  am  expecting  our  hunters,  who  will  bring  me 
buffalo  meat,  with  which  I  can  regain  strength."  Knowing  full  well 
what  authority  this  great  chief  wielded  among  his  people  and  how 
necessary  it  was  for  the  prosperous  course  of  my  undertaking,  I  deter- 
mined to  leave  no  stone  unmoved  in  order  to  restore  his  health.  I 
wanted  to  give  him  medicine,  to  keep  him  in  my  house  and  to  take 
watchful  care  of  the  sick  man,  but  prudence  objected  to  all  those 
things ;  if  he  should  die  using  my  medicines  this  whole  wild  and  super- 
stitious nation  would  blame  me.  The  two  interpreters,  who  stood  by, 
seemed  to  hint  at  the  same  thing.  I,  therefore,  superseded  the  medicine 
with  a  goblet  of  rich  wine,  after  drinking  which  the  chief  said  that  it 
had  warmed  his  stomach,  and  begged  earnestly  that  after  a  few  days  I 
should  send  him  another  specimen  of  the  same  medicine.  This  I  readily 
promised  to  do.10 

' '  Returning  home  he  sent  ten  messengers,  men  and  women,  in  various 
directions,  to  meet  the  hunters  and  to  announce  the  coming  of  Tabosco. 
They  smoked  in  honor  of  Tabosco  on  the  whole  journey,  they  sang 
and  shouted  for  joy.  At  last  the  inhabitants  of  the  four  villages  arrived 
from  their  long  journey  and  brought  heaps  of  buffalo  meat.  White 
Plume  overflows  with  vigor,  enjoying  as  perfect  health  as  he  did  when 
he  was  most  robust.  Two  chiefs  brought  me  a  very  large  portion  of 
buffalo  meat,  and  they  stood  wondering  at  me  eating  of  it,  although  it 
was  not  cooked.  "Behold,"  one  said,  "Tabosco  has  no  aversion  to  us. 
He  is  not  squeamish  and  delicate,  as  the  Fathers  of  the  Osages,"  (mean- 
ing thereby  the  Protestant  missionaries).  "Do  you  not  see  in  his  eyes 
how  he  loves  us,  how  affable  he  is,"  said  one  to  another  in  a  low  voice. 
They  desired  to  spend  the  night  in  my  bedroom,  and  I  readily  obliged 


10  As  to  the  Indian  hero  whom  Father  Lutz  restored  to  health  by  a  generous 
draught  of  rich  wine,  we  have  a  pleasant  account  in  1832:  Washington  Irving,  in 
his  "Adventures  of  Captain  Bonneville,  II.  S.  A.,  in  the  Kocky  Mountains  and  the 
Far  West"  says:  "White  Plume  gave  proofs  of  having  acquired  some  of  the  lights 
of  civilization  from  his  proximity  to  the  whites,  as  was  evinced  in  his  knowledge  of 
driving  a  bargain.  He  required  hard  cash  in  return  for  some  corn  with  which  he 
supplied  the  worthy  captain  and  left  the  latter  at  a  loss  which  most  to  admire,  his 
native  chivalry  as  a  brave,  or  his  acquired  adroitness  as  a  trader. ' '  From  the  same 
account  it  appears  that  the  Kansas  had  begun  to  raise  corn,  but  had  not  left  off 
their  hunting  excursions.  White  Plume  was  still  inhabiting  the  great  stone  house  on 
the  Kansas  River,  "A  palace  without,  a  wigwam  within"  as  Irving  says.  The  Kansas 
were  still  at  war  with  the  Pawnees. 


Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  Indian  Missionary  459 

them.  Like  two  satellites  they  enclosed  me,  lying  on  the  floor  in  the 
middle  of  my  room,  one  on  my  right  side,  the  other  on  my  left.  With 
great  big  eyes  they  looked  at  me  performing  my  morning  prayers. 
They  hardly  dared  to  breathe.  Having  returned  home  the  next  day, 
White  Plume  visited  me  once  more.  But  he  now  spoke  in  loud  tones, 
talking  much  of  his  joy  and  that  of  the  entire  tribe  and  asking  many 
questions.  He  inquired  attentively  of  Tabosco,  what  is  the  purpose  of 
his  mission,  what  are  the  causes  which  led  him  to  stay  with  them  four 
months  of  this  year,  what  education  he  would  give  the  children,  and 
what  obedience  would  be  required.  At  last  I  suggested  that  I  desired 
very  much  he  should,  as  opportunity  offered,  convoke  the  other  Kansas 
to  whom  I  could  then  explain  the  things  I  had  at  heart.  He  answered 
that  this  could  hardly  be  done  before  the  middle  of  September,  because 
not  all  would  be  back  from  their  hunting  excursion  before  that  time. 
It  would  seem  more  satisfactory,  he  said,  to  select  the  time  when  they 
would  come  together  for  the  Government's  annual  distribution  of 
gifts.  I  acquiesced  and  dismissed  the  man.  I  then  began  to  cut  the 
timbers  and  to  adorn  the  chapel.  When  I  had  finished  this  work  I  took 
care  to  examine  the  country  and  to  consider  what  I  must  build  if  I 
should  happen  to  come  to  reside  here.  White  Plume  now  visited  me  for 
the  third  time:  "Write,"  he  said,  "to  Red  Hair  (General  W.  Clark), 
that  as  Vasquez  is  dead,  he  should  send  us  another  agent  who  will  prop- 
erly attend  to  our  affairs.  We  do  not  want  an  American.  We  ask  for 
a  Frenchman,  certainly  none  other  than  Cyprian  or  Francis  Chouteau. 
The  five  other  chiefs  of  the  Kansas  are  likewise  in  favor  of  these  two. 
Sign  my  name  and  the  names  of  these,  and  urge  at  the  same  time 
your  own  undertaking,  so  that  you  can  more  easily  and  more  quickly 
come  to  stay  with  us.  I  have  great  hopes  that  our  nation  will,  by  your 
help,  be  shortly  changed  for  the  better." 

' '  I  wrote  immediately  commending  their  request  and  my  own  to  the 
Governor  and,  impatient  of  delay,  I  expected  the  new  agent  from  day 
to  day.  And,  behold,  there  arrived  Mr.  Dnnnay  McNair,11  a  youth  of 
about  twenty  years  sent  by  Governor  Clark,  who  has  no  little  confidence 
in  the  young  man.  He  is  to  take  the  place  of  the  agent  with  the  Kan- 
sas. Governor  Clark,  having  been  advised  by  me  of  the  death  of  Mr. 
Vasquez,  had  immediately  appointed  him,  not  having  as  yet  received 
my  first  letter.  The  young  man  is  a  Catholic  of  good  morals,  and  en- 
dowed with  sufficient  knowledge,  sincere  and  prudent,  a  friend  and 
defender  of  religion,  most  attentive  to  his  work,  and  friendly  to  me. 


u  Dunnay  McNair,  son  of  the  first  Governor  of  Missouri,  Alexander  McNair, 
was  a  Catholic,  although  his  father  probably  never  became  affiliated  with  the  ehurch. 
Cf.  Edward  Brown's  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  Alexander  McNair,  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic 
Historical  Review/'  vol.   T,  y.   231    ss. 


460  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

We  do  not  yet  know  whether  he  will  be  agent  with  full  power  or  not. 
He  helps  me  very  much  by  his  authority  and  his  kindness.  lie  frequent- 
ly says  that  nothing  is  to  be  despaired  of  (nil  desperandum,)  under  the 
auspices  of  Governor  Clark,  who  really  takes  great  interest  in  the 
success  of  the  mission,  and  he  assures  me  that  the  sale  of  thirty-six 
sections  of  land  will  certainly  be  held  in  the  month  of  October  or 
November,  and  then  our  work  could  be  begun.  The  vice-agent  requested 
White  Plume  to  call  an  assembly  of  the  Indians,  telling  them  that  he 
wished  to  explain  some  matters  to  them  in  council.  The  messengers 
go  out  and  call  together  the  warriors  of  four  of  the  villages.  The  third 
day  after  the  call  had  gone  out  about  two  hundred  and  forty  Indians 
from  the  surrounding  country  came  there  and  listened  to  what  the  vice- 
agent  might  proclaim.  For  the  whole  day  the  Kansas  remain  in  session. 
The  medals  are  distributed  and  the  laws  and  the  treaties  are  explained, 
the  thieves  are  whipped,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  land  is  urgently 
recommended,  and  the  permanent  location  in  one  village  is  demanded. 
The  Tabosco  is  presented  to  them.  The  annual  distribution  is  promised 
when  the  Kansas  shall  assemble  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  and  many  other 
things  are  approved.  The  barbarians  agreed  with  almost  everything 
except  the  plan  of  permanently  locating  in  one  village,  and  abandoning 
their  hunting  life.  Rumors,  clamors  and  complaints  arose,  in  vain.  With 
all  my  strength  I  urged  the  necessity  of  the  matter  contained  in  the 
first  point  (uniting  the  tribe  in  one  village),  and  I  argued  against  the 
foolish  and  destructive  plan  adopted  by  them,  to  remove  their  home 
a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  our  house.  This,  a  large  party  among 
them  had  decided  on,  against  the  wishes  of  White  Plume,  at  the  very 
time  that  they  returned  from  their  hunting  grounds,  and  had  seen  for 
the  first  time  the  elegant  place  offering  such  various  conveniences. 
They  now  understand  how  proper  and  useful  it  would  be  to  unite  in 
one  village,  where  all  their  tents  should  be  fixed.  The  place  selected  at 
a  distance  of  about  one  day's  journey,  was  approved  by  all  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  stiff-necked  people,  who,  however,  have  to  follow  the 
crowd.  After  having  visited,  as  I  hope  to  do,  the  four  villages,  I  will 
examine  the  proposed  location  and  describe  it  in  my  next  letter. 

The  agent  now  having  finished  what  he  wished  to  propose,  I  arose 
and  demanded  in  a  loud  voice  that  all  should  remain  the  next  day,  also 
as  I  had  some  things  to  announce  to  them.  The  next  day  at  8  o  'clock  all 
were  gathered  in  the  chapel,  which  is  as  large  as  the  study  hall  in 
St.  Louis  College.  They  all  assembled  at  the  ringing  of  the  bell.  Those 
present  were  the  new  agent,  two  interpreters,  three  other  Catholics; 
a  large  altar,  beautifully  ornamented,  the  picture  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary  in  the  middle  of  the  altar,  on  the  right  side  a  large  crucifix, 
on  the  left  a  picture  of  the  sorrowful  Virgin  of  the  same  si  e.    The 


Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  Indian  Missionary  461 

Tabosco,  clad  in  bis  sacred  vestments,  gravely  walked  from  his  chamber 
and  entered  the  chapel.  All  genuflect,  the  Veni  Creator  with  the  oration 
is  intoned.  High  Mass  is  sung.  At  the  consecration  all  are  commanded 
to  bend  the  knee,  there  is  deep  silence.  After  the  Mass  all  sit  down. 
Tabosco  stands  at  the  epistle  side  and  preaches.  After  every  sentence 
the  barbarians  exclaim  "How!"  That  is,  "Good!"  It  would  take  too 
long  to  repeat  word  for  word  what  I  said ;  let  it  suffice  that  I  preached 
on  the  purpose  of  my  coming  and  mission,  on  the  desire  of  my  heart  to 
procure  the  salvation  of  all  the  Kansas,  on  the  One  God  and  His  at- 
tributes, making  no  mention,  for  the  present,  of  the  Trinity,  on  God 
the  Creator  and  Giver  of  all  good,  on  the  human  soul  being  immortal, 
on  God  the  Judge  and  Rewarder,  on  the  eternal  fire,  and  the  joys  of 
Heaven,  on  sin  and  the  sins  in  particular,  to  which  the  Kansas  are 
specially  addicted,  on  the  necessity  of  hearing  Tabosco 's  preaching,  on 
the  obedience  due  to  him,  on  Christ  the  Lord  crucified,  on  the  gratitude 
to  God,  who  is  now  offering  to  them  his  grace  in  abundance ;  lastly,  on 
the  education  of  their  children,  to  be  undertaken  by  us,  on  the  raising 
of  the  Holy  Cross  among  them,  and  on  the  visits  to  be  made  to  the  four 
villages,  and  the  children  to  be  baptized.  These  are  in  brief  the  things 
which  I  had  explained  to  them  in  our  first  meeting.  The  ceremony 
concluded  with  the  canticle  'Bcnedictus  Dominus  Deus  Israel'  and  the 
'Our  Father'  and  the  'Hail  Mary.'  The  Canticle  pleased  them  very 
much.  Their  tears  flowed  in  the  presence  of  the  Crucified  Lord.  They 
repeated  to  one  another  what  they  had  heard,  one  the  things  concern- 
ing heaven,  the  other  the  things  concerning  hell,  another  the  sufferings 
of  Christ.  "Ah,"  exclaimed  White  Plume,  "how  I  was  enlightened  to- 
day!" "Wazzeche,  wazzeche, "  that  is,  how  good  to  have  a  Tabosco! 
others  exclaimed.  But  I  sigh ;  give  me  souls,  0  Jesus ;  may  thy  kingdom 
come.  As  regards  the  baptism  of  the  infants,  it  is  very  much  desired 
by  the  Kansas.  This  reason,  besides  others,  moved  me  to  promise  them 
in  public  not  to  return  to  St.  Louis  before  I  had  baptized  all  the  little 
ones ;  especially  as  so  many  of  them  have  died  since  the  time  I  came 
here.  Indeed,  an  old  man,  when  dying,  asked  day  and  night,  to  see  the 
Tabosco,  in  order  to  receive  baptism.  He  was  deprived  of  baptism  by 
a  sad  circumstance  and  died,  leaving  to  his  relatives  his  anxieties  about 
their  future  state  and  the  punishments  to  be  undergone  by  them  unless 
they  were  willing  to  receive  the  salutary  waters.  Certainly,  a  firm 
faith  in  this  sacrament,  forcing  others  also  to  believe  in  it.  At  the  time 
when  this  Indian  called  me  I  was  detained  at  Port  Leavenworth.  After 
the  death  of  the  old  man  the  family  asked  me  what  I  thought  concern- 
ing his  doom.  Having  given  the  proper  answer  I  sent  the  greatly  relieved 
inquirers  home. 


462  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

' '  Perhaps  Your  Paternity  will  ask,  why  I  have  not  already  made  my 
home  in  the  country  of  the  barbarians.  This  I  had  certainly  wished  to 
do  and  already  fixed  the  day  on  which  I  should  undertake  the  journey 
with  an  interpreter,  but  the  contrary  seemed  to  be  more  advisable  on 
account  of  the  celebration  of  certain  feasts,  which  occupy  the  barbarians 
for  the  space  of  two  weeks,  and  which  are  the  occasion  of  great  tumult, 
drunkenness  and  strife.  I  preferred  to  postpone  the  visit  rather  than 
expose  my  dignity  to  insult.  I  take  great  care  to  preserve  the  authority 
of  my  person,  never  tolerating  even  the  least  thing  contrary  to  the 
respect  due  to  me.  In  the  beginning  some  loose  women  of  the  barbar- 
ians began  to  uncover  their  bodies  immodestly  in  my  presence,  to  whom 
I  said  indignantly  that  they  should  cover  themselves  or  go  away.  On 
another  occasion,  when  I  happened  to  see  some  immodest  women  lying 
on  the  floor  of  our  house,  surpassing  the  former  ones  in  looseness.  I 
took  to  flight  and  requested  the  interpreter  to  report  the  matter  to 
White  Plume,  which  having  been  done,  I  never  had  another  similar 
experience. 

Two  warriors  have  been  assigned  to  me,  to  be  at  my  service,  but 
only  when  I  am  exercising  my  religious  functions.  It  is  their  office 
to  preserve  order  and  silence  whilst  I  say  Mass  or  preach,  to  accompany 
me  and  to  close  the  door,  and  call  the  people  to  church  by  ringing  the 
bell.  This  is  considered  a  great  honor  and  much  desired  by  many. 
Having  explained  to  them  their  duties,  I  promised  to  give  each  one 
a  little  cross  when  I  should  return  from  St.  Louis.  The  name  of  the 
one  is  "Tatsche  Sagai"  (Wild  Wind)  :  of  the  other,  "Nikananseware" 
(Exterminator  of  Men). 

Let  me  add  a  few  words  on  the  location  of  the  buildings 
erected  by  the  government  on  the  banks  of  the  Kansas  River. 
Fancy  a  valley,  half  a  league  wide  and  long,  with  five  large  houses, 
of  which  one  is  for  the  agent  of  the  nation,  the  second  for  the  inter- 
preter, the  third  for  the  blacksmith,  the  fourth  for  the  farming  expert, 
the  fifth,  built  of  stone,  is  for  White  Plume.  The  first  four  follow  one 
another  in  a  straight  line,  the  fifth  is  two  miles  farther  on.  As  to 
the  mission  house,  I  intend  to  build  it  where  the  air  is  purer,  if  this 
be  agreeable  to  the  Governor  and  to  the  other  members  of  the  mission. 
The  soil  is  most  fertile ;  there  are  many  forest  patches  all  around,  but 
not  too  many ;  but  the  salubrity  of  the  air  is  not  the  same  everywhere. 
Every  newcomer  is  forced  to  pay  tribute  to  the  bilious  fevers  and  chills 
obtaining  here.  In  all  these  parts  around  the  Missouri  and  Kansas 
Rivers  there  is  nothing  more  usual  than  that  the  new  settler  is  attacked 
by  fevers,  headaches  and  pains  of  the  stomach.  I  for  myself  had  the 
bilious  fever  five  days;  after  that  I  felt  well  and  had  an  insatiable 
appetite.    The  air  at  Camp  Leavenworth  is  even  worse.   Just  now  there 


Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  Indian  Missionary  463 

are  at  least  one  hundred  persons  there  on  the  sick  list.  I  went  there 
with  the  vice-agent  (McNair),  the  interpreter,  and  108  of  the  Indians, 
to  attend  the  annual  distribution  of  gifts  to  the  tribesmen.  At  first  I 
felt  very  well ;  on  the  third  day  I  myself  and  Mr.  McNair  had  to  fight 
against  an  attack  of  chills  and  fever  for  the  space  of  four  days.  Here 
I  heard  the  confessions  of  two  soldiers,  one  an  Irishman  and  the  other 
a  Frenchman;  I  baptized  six  infants  and  comforted  the  sick.  I  will 
go  there  once  more  in  the  beginning  of  November,  to  baptize  a  number 
of  the  infants  of  the  officers  and  to  perform  the  other  Religious 
functions.  I  was  received  with  the  highest  honors  by  the  officers,  who 
invited  me  to  their  mess,  and  in  the  evening  entertained  me  with 
military  music.  I  have  distributed  various  books,  of  which  I  have  a 
great  number,  treating  of  the  truth  of  the  Catholic  Faith.  There  is  a 
murderer  in  the  prison,  soon  to  suffer  the  death  penalty.  I  will  try  to 
convert  the  doomed  man  and  to  prepare  him  for  death.  I  have  baptized 
at  other  places  and  at  different  times  28  infants,  and  shall  baptize 
many  more. 

' '  Of  the  other  Indian  nations  I  have  visited  only  the  Shawenons, 
who  seem  to  be  more  intent  on  acquiring  temporal  goods  than  those 
that  will  last  forever.  Their  time  seems  not  yet  come.  Nevertheless, 
I  will  try  again  and  see  if  an  opening  can  be  made  there.  It  would, 
indeed,  be  gratifying  if  I  could  win  to  Christ  this  tribe,  living  along 
our  way  in  elegant  houses.  An  invitation  to  visit  the  Iowa  tribe,  about 
60  miles  from  our  house,  was  extended  to  me  by  their  agent,  General 
Us,  who  also  promised  to  do  what  he  could  to  provide  shelter  and 
food  for  me,  if  I  should  decide  to  take  up  my  abode  with  his  nation. 
The  next  neighbors  of  the  Iowas  are  the  Ottawas,  who  use  about  the 
same  language.  This  journey  cannot  possibly  be  made,  that  is  at  present, 
because  the  agent  is  now  absent  from  home,  to  return  to  those  tribes 
only  about  the  middle  of  November.  The  gifts  you  intended  for  White 
Plume  I  have  delivered  and  thereby  given  great  pleasure  to  the  chief. 
The  barbarity  and  superstition  of  the  Kansas  tribe  is  too  great  to 
find  ready  belief.  Therefore,  I  am  in  no  hurry  to  admit  any  adult  to 
holy  baptism.  They  must  first  be  made  human  beings,  then  members 
of  Christ's  body.  .  .  . 

To-morrow  I  will  go  to  the  home  of  Mrs.  Baronette  Vasquez  to 
prepare  her  several  daughters  for  First  Holy  Communion  and  instruct 
the  faithful  in  the  duties  of  Christian  life  .     .     . " 

This  letter  held  out  great  hopes  for  the  imminent  conversion  of 
the  Kansas  Indians;  yet  the  work  seemed  beyond  the  power  and  en- 
durance of  one  man.  Father  Lutz,  White  Plume's  Tabosco,  never 
returned  to  the  promising  field.  On  November  12,  1828,  he  wrote  his 
last  letter  Ex  Agro  Kanzas  Rivi  to  his  beloved  Bishop.    It  contains 


464  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Loins 

only  a  few  points  of  minor  interest.  The  reasons  for  his  premature 
return  to  St.  Louis  are  an  early  and  probably  very  severe  winter,  and 
the  hopelessness  of  achieving  any  good  in  the  unknown  and  pathless 
country.  The  Kanzas  had  promised  to  return  home  by  the  end  of  Octo- 
ber, and  had  even  now,  November  12,  given  no  sign  of  fulfilling  their 
promise,"  thus  making  it  doubtful  whether  the  Tabosco  could  adminis- 
ter baptism  to  all  their  children  before  his  departure  for  St.  Louis."  It 
seemed  they  were  purposely  delaying  their  home-coming.  It  would, 
therefore,  be  their  own  fault  if  their  children  should  not  receive  the 
sacrament  of  regeneration.  As  to  the  mission-cross,  I  will  in  any 
case,  erect  and  bless  it,  if  not  solemnly,  then  privately,  in  the  presence 
of  some  of  the  Kansas. 

The  last  month  he  had  spent  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Vasquez,  teach- 
ing, preaching,  baptizing,  hearing  confessions  and  saying  Mass.  "Visit- 
ing the  town  of  Liberty,  he  found  but  one  Catholic  in  the  whole  place, 
the  wife  of  Dr.  Curtiss,  a  native  of  St.  Louis."  His  attempts  to  visit 
Fort  Leavenworth  once  more  was  frustrated  by  his  guide,  who  left 
him,  media  in  via,  so  that  he  had  to  return  home.  Messrs.  Francis, 
Cyprian  and  Frederick  Chouteau  were  putting  up  a  grand  building  on 
the  Kansas  River,  which  would  serve  as  the  Emporium,  or  trading 
post,  for  all  the  Shawneons  and  Kansas.  "Francis  Chouteau  treats 
me  very  kindly  and  promises  me  his  continued  support,"12  Father 
Lutz  concludes  his  last  letter  from  the  Kansas  River.  His  missionary 
attempt  was  but  a  faint  promise  of  the  greater  things  to  come. 

Disappointed,  yet  far  from  being  discouraged,  Father  Lutz  bided  his 
time  in  patience.  He  was  kept  busy  at  the  Cathedral,  at  Cahokia  and 
Prairie  du  Rocher :  but  another  Indian  mission  remained  uppermost 
in  his  mind.  In  June  1827,  a  letter  arrived  at  the  Cathedral  of  St. 
Louis  from  far-away  Prairie  du  Chien.  The  writer  was  Father  Vincent 
Badin,  the  brother  of  the  "Apostle  of  Kentucky,"  and  the  purpose  was 
to  learn  under  whose  jurisdiction  the  mission  really  was,  St.  Louis 
or  Detroit.  "It  is  now  the  third  week  since  my  arrival.  I  have  much 
to  do,  and  that  is  not  surprising:  for  since  the  days  of  the  Jesuits, 
that  is,  since  time  immemorial,  no  priest,  save  the  good  Trappist  Prior, 


12  "The  Chouteaus,"  as  Father  Garraghan  states  in  his  beautiful  booklet, 
"Catholic  Beginnings  of  Kansas  City,"  "were  the  most  prominent  of  the  early 
Indian  traders  in  the  region  around  the  mouth  of  the  Kaw, "  p.  47,  giving  as 
references  in  regard  to  the  various  Chouteau  trading  houses  an  article  in  "Kansas 
Historical  Collection,"  No.  9,  pp.  573-574.  The  letters  of  Father  Lutz  from  the 
country  of  the  Kansas  contain  a  few  scathing  denunciations  of  treacherous,  lying  and 
stealing  white  trash  he  met  on  his  excursions.  Of  the  Chouteaus  themselves  he  speaks 
in  the  highest  terms  of  respect. 


Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  Indian  Missionary  465 

made  his  appearance  at  Prairie  du  Chien."13  The  letter  was  forward- 
ed to  Bishop  Rosati,  who  answered  it  on  August  5,  1827,  granting 
the  necessary  faculties. 

After  witnessing  the  most  horrible  scenes  of  cruelty  of  an  Indian 
uprising  around  Prairie  du  Chien  Father  Badin  proceeded  to  Galena, 
in  the  Fever  River  country  and  thence  returned  to  Green  Bay  by  way  of 
St.  Louis.  In  the  following  year  he  returned  to  Galena  and  Prairie 
du  Chien.  The  lead  mines  of  Galena,  in  the  extreme  northewestern 
corner  of  Illinois  had  been  discovered  at. the  beginning  of  the  eighteen- 
th Century,  and  in  consequence  a  settlement  had  sprung  up  which,  at 
this  time,  was  attracting  great  numbers  of  men.  "During  the  year 
1825  to  1827,"  as  Father  Holweck  states  on  excellent  authority,  "thou- 
sands of  persons  came  from  Missouri  and  Illinois  to  work  in  the 
diggings.  In  1827  there  were  six  or  seven  thousand  miners  in  the 
country  around  Galena.  The  principal  town  was  the  Irish-American 
settlement  of  Galena ;  nearby  was  a  Creole  town,  called  Gratiot  Grove, 
the  leading  men  there  being  the  Gratiots  from  St.  Louis.  Many  of  these 
miners  made  it  a  practice  to  run  up  the  Mississippi  by  boat,  work  in 
the  mines  during  the  summer  and  return  to  their  homes  at  the  approach 
of  winter."14  A  population  of  such  a  character  is  not  the  best  material 
for  building  up  a  substantial  congregation.  Still,  on  April  27th.  1827, 
five  Irish  Catholics  from  Galena  who  had  come  from  Pennsylvania, 
sent  a  petition  for  a  resident  priest  to  Bishop  Rosati.  Their  names 
were  Patrick  Walsh.  Patrick  Hogan.  James  and  Patrick  Foley  and 
Michael  Byrne.  Two  days  later  the  same  men  sent  another  petition  to 
Father  Rafferty  at  Brownsville.  Pennsylvania,  to  be  transmitted  by 
him  to  the  proper  authorities.  They  were  not  sure  to  which  diocese 
the  Fever  River  district  belonged.  Rafferty  forwarded  the  document 
to  Bishop  Rosati  of  St.  Louis.  The  Bishop  answered,  that  he  was 
truly  delighted  to  see  the  great  zeal  they  had  shown  for  their  religion  : 
and  he  hoped  that  God  would  grant  them  what  they  urgently  desired, 
but  that  he  had  no  priest  to  spare  at  present.  They  had,  as  he  knew, 
but  lately  received  a  visit  from  Father  Badin.  But  the  good  Irishmen 
at  Galena  wanted  a  resident  priest  who  could  preach  to  them  in  their 
language,  and  Father  Badin  fulfilled  neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
condition:  they  accordingly  once  more  petitioned  "the  Bishop  of 
St.  Louis  and  Administrator  of  Fever  River,  State  of  Illinois,"  for  a 
resident  clergyman,  competent  to  preach  in  the  English  language, 
promising  him  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars  a  year,  and  such  other 


i^  Badm  to  Rosati,  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis,  Archdiocese,  printed  in  "North- 
eastern Part  of  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  under  Bishop  Rosati,"  "Illinois  Catholic  His- 
torical Beview, ' '  vol  II,  p.  185. 

n     Holweck.   AM..'    Lutz   in   St.   Louis  "Pastoral-Blatt,"  Sept.   1917. 


466  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

perquisites  as  by  custom  he  may  be  entitled.  They  also  pledged  them- 
selves to  build  a  decent  church,  and  other  buildings  for  his  private 
accommodation,  as  their  circumstances  will  afford."  The  petition  bears 
three  names :  all  Irish — Thomas  Gray,  Michael  Finnelly  and  Patrick 
Doyle.  Bishop  Rosati  answered  this  appeal  by  a  promise  to  get  a 
priest  for  them  from  Europe.15 

Bishop  Rosati,  the  very  next  day,  wrote  a  letter  to  Cardinal 
Cappelari,  the  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda:  "I  received  lately  a  letter 
written  in  the  name  of  two  hundred  Catholics  of  Galena,  a  town  about 
five  hundred  miles  north  of  St.  Louis.  These  poor  people,  who  are 
destitute  of  all  spiritual  help,  ask  for  an  English  speaking  priest.  I 
beseech  Your  Eminence  most  earnestly  to  send  to  this  diocese,  either 
from  the  College  of  Propaganda,  or  from  the  Irish  College,  two  priests 
who  can  speak  English :  for  at  present,  I  have  absolutely  no  means  to 
provide  for  the  spiritual  needs  of  so  many  Catholics."16  As  this  re- 
quest and  two  succeeding  ones  did  not  elicit  a  favorable  response, 
Bishop  Rosati  looked  around  among  his  clergy  for  a  priest  who  could 
supply  the  most  urgent  need  until  the  proper  person  should  be  found. 

In  the  Spring  of  1828,  Father  Badin  unexpectedly  came  back  to 
the  mining  camp.  He  did  not  feel  at  home,  however,  among  the  Irish, 
nor  did  they  conceive  a  particular  love  for  him.  So,  in  summer,  1828, 
he  left  the  district  in  disgust  and  went  to  Prairie  du  Chien.  During 
the  entire  year  1829  and  the  spring  and  summer  of  1830  no  priest  came 
to  Fever  River. 

On  November  9th,  1828,  nineteen  families  of  Sangamon  City,  111., 
petitioned  Bishop  Rosati  for  a  priest.  They  had  moved  to  the  fertile 
soil  of  that  region  from  Kentucky.  Bishop  Flaget  had  directed  them 
to  look  to  Bishop  Rosati  for  spiritual  help. 

At  last,  the  good  prelate  yielded  to  the  importunities  of  his  spiri- 
tual children  and  gave  Father  Lutz  the  major  faculties  for  the  North- 
western district  of  his  diocese  and  sent  him  to  Sangamon,  Galena  and 
Prairie  du  Chien.  The  missionary  went  to  Galena  by  steamboat  and 
arrived  there  toward  the  end  of  September.  On  September  26th,  he 
said  Mass  for  the  first  time  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Soulard.  He  made  a 
brief  visit  to  Gratiot  Grove,  a  settlement  of  French  Creoles,  about 
fifteen  miles  distant  from  Galena.  As  the  Creoles,  with  the  exception  of 
Soulard  and  Gratiot,  were  poor,  he  had  to  rely  mainly  upon  the  Irish  • 
for  his  support.  Owing  to  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  country, 
he  did  not  visit  Prairie  du  Chien  as  he  had  proposed  to  do. 


is     The  originals  of  these  petitions  are  in  the  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 
10     Kosati  to  the  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  draft  of  letter  in  Archives  of  St. 
Louis  Archdiocese. 


Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  Indian  Missionary  467 

On  his  return  trip  by  land  Father  Lutz  paid  flying  visits  to  the 
Catholics  of  Peoria  and  Sangamon  City  (Springfield)  and  arrived  at 
St.  Louis  about  November  14th,  weary  and  exhausted,  but  hopeful 
still. 

In  the  Spring  of  1831,  Father  Lutz  again  started  for  the  North, 
bound  for  Prairie  du  Chien  to  open  a  mission  among  the  Indians. 
He  lived  in  a  tent,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  camp  of  the  Menomenies 
on  the  Wisconsin  River.  But  his  hopes  were  to  meet  a  sudden  and 
sad  disappointment.  The  incident  that  brought  about  Father  Lutz's 
departure  from  Prairie  du  Chien  is  related  by  Father  Louis  Rondot  in 
a  letter  to  Mgr.  Cholleton,  Vicar-General  of  Lyons,  dated  St.  Louis, 
May  21st,  1831 : 

"We  have  just  received  a  letter  from  M.  Lutz,  who  is  actually 
at  Prairie  du  Chien.  The  savages  of  four  nations  two  months  ago 
caused  a  great  deal  of  uneasiness,  but  peace  had  been  made,  when 
suddenly  the  Foxes,  a  wild  tribe,  came  down  secretly  in  canoes,  follow- 
ing the  course  of  the  Mississippi.  The  missionary,  who  that  evening 
happened  to  be  at  the  shore  of  the  river,  heard  the  splash  of  the  paddles 
without  suspecting  what  was  going  on,  since  the  night  Avas  dark. 
Hardly  had  he  returned  to  his  house,  which  is  situated  half  a  mile  from 
the  camp  of  the  Memonis  (Menommenies),  a  savage  nation  which  is 
allied  to  the  United  States,  when  he  heard  gun-shots  and  frightful 
bowlings.  The  Memonis  had  been  surprised  in  their  sleep,  most  of 
them  drunk.  They  were  thirty  victims, — men,  women  and  children. 
The  Foxes  had  retired  before  the  news  came  to  the  Fort.  There  is 
reason  to  fear  that  this  event  causes  new  obstacles  to  the  spread  of 
the  gospel. ' n" 

The  terrified  missionary  hurried  away  from  the  scene  of  disaster, 
and  started  on  his  way  to  St.  Louis.  But  at  the  distance  of  twelve 
miles  from  Sangamon  he  overcame  the  temptation  and  turned  his 
horse's  head  north  again.  Although  his  infirmity,  the  gravel,  caused 
him  much  suffering,  he  rode  through  the  Rock  River  country,  which  was 
to  be  the  scene  of  the  Black  Hawk  War  in  the  following  year  and  said 
Mass  at  the  house  of  Madame  Saint -Vrain.  Then  he  returned  to  Galena, 
where  the  people  promised  to  build  a  house  for  him.  He  resolved  to 
establish  himself,  not  among  the  Creoles  at  Gratiot  Grove,  but  among 
the  Irish  at  Galena.  It  was  his  intention  forwith  to  erect  the  buildings 
required  and  raise  the  funds  by  a  collection.  No  doubt,  his  inten- 
tions were  good,  but  he  soon  lost  courage.     Collecting,  if  ever,  at  that 


Annalos   de   L 'Association   de  la   Propagation   de  In    Foi, "  vol.   V.  p.   581. 


468  J  list  or  y  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

time  was  a  very  dismal  affair,  and  a  sick  man  cannot  build  up  a 
parish,  unless  he  be  inspired  with  the  burning  zeal  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier.  But  Lutz  was  not  of  heroic  mould.  Besides,  the  general 
disturbances  among  the  Indians  in  consequence  of  the  Black  Hawk 
War  made  all  missionary  efforts  hopeless  and  rendered  the  missionary's 
stay  at  such  an  exposed  position  as  Fever  River  and  Prairie  du  Chien 
almost  foolhardy.  So  Father  Lutz  did  wThat  any  ordinary  mortal  would 
have  done  under  such  unfavorable  conditions:  he  left  his  post  and 
went  home. 


Chapter  6 

FATHER  EDMOND  SAULNIER  AND  THE  CHURCH  OF 

ARKANSAS 


The  history  of  the  Church  in  Arkansas  from  the  end  of  the 
Spanish  regime  until  the  erection  of  the  diocese  of  Little  Rock  had  a 
rather  fitful  and  checkered  course.  The  state,  wedged  in  between 
Missouri  and  Louisiana  has  the  climate  of  the  latter  state,  subject  how- 
ever, to  sudden  changes.  The  western  part  is  mountainous,  the  eastern 
part  low  and  flat,  and,  to  a  great  extent,  marshy.  The  river  Arkansas, 
rising  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  traverses  the  state  from  the  north- 
west to  the  southeast.  It  was  the  natural  highway  of  travel  and  im- 
migration in  the  early  days;  on  its  banks  are  found  the  earliest  traces  of 
Catholicity.  Near  the  mouth  of  the  river  De  Tonti,  the  companion 
of  La  Salle,  founded  the  earliest  settlement  of  whites  in  the 
Mississippi  valley,  the  Post  of  Arkansas.  The  towns  of  Pine  Bluff, 
and  Little  Rock  are  situated  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Arkansas 
River.  The  population  consisted  of  the  descendants  of  the  French 
settlers,  and  of  the  half  savage  American  hunters  and  trappers,  and  scat- 
tered remnants  of  the  aborigines.  The  hunter-communities  were  chiefly 
located  on  the  White  River  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  and  the 
Red  River  towards  the  boundary  of  Indian  Territory  and  Texas. 

"In  these  1,000  to  1,500  souls,"  says  Schooleraft,  in  1818  "we 
behold  the  descendants  of  enlightened  Europeans  in  a  savage  state." 
Learning  and  religion  were  alike  disregarded.  "When  the  hunting 
season  arrives,"  writes  Schooleraft,  "the  ordinary  labors  of  a  man 
about  the  house  devolves  upon  the  women.  They  pursue  a  similar 
course  of  life  with  the  savages,  having  embraced  their  love  of  ease  and 
their  contempt  for  agricultural  pursuits,  with  their  sagacity  in  the 
chase,  their  mode  of  dressing  in  skins,  their  manners  and  their  hos- 
pitality to  the  stranger.  The  furs  and  peltries  which  are  collected 
during  repeated  excursions  in  the  woods  are  taken  down  the  river 
in  canoes  and  disposed  of  to  traders  who  visit  the  low  parts  of  the 
river  for  that  purpose."1 

The  population  along  the  Arkansas  River,  being  for  the  most 
part  Catholic,  had  not  sunk  to  so  low  a  level,  yet  they  too  had  deter- 
iorated greatly  through  neglect.  The  Post  of  Arkansas  was  the  only 
place  in  the   diocese  south  of  New  Madrid  where  there   were  enough 


i     "Journal  of  a  Voyage,  View  of  the  Lead  Mines  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas," 
p.  120. 

(469) 


470  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Catholics  to  maintain  a  priest.  The  Records  of  the  Post  show  the 
name  of  Father  Gibault  for  the  last  time  on  July  28,  1793.  On  April 
21,  1794,  an  entry  states  that  a  marriage  was  solemnized  by  the  Cap- 
uchin Father  Plavien  by  special  commission  from  Father  Patrick  Walsh, 
Vicar-General  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana. 

Father  Janin,  after  his  departure  from  St.  Louis,  became  cure 
of  Arkansas,  and  stayed  from  August  5,  1796,  to  December  28,  1799. 
He  assisted  at  twenty-one  marriages,  performed  seventy-two  baptisms 
(infants  and  adults),  and  twenty-six  funerals.  The  register  shows, 
under  date  of  February  18,  1798,  that  Father  Janin  assisted  at  a 
wedding  and  he  put  these  words  after  the  dispensation  from  the  three 
bans:  "granted  by  Msgr.  the  Bishop  in  favor  of  them,  after  they  had 
been  married  before  Mr.  the  Commandant  of  this  Post,  May  4,  1797." 

After  December  28,  1799,  dense  darkness  settled  down  around 
the  lonely  Post  on  the  Arkansas,  until  April  14,  1820,  when  a  hazy 
light  in  the  person  of  Father  L.  A.  Chaudorat,  a  Missionary  Priest, 
as  he  styles  himself,  arrived  upon  the  scene  without  a  canonical  mis- 
sion. He  had  been  one  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  party,  which  in  1817 
crossed  the  ocean  from  France.  Ordained  in  Kentucky,  he  soon  left  his 
charge  and  crossed  the  Mississippi  into  the  diocese  of  Louisiana,  where 
he  had  no  faculties.  Still  he  performed  all  the  functions  of  a  parish 
priest  and  caused  great  scandal  by  his  avarice.  He  remained  here 
from  April  1820,  to  the  Spring  1821.  He  left  behind  him  a  memor- 
able reputation  for  avaricious  practices,  which  was  duly  recorded 
by  Father  Saulnier.2 

On  September  8,  1824,  Father  John  Mary  Odin,  C.  M.,  who  had 
been  ordained  only  some  months  previous,  with  the  subdeacon,  John 
Timon,  started  from  the  Barrens,  Perry  Co.,  Mo.,  upon  a  missionary 
tour  to  Texas.  They  traveled  on  horseback,  and  the  journey,  as  far 
as  New  Madrid  in  Missouri,  was  performed  without  more  than  the 
ordinary  fatigues  and  hardships  of  such  traveling  at  that  time,  in  that 
country.  At  New  Madrid,  Father  Odin  gave  a  most  effective  mission. 
Beyond  this  place  their  journey  lay  over  swamps  and  sparsely  settled 
regions,  and  every  kind  of  hardships  and  privation  was  encountered. 
Rivers  which  could  only  be  crossed  by  swimming,  muddy  marshes, 
hunger  and  thirst,  flies  and  mosquitoes,  lack  of  proper  lodging,  present- 
ed no  insuperable  impediments  to  these  holy  men.  The  desertion  of 
their  guide  only  aroused  their  energy.  They  reached  the  Arkansas 
River  near  Little  Rock  (Petit  Rocher)  ;  from  there  they  rode  down 
along  the  river  to  Pine  Bluff,  and  the  ancient  settlement  of  Arkansas 
Post.      Their  journey  was   full    of   the   most   comforting   results,   both 


2     Certified   copy  of  Records,  in  Archives  of   St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Father  Edmund  Saulnier  and  the  Church  of  Arkansas        471 

amongst  Catholics  and  Protestants.  Marriages  were  revalidated,  num- 
bers of  children  and  adults  were  baptized,  confessions  heard  and  many 
who  had  not  been  to  the  Sacraments  for  forty  years,  now  approached. 

Near  the  Post  of  Arkansas  they  visited  the  Quapaw  Indians,  to 
whom  they  announced  the  word  of  God  through  an  interpreter.  A 
rustic  altar  was  erected  in  front  of  the  wigwam  of  the  Chief  Sarrasin, 
and  the  Holy  Mass  offered  by  Father  Odin.  It  was  the  intention  of 
the  two  missionaries  to  visit  also  the  Catholics  along  the  Red  River, 
the  Washita  and  the  Bayou  St.  Pierre,  the  Attakapas  and  Cherokee 
Indians,  and  the  Osages  on  the  Neosho  River,  then  to  return  to  St. 
Louis  through  Missouri.  But  the  miserable  condition  of  their  horses, 
lack  of  money,  and  a  malignant  fever  which  attacked  Father  Odin 
caused  them  to  change  their  plans.  From  the  Post  of  Arkansas,  they 
retraced  their  steps  to  the  Barrens.  The  commission  given  to  Odin  and 
Timon,  to  visit  the  southern  missions,  dates  from  August  24,  1824. 

Three  years  later,  June  13,  1829,  Bishop  Rosati  commissioned 
Father  Martin  of  Avoyelles,  La.,  to  undertake  a  missionary  trip  to 
the  Arkansas  River.  He  went  to  the  Post,  and  ascended  the  river  as 
far  as  Pine  Bluff ;  but  the  poor  man  was  of  a  scrupulous  and  stubborn 
disposition  having  been  ordained  when  somewhat  advanced  in  years, 
he  did  not  know  how  to  treat  the  long  neglected  and  careless  Cath- 
olics of  Arkansas.  Disgusted  and  discouraged,  he  returned  to  his 
parish.3 

In  his  first  letter  to  the  newly  founded  Leopoldine  Society  of  the 
Austrian  Empire,  dated  March  10,  1830,  forwarded  to  Vienna  by 
Vicar-General  Rese  of  Cincinnati,  Bishop  Rosati  wrote :  "In  the  ter- 
ritory of  Arkansas  and  especially  at  the  Post,  there  are  many  Cath- 
olic families  of  French  extraction.  These  Catholics  have  no  priest 
with  them,  and  are  visited  once  a  year  by  a  priest  of  the  Seminary. 
The  immense  distance  of  the  Seminary  from  the  place  named,  offers 
so  many  difficulties,  so  that  more  frequent  visits  to  the  forlorn  brethren 
in  the  Faith  in  Arkansas  cannot  be  thought  of.  The  small  number  of 
priests  in  my  diocese,  and  the  lack  of  means  to  support  them  in  a  land 
of  great  poverty,  have  so  far  prevented  me  from  sending  these  Cath- 
olics a  resident  priest.  If  Providence  should  bless  me  with  means,  I 
would  gladly  place  two  priests  in  those  regions,  where  religion  could 
make  wonderful  progress,  and  to  erect  there  a  convent-school  for  girls. 
Such  an  undertaking  would  be  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  numerous 
tribes  of  savages  in  the  surrounding  country."4 


3  Letters  and  Eeports  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

4  "Berichte  der  Leopoldinen  Stiftung, "  vol.  I,  pp.  31-32. 


472  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

The  noble  Leopoldine  Society  was  moved  by  the  pathetic  pleas  of 
the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis  and  on  October  1,  1831,  sent  him  10,000  fl. 
about  $2,500  in  American  money,  for  his  struggling  missions,  and 
especially  for  Arkansas.  Bishop  Rosati  now  had  the  means,  but  where 
should  he  find  the  priest  to  undertake  the  most  difficult  task.  Father 
Lutz  came  to  his  mind:  but  he  was  needed  in  Galena  and  the  North. 
It  was  evident  after  the  preceeding  failures  of  one-man  missions,  that 
two  must  be  sent  to  the  Arkansas  River. 

At  last,  in  the  fall  of  1831,  the  plan  approached  realization.  Father 
Edmond  Saulnier,  acting  pastor  of  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis,  dis- 
contented with  his  position,  entreated  Rosati  to  relieve  him  and  give 
him  some  mission  outside  the  city.  He  expected  to  be  sent  to  Vide 
Poche  (Carondelet),  or  Prairie  du  Rocher  or  Cahokia.  But  since  the 
Bishop  had  at  the  Barrens  five  students  nearly  ready,  for  ordination, 
he  resolved  to  send  Saulnier  from  the  cultured  parish  of  St.  Louis  to 
the  wilderness  of  Arkansas.  His  companion  was  to  be  Father  P. 
Beauprez.5 

Pierre  F.  Beauprez  was  born  at  Wouver  near  Ypres  in  West 
Flanders,  Belgium.  It  seems  he  was  won  for  the  mission  of  St.  Louis, 
and  New  Orleans,  as  a  student  by  Father  Leo  De  Neckere,  when  the 
latter  was  forced  by  illness  to  leave  St.  Louis  and  retire  to  Flanders 
to  recuperate.  At  that  time  Msgr.  Rosati  was  Bishop  of  St.  Louis  and 
Administrator  of  New  Orleans.  Beauprez  finished  his  studies  at  Perry- 
ville.  Besides  Flemish  and  French  he  spoke  German,  tolerably  well, 
but  English  very  poorly. 

On  November  20,  1831,  Bishop  Rosati  ordained  his  candidates  at  the 
Barrens  and  November  28,  gave  Saulnier  his  faculties  for  Arkansas.  Saul- 
nier took  along  a  young  Irishman,  named  Patrick,  to  whom  he  was 
very  much  attached,  and  who  then  intended  to  study  for  the  priest- 
hood. At  Ste.  Genevieve  he  met  Father  Beauprez  whom  he  had  never 
seen  before.  On  the  5th  of  December  they  reached  Montgomery 's, 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  on  December  14th  they  arrived 
at  the  Post.  There  the  reception  was  more  than  cold.  There  was  no 
house,  no  chapel ;  they  rented  an  old  hut,  but  the  first  Sunday  not  a 
soul  came  to  Mass,  the  ground  being  covered  with  sleet.  Besides,  the 
impulsive  Gascon  and  the  phegmatic  Fleming  could  not  agree. 

"My  companion,  Mr.  Beauprez,  seems  to  be  a  good  man  who  fol- 
lows the  rules  of  his  profession,  but  appears  to  be  much  attached 
to  his  own  opinions  and  hates  to  give  them  up.  Besides,  he  is  not 
very   active;   if  the  house  would   fall   on  his  back,   he  would  hardly 


5     Father   Beauprez'   letters   were   translated    by    Msgr.   Holweek    for   the    ''St. 
Louis  Catholic  Historical  Eevicw,"  Vol.  V.  pp.  40-93. 


Father  Edmond  Saulnier  and  the  Church  of  Arkansas         473 

move.  Although  he  is  only  a  novice,  he  wants  to  be  my  equal,"  wrote 
Father  Saulnier  to  his  Bishop.  There  were  quarrels  and  mutual  re- 
criminations. It  was  well  that  the  missionaries  had  more  than  one 
mission.  Pine  Bluff,  they  were  told,  had  the  majority  of  the  French 
Catholics,  Baraque's  Landing,  afterwards  called  New  Gascony,  requir- 
ed attention.  There  was  really  more  work  to  do,  than  could  be  ac- 
complished by  two  priests. 

' '  It  would  be  good  to  have  a  priest  at  Little  Rock, ' '  advised  Father 
Saulnier,  "there  are  many  ignorant  Protestants  there  and  very  few 
Catholics ;  but  the  priest  would  have  to  know  English  well  and  be  a 
good  controversialist.  Three  priests,  I  believe,  would  for  the  moment 
be  sufficient  in  the  territory,  but  not  two  together,  because  the  means 
of  support  are  small :  one  at  the  Post,  one  at  Pine  Bluff  and  one  at 
Little  Rock.  These  three  would  have  to  teach  school;  if  there  were 
more  priests  for  the  school,  so  much  the  better.  The  Sisters  of  Charity 
would  also  be  of  great  assistance  at  Pine  Bluff,  for  the  education  of 
the  girls  who  are  scattered  along  the  banks  of  the  river,  from  the 
Post  until  just  below  Little  Rock.  The  two  central  points  are  the 
Post  and  Pine  Bluff.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Post  are  very  indifferent 
and  ignorant;  they  have  forgotten  nearly  everything."0 

On  Christmas  morning  the  missionaries  had  fifty  people  at  Mass. 
Father  Saulnier  laid  down  the  law  to  them.  He  told  them  that  they 
would  have  to  subscribe  for  the  construction  of  a  chapel  and  a  house 
for  the  priest,  and  for  the  support  of  the  priest,  and  that  Mr.  No- 
trebene  would  give  them  another  arpent  of  land  in  addition  to  the 
arpent  he  had  given  for  a  cemetery.  The  amount  subscribed  by 
twelve  French  families,  $137.00  for  the  Chapel,  and  $42.00  for  the 
support  of  the  priest,  was  encouraging,  especially  as  the  English 
speaking  people,  Protestants  and  Catholics,  were  also  preparing  to  do 
their  part.  But  now  rose  a  question  as  old  as  the  times  of  Abraham 
and  Lot.  "I  do  not  know  yet,  what  I  shall  do,  after  these  two  sub- 
scriptions," wrote  Father  Saulnier,  "because  the  settlers  of  the  Post, 
as  well  as  of  Jefferson  County,  want  to  have  me.  They,  themselves,  have 
told  me  so  or  sent  me  word  to  that  effect.  I  am  very  much  embarrassed 
to  bring  Mr.  Beauprez  to  reason,  for  he  will  hardly  listen  to  reason, 
when  I  tell  him,  that  we  two  cannot  stay  together  at  the  same  place ; 
because  there  is  just  as  much  need  in  one  place  as  in  the  other,  and 
the  inhabitants  cannot  raise  enough  money  to  support  two  priests 
in  one  place.  Besides,  for  nearly  six  days  there  has  been  an  altercation 
between  us,  and  on  New  Year's  day  we  were  both  in  ill  humor;  I  even 


o     Saulnier  to  Kosati,  December  24,  1831.     Holweck,  1.  eit.,  vol.  I,  p.  248. 


474  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

feared  at  one  time  that  he  was  going  to  leave  me,  as  he  threatened 
to  do  so  about  the  2nd,  or  3rd,  of  January."7 

But  the  storm  blew  over  and  the  dove  of  peace  returned.  The 
people  also  were  showing  their  really  fine  disposition,  so  long  hidden 
under  a  careless  exterior.  "I  commence  to  notice  that,  in  the  course 
of  time,  something  can  be  done  with  the  settlers  of  this  place ;  they 
have  a  pretty  good  fund  of  religion,  which,  by  and  by,  can  be  revived. 
I  could  not  help  admiring  them,  when  I  saw  them  come  to  Mass,  these 
last  two  Sundays,  from  six  to  seven  miles,  in  spite  of  the  cold  and 
the  frightful  mud;  I  also  noticed  their  desire  to  have  a  priest  either 
here,  or  at  Jefferson  County,  or  at  Pine  Bluff.  We  have  performed 
eight  baptisms;  some  have  the  custom  of  the  inhabitants  of  New 
Orleans.  At  baptism  they  give  us  horns  of  sugar-plums  (cornets  de 
dragees)  with  two  or  three  dollars  on  top."8 

Father  Saulnier  now  decided  to  stay  at  the  Post  and  to  send  his 
companion  to  Pine  Bluff.  At  both  places  a  chapel  was  to  be  built  im- 
mediately. Father  Beauprez  accordingly  left  for  Barraque  Landing 
on  his  way  to  Pine  Bluff.  Both  places  lay  in  Jefferson  County,  but 
separated  one  from  the  other  by  the  windings  of  the  Arkansas  River. 
Soon  after  his  arrival,  Father  Beauprez  wrote  to  his  Bishop:  "Re- 
garding the  congregation  of  Jefferson  County,  fifty  or  sixty  miles 
above  the  Post,  there  are  about  thirty-eight  to  forty  families  who  live 
so  far  apart  that  sixteen  of  them  are  now  located  twelve  miles  be- 
low Pine  Bluff,  and  twenty-two  at  Pine  Bluff.  Thus  if  all  would  co- 
operate in  building  a  church  and  supporting  a  priest,  they  could 
easily  do  so.  But  their  minds  are  so  divided  that  they  cannot  agree. 
Those  from  below  want  to  have  the  church  with  them,  those  from 
above  want  it  at  Pine  Bluff,  whilst  the  contending  parties  have  not 
means  sufficient  to  build  a  chapel  at  each  place.  You  see,  Monseigneur, 
the  difficulties  which  surround  me  now.  What  still  sustains  me  are 
the  promises  of  both  parties."9 

When  Father  Saulnier  saw  that  at  the  Post  he  could  not  collect 
funds  sufficient  to  erect  a  chapel  and  a  house,  he  went  to  New  Orleans 
in  February  and,  in  less  than  two  months,  collected  about  $400.00. 
When  he  came  back  to  Arkansas  he  found  a  check  for  a  hundred  dol- 
lars from  the  Bishop.  When  Beauprez  heard  that  Saulnier  had  re- 
turned, he  at  once  took  a  boat  and  went  down  the  Arkansas  River  to 
the  Post;  from  there  his  next  letter  to  Bishop  Rosati,  April  5,  1832 
is  dated : 


7     Idem,  ibidem,  p.   250. 

s     Saulnier  to  Rosati,  Januarj'  7,  1832,  vol.  I,  p.  249. 

9     Beauprez  to  Rosati,  1.  cit.,   p.  254. 


Father  Edmond  Saulnier  and  the  Church  of  Arkansas        475 

"I  am  here  destitute  of  everything;  I  have  no  chapel,  no  house, 
no  money.  The  settlers  have  only  a  poor  cabin  with  one  room  and 
two  beds;  for  the  whole  family.  Nevertheless  I  have  been  well  received 
by  them,  but  it  pained  me  much,  to  see  them  so  inconvenienced  on 
my  account.  I  say  the  Mass  on  Sundays,  and  fulfil  rny  duties  of 
obligation,  but  I  shall  be  obliged  to  build  two  chapels  because  the 
Catholics  are  too  scattered,  as  I  have  written  to  you  in  my  last  letter. 
You  see  my  situation  is  very  critical  and  I  shall  be  obliged  to  abandon 
it  if  you  do  not  send  me  help.'"'" 

Beauprez  would  have  preferred  to  remain  at  the  Post,  where  Saul- 
nier had  rented  a  house  which  he  used  as  a  chapel,  but  Saulnier  in- 
sisted that  he  should  return  to  Pine  Bluff. 

Now  that  he  had  $800.00  Saulnier 's  fanciful  mind  grew  enthus- 
iastic; he  conceived  great  plans;  a  church  and  residence  for  $1,200.00; 
two  or  three  Sisters  of  Charity  to  teach  catechism,  etc. 

"It  is  a  great  privation  for  me,"  he  wrote,  "not  to  be  able  to 
assist  at  the  ceremonies  of  Holy  Week.  Oh !  for  wings  to  fly  and 
transport  myself  to  St.  Louis  this  week !  But  I  must  be  patient ;  per- 
haps, after  a  little  while,  we  can  have  all  these  things  here  also." 

"But,  how  sad  it  is  to  be  here  after  having  been  so  busy  in  St. 
Louis,  especially  about  Easter.  How  sad,  to  have  only  two  miserable 
huts  to  serve  as  chapel  and  dwelling !  And  how  shall  I  raise  the  money 
to  build  a  chapel  for  $1,200.00?  Beauprez  is  still  here.  We  performed 
the  ceremonies  of  Holy  Week  as  well  as  we  could.  Easter  Sunday  we 
had  High  Mass,  Vespers  and  Benediction  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament."11 

According  to  his  next  letter,  of  May  7,  1832,  he  has  made  no 
contract  for  a  chapel,  but  he  has  a  chance  to  buy  a  plot  of  ten  arpents, 
with  a  two-story  house,  a  kitchen,  stable  and  smoke  house,  for  1,000 
or  1,300  dollars. 

On  June  28,  however,  an  unexpected  tragi-comic  event  robbed 
the  sensitive  Gascon  of  all  his  courage,  destroyed  his  hopes  and  plans 
and  cut  short  his  career  on  the  Arkansas  River.  We  shall  permit 
Saulnier,  himself  to  tell  the  story.  ' '  Last  Saturday  afternoon,  the  son-in- 
law  of  the  gentleman  with  whom  I  board  arrived  from  a  place  six 
hundred  miles  up  the  Arkansas  River,  and  passing  in  front  of  me, 
whilst  I  was  saying  my  breviary,  saluted  me  and  bid  me  "bonjour," 
calling  me  by  my  name ;  I  thought  to  myself :  This  can  only  be  the 
son-in-law  of  the  gentleman,  with  whom  I  board,  especially  when  I  saw 
him  take  the  direction  of  his  wife's  room  and  notice  that  trunks  were 
being  unladen.    When  I  finished  my  office,  I  went  to  see  the  father- 


10  Beauprez  to  Eosati,  April  5,  1832. 

11  Saulnier  to  Eosati,  April  10,  1832. 


476  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

in-law  and  asked  him,  if  the  man  who  arrived  was  not  his  son-in-law. 
He  answered,  "  Ves, "  and  told  me  that  he  could  not  get  along  with  his 
wife,  thai  his  wife  had  locked  herself  up  and  would  not  speak  to  him. 
We  were  talking  about  this  affair,  and  the  father-in-law  and  myself, 
when  the  young  man  entered,  holding  in  his  hand  a  cocked  revolver 
which  the  father-in-law  tried  to  seize,  thinking  that  he  intended  to 
shoot  himself.  Meanwhile  the  daughter  arrived  with  her  baby  in  her 
arms ;  but,  how  astonished  was  I,  when  the  son-in-law  pointed  his 
pistol  at  me  and  said:  "Speak  out,  Sir,  is  it  not  you  who  gave  bad 
;k  1  vice  to  my  wife?  I  am  going  to  shoot  you  for  it."  "What  do  you 
mean,  Sir, ' '  I  answered ;  "  I  have  no  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  be- 
tween you  and  your  wife;  how  could  I  have  given  her  bad  advice?  I 
have  not  the  honor  to  know  yott ;  I  arrived  only  recently  and  have  no 
know  ledge  of  what  happened  in  the  families.  If  you  see  me  faint  and 
trembling,  it  is  because  I  thought  you  were  about  to  kill  yourself;  on 
the  contrary,  instead  of  wanting  to  give  bad  advice,  I  am  trying  to 
reconcile  you."  Then  I  fell  on  my  knees  before  the  woman  and  her 
husband  and  making  them  take  each  other's  hand  and  ask  pardon.  I 
reconciled  them.  Then  the  husband  apologized.  I  answered  that  I  not 
only  pardoned  him.  but  that  I  would  have  forgiven  him  even  if  he 
had  killed  me.  On  hearing  this  he  wanted  to  shoot  himself  in  order  not 
to  survive  the  shame  of  having  cast  suspicion  on  me.  I  fell  on  my 
knees  once  more  imploring  him  not  to  commit  sucide  and  asking  him 
to  promise  me,  that  he  would  not  make  another  attempt.  He  did 
promise,  but  said:  "To  promise  is  one  thing,  and  to  keep  is  another." 
For  several  hours  he  went  about  muttering,  and  threatening  to  shoot 
himself ;  until  I  told  the  father-in-law,  for  the  love  of  God,  to  take  the 
revolver  from  him  and  keep  it.  This  was  done.  The  affair  is  now  settled, 
the  reeoncilation  between  him,  his  wife  and  myself :  but  I  still  feel 
nervous  and  trembling  at  the  thought  that  I  was  so  near  death,  although 
I  think,  had  I  been  killed,  myself,  I  should  have  been  saved.  I  may 
possibly  get  sick  over  it.  I  cannot  compose  myself,  so  much  the  less, 
because  I  still  take  my  meals  at  the  same  house.  .  .  "12 

Most  men  would  have  considered  this  affair  a  trifle.  Not  so  Saul- 
nier :  the  excitement  of  that  Saturday  afternoon  worked  up  his  nerves 
to  such  a  pitch  that  he  surrendered  to  his  feelings  and,  five  Aveeks 
later,  left  his  mission  to  his  confrere.  Beauprez  was  disconsolate.  He 
wrote  to  Rosati,  June  12,  1832 : 

"The  departure  of  my  confrere,  Mr.  Saulnier,  afflicts  and  dis- 
courages me  much.  I  do  not  think  I  shall  see  him  again.  Here  I  am, 
in  this  wretched  country,  abandoned,  alone !    With  tears  in  my  eyes, 


12     Saulnier  to  Rosati,  June  4,  1832.    Archives,  St.  Louis  Archdiocese,  Cf.  "St. 
Louis   Catholic   Historical  Review, "  vol.  I,  p.   255. 


Father  Edmond  Saulnier  and  the  Church   of  Arkansas        477 

I  have  wished  a  hundred  times  that  I  never  had  heard  mention  of 
America,  never  had  seen  it.  In  Europe,  in  my  own  country,  I  could  have 
saved  my  soul;  but  here  is  much  to  fear.  But  Father,  for  the  love  of 
my  salvation,  have  pity  on  me!  take  me  from  this  suburb  of  hell!"13 

On  board  of  the  steamboat  Telegraph  Saulnier  wrote  these  lines 
to  the  Bishop  : 

"You  may  be  surprised  to  see  me  coming  up  the  river  (pardon,  the 
steamboat  trembles  so  much  that  I  can  hardly  write)  :  Your  last  letter, 
although  trying  to  encourage  me  greatly,  has  discouraged  me,  and  I 
am  coming  up,  totally  suspending  my  will ;  but  I  must  see  You  and 
speak  to  You ;  my  books,  if  necessary,  must  pay  for  the  expense  of  my 
journey.  Tomorrow  I  go  to  the  seminary,  to  let  Patrick  study  and 
make  a  seminarian  of  him,  according  to  his  desire.  .  .1  shall  stay  a 
day  or  two  at  the  Seminary ;  then  I  shall  come  to  see  You,  talk  to  You 
and  arrange  matters. '  '14 

As  soon  as  he  received  this  letter,  Bishop  Rosati  wrote  to  Father 
Lefevere  at  New  Madrid,  Aug.  2,  1832:  "I  have  asked  Mr.  Paillason  to 
go  to  Arkansas  to  see  what  could  be  done.  .  .  Mr.  Saulnier  has  returned 
from  there.  I  ask  you  to  stay  at  New  Madrid,  until  Father  Paillasson 
comes  back.  Then  you  may  go  down  and  join  Beauprez  at  the  Post. 
I  shall  give  a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year  for  the  support  of  the 
two  priests  who  stay  there."15  But  Lefevere  never  received  the  defini- 
tive commission  to  start  for  Arkansas,  and  on  December  3.  1832,  he  was 
appointed  for  the  missions  on  Salt  River,  Ralls  Co.,  Mo. 

When  Saulnier  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  on  August  3,  the  Bishop  saw 
at  once  that  he  could  not  send  him  back  to  Arkansas,  and  on  August 
17,  he  appointed  him  Pastor  of  the  church  of  Our  Lady  of  Mt,  Carmel 
at  Vide  Poche  (Carondelet).    To  Beauprez  he  wrote  : 

"I  am  grieved  to  see  that  Mr.  Saulnier  has  left  Arkansas.  Do  not 
lose  courage  I  shall  do  all  in  my  power  to  sustain  this  mission.  Mr. 
Paillasson  shall  come  to  see  you ;  together  you  will  select  the  spot  where 
the  residence  of  the  priests  must  be  established.  You  shall  accept  a 
plot  in  my  name  and  build  a  large  log-house,  half  of  which  will  serve  for 
church,  the  other  half  for  a  residence.  I  shall  send  you  another  priest 
and  I  shall  give  you  $150.00  a  year  for  your  subsistence,  until  the 
country  itself  can  support  you."16 

But  Beauprez  became  ill.  He  had  written  to  Rosati  from  the  Post, 
July  23  :   "  Greetings,  Monseigneur,  in  Our  Lord  : 


13  Beauprez  to  Rosati,  June  12,   1832. 

14  Saulnier  to  Rosati,  July  24,  1832. 

15  Rosati  to  Lefevere,  August  2,   1832. 
1G  Rosati  to  Beauprez,  August  7,  1832. 


478  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

It  is  now  nine  days  since  Mr.  Saulnier  left  for  St.  Louis,  a  depart- 
ure which  I  greatly  regret,  especially  as  I  fell  sick,  in  a  new  country 
where  diseases  are  so  frequent,  particularly  for  strangers.  Here  is 
what  happened.  Yesterday,  Seventh  Sunday  after  Pentecost,  during 
Mass,  I  felt  ill  and  had  to  leave  the  altar  at  the  Memento  in  the  Canon. 
It  was  a  weakness  of  the  stomach,  caused  by  the  excessive  and  stifling 
heat.  This  illness  attacked  me  the  preceding  night  and  left  me  in  such 
a  state  of  weakness  that  I  could  hardly  stand  on  my  feet.  It  was  my 
injudicious  zeal  which  caused  this  attack  during  Mass,  for  I  catechized 
and  preached  too  long."17 

And  in  another  very  long  and  very  tearful  letter  of  July  23, 
decipherable  only  with  a  magnifying  glass,  he  explained  all  his  diffi- 
culties to  his  Bishop  and  told  him"  that  if  Paillasson  was  coming  to 
stay,  it  was  all  well ;  but  if  he  came  only  to  return  to  New  Madrid, 
there  was  no  need  to  undergo  such  a  heavy  expense. 

At  last,  October  7,  the  Bishop  wrote  to  Beauprez : 

"You  may  go  down  to  Donaldsonville  and  then  come  up  to  the 
Seminary.    I  appoint  you  to  Apple  Creek." 

Having  received  the  Bishop's  letter,  Father  Beauprez  took  the  boat 
for  Louisiana,  October  25.  Thus  the  apostolate  of  Saulnier  and  Beau- 
prez on  the  Arkansas  River  ended  in  dismal  failure. 

Father  Beauprez  soon  after  left  the  diocese  for  New  Orleans,  whilst 
Father  Edmond  Saulnier  continued  for  many  years  in  his  twofold 
office  of  Pastor  animarum  and  censor  morum  fratum  suorum. 


it     Beauprez  to  Eosati,  July  23,  1832. 


mm 

i  it,  1 1 i i i  ) 


Sbiv  ^1 


Map  of  Post  of  Arkansas  drawn  by  Father  Saulnier,  Jan.   13,  1832. 


Chapter  7 
POST  OF  ARKANSAS,  NEW  GASCONY  AND  LITTLE  ROCK 


Painful,  as  the  sorry  display,  made  by  his  missionaries  on  the 
Arkansas  River,  must  have  been  to  Bishop  Rosati,  it  certainly  did  not 
discourage  him,  but  rather  spurred  him  on  to  quick  action.  Father 
Ennemond  Dupuy,  who  had  been  ordained  with  Father  Beauprez, 
but  remained  at  the  Seminary  for  the  study  of  English,  was  the  man 
chosen  to  wring  victory  from  defeat.  He  had  some  experience  in 
missionary  work,  for  he  had  attended  Kaskaskia  twice  a  month  from 
the  Barrens.  He  was  ready  to  go  at  once.  The  Bishop  turned  over 
to  him  the  $400,  which  Father  Saulnier  had  collected  in  New  Orleans, 
and  fifty  dollars  for  his  support.  After  a  long  delay  at  the  boat-landing 
in  Perry  County,  he  set  out  for  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  River,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  morning  of  October  27,  1832.  Thence  he  rode  over 
knee-deep  roads  and  through  lakes  and  creeks,  in  water  up  to  the 
horses  girth,  and  arrived  at  the  Post  about  noon  October  29th.  It 
was  Sunday.   Here  is  what  he  says  about  his  reception : 

"Of  the  inhabitants  some  were  out  hunting,  others  were  busy  at 
the  gin  mill,  others  trying  or  selling  their  horses,  others  playing  bil- 
liards. Not  knowing  where  to  begin,  I  went  directly  to  a  certain  Fred 
Notrebene.  I  asked  him  for  news  about  Mr.  Beauprez :  '  Six  days  ago 
he  came  to  settle  up, '  he  told  me ;  '  I  do  not  know  where  he  is  at  pres- 
ent.' ,n 

"At  the  first  report  that  a  new  priest  had  come  to  take  the  place  of 
those  who  had  left  a  crowd  gathered  around  me,  asking  me  a  thousand 
questions :  who  I  was,  what  had  become  of  Mr.  Saulnier,  etc. ;  then 
they  turned  around  laughing  outright  and  saying:  'This  one  won't 
stay  long.' 

I  have  now  talked  to  a  great  number  of  the  inhabitants;  it  seems 
they  are  not  particularly  anxious  to  have  a  church  and  a  priest.  They 
never  stop  ridiculing  Mr.  Beauprez.  Most  of  them  would  be  willing  to 
build  a  church,  if  they  could  own  the  church  as  well  as  the  land  on 
which  it  is  built.  You  see,  Monseigneur,  that  this  is  not  very  encour- 
aging. Do  not  give  credence  to  the  report,  that  Saiunier  and  Beauprez 
have  exaggerated :  No,  what  they  said  is  but  too  true.  Everything  here 
is  excessively  dear.  I  have  already  spent  fifty  dollars  and  suffered 
much.    I  see  but  too  well  that  all  I  shall  have  to  endure  surpasses  my 


*     Holweck,    ' '  The    Arkansas    Mission    under    Rosati, "    "St.    Louis    Catholic 
Historical  Review, "  vol.  I,  pp.  243-267. 

(479) 


480  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

strength ;  but  no  matter ;  I  left  my  country  with  the  firm  resolution 
to  lay  down  my  life,  if  necessary.  I  went  away  from  St.  Louis  con- 
vinced that  I  was  going  to  death;  so  I  shall  carry  out  my  resolutions; 
I  shall  conquer  or  die  for  the  Name  of  Jesus  and  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  from  whom  I  expect  all,  my  help  and  my  reward.  Tomorrow  I 
shall  start  for  Pine  Bluff,  seventy  miles  from  here."2 

The  journey  to  Pine  Bluff  was  calculated  to  reassure  the  mission- 
ary \s  drooping  spirit.  "I  found  there  much  better  dispositions  than 
at  the  Post.  The  people  are  much  more  simple,  more  religious  and  less 
arrogant.  Conditions  for  a  religious  center  are  better  there.  The  people 
of  Pine  Bluff,  which  is  a  village  of  about  fifty  families,  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  scattered  over  the  space  of  twelve  miles,  are  less  prejudiced 
against  religion  and  its  minister:  although  a  certain  individual  has 
raked  me  over  the  coals  for  all  the  various  occurrences  in  connection 
with  Father  Beauprez.  "3 

But  what  troubled  Father  Dupuy  more  was  the  absence  of  all 
the  requisites  for  saying  mass.  Father  Beauprez  had  taken  along  with 
him  the  vestments,  the  chalice  and  the  missal,  articles  not  to  be  found 
within  five  hundred  miles  of  the  place.  Besides  this,  Father  Beauprez 
had  left  the  people  under  the  impression  that  he  would  return  to  them 
ere  long. 

In  his  letter  of  November  12,  1832,  Father  Dupuy  tells  the  Bishop 
of  the  plans  for  the  advancement  of  religion  among  such  an  apathetic 
people:  "I  shall  first  try  to  build  a  log  house  and  to  teach  school;  this 
is  the  only  thing  they  ask  for,  and  that  they  expect  to  be  done  almost 
gratis ;  no  matter,  I  shall  do  it !  I  said  a  log  house,  for  there  is  no 
carpenter  in  the  country ;  no  tools  can  be  bought,  and  things  are  sold 
here  at  twice  the  price  you  pay  at  St.  Louis.  I  shall  build  my  hut,  I 
think,  at  Pine  Bluff,  because  only  there  can  I  find  some  land.  A 
Frenchman  there  let  me  have  sixty  acres  of  cleared  land,  for  seventy- 
five  dollars;  I  shall  have  to  pay  to  Congress  eighty-four  dollars.  This 
is  the  best  bargain  I  can  make ;  and  this  man  thinks  he  is  doing  me  a 
great  favor  by  letting  me  have  the  land  for  the  same  price  he  paid 
himself.  So  I  will  bring  my  belongings  there.  I  shall  start  for 
this  place.  In  conclusion,  Monseigneur,  please,  see  that  I  get  the 
articles  which  Mr.  Beauprez  has  taken  away  from  here,  all  the  vestments, 
the  chalice,  the  missal  and  the  cupboard.  Above  all,  please  write  to  the 
inhabitants  to  undeceive  them  as  to  Beaupre's  alleged  return;  other- 
wise there  will  be  no  end  of  disorder.  At  the  least  proposition  I  make 
to  them,  they  either  say,  that   they  cannot  trust  me,   that  I  deceive 


2  Dupuy  to  Eosnti,  St.  Louis  Archives,  Review,  1.  c,  p.  250. 

3  Idem,  ibidem. 


Post  of  Arkansas,  New  Gascony  and  Little  Rock  481 

them,  or  that  Mr.  Beauprez  has  deceived  them,  that  all  priests  are 
liars,  for,  they  say,  every  single  one  coming  here  promises  to  stay ;  then 
they  accnmnlate  money  and  off  they  go.  There  You  see,  Monseigneur, 
how  they  receive  me,  and  how  I  have  to  suffer  for  the  faults  of  others. 
In  fact,  I  do  not  understand  all  this  gossip.  I  had  to  promise  them 
that  I  would  teach  school  in  order  to  be  permitted  to  buy  this  plot  of 
ground.  As  far  as  the  sacred  ministry  is  concerned,  I  have  no  work, 
except  a  few  baptisms,  some,  but  very  little  catechism  and  preaching, 
which  they  once  or  twice  come  to  hear  through  curiosity.  Still  I  trust 
in  God's  mercy.  It  is  useless  to  speak  to  them  of  abstinence,  fasting  or 
confession,  or  of  the  duty  to  marry  before  a  priest  or  of  the  Real 
Presence.    Some  sometimes  assist  at  mass ;  this  is  all  their  religion.4 

As  soon  as  Father  Dupuy  had  established  his  center  three  miles 
below  Pine  Bluff,  the  prospects  became  brighter.  In  a  letter  of  April 
12,  1833,  he  was  of  good  heart,  although,  he  said,  during  winter,  nearly 
half  of  the  population  of  Arkansas  Post  died  without  asking  for  the 
assistance  of  a  priest.  During  his  entire  stay  in  Arkansas,  since  the 
5th  of  October,  when  he  left  St.  Louis,  his  income  amounted  to  three 
dollars,  whilst  he  had  expended  over  $300.00.  But  he  must  have  an 
assistant  priest,  "a  man,  stouthearted,  disinterested,  gentle."  Rosati 
had  promised  that  Father  Bouillier  of  Old  Mines,  on  his  way  to  New 
Orleans,  May  1833,  would  visit  him,  but  Bouillier  never  came. 

At  last,  to  better  put  forth  his  hopes  and  needs,  he  went  up  the 
Mississippi  River  and,  July  22,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  from  the 
Seminary.  A  great  flood  had  destroyed  the  harvest  in  the  villages 
along  the  Red  and  Arkansas  Rivers,  he  and  his  flock  needed  help. 
From  August  20  to  22,  he  was  in  St.  Louis,  then  he  descended  to 
New  Orleans,  where  the  Yellow  Fever  had  broken  out.  Two  months 
and  half  he  spent  with  Father  Mina  at  St.  John  the  Baptist  on  the 
German  Coast,  on  December  16.  he  Avas  back  to  his  Mission  below 
Pine  Bluffs,  Jefferson  Co.,  Ark.  He  found  his  house  nearly  wrecked  by 
the  flood.  At  first  he  thought  he  would  relinquish  the  place  and  move 
to  the  hills  of  Little  Rock;  but  he  gave  up  this  plan  because  he  could 
show  no  title  of  those  half  fabulous  lands  which  Bishop  Rosati  was 
said  to  possess  at  or  near  Le  Petit  Rocher,  that  is  Little  Rock. 

According  to  this  letter  of  Dupuy  there  seemed  to  be  an  improve- 
ment at  the  mission  St.  Mary's,  at  Easter,  in  church  attendance  and 
reception  of  the  Sacraments,  in  spite  of  the  "vociferations"  of  three 
Protestant  preachers  who  went  about  calumniating  the  Church.  Even 
Protestants  came  to  the  little  mission  and  everybody  said  it  was  "shame- 
ful" not  to  have  a  larger  church  which  would  contain  the  congregation. 


4     Dupuy  to  Eosati,  p.  261. 
Vol.  1—16 


482  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

When,  however,  lie  visited  Arkansas  Post,  nobody  came  to  fulfill  the 
Easter  duly,  so  that  Dupuy  did  not  even  celebrate  Mass  there. 

In  his  next  letter  he  relates  that  the  projected  chapel  at  St.  Mary's 
has  not  been  commenced  as  yet.  The  overflow  of  1833  was  a  great 
drawback  to  the  good  work;  his  present  chapel-house,  however,  is  filled 
every  Sunday.  The  land  which  the  Bishop  owns  near  Little  Bock  has 
been  discovered  ;  it  is  situated  thirty-six  miles  from  the  town  in  a  sparse- 
ly settled  district.  Little  Rock  itself  is  growing  rapidly,  there  are  also 
three  hundred  "Dutch"  families.0 

At  last,  in  the  summer,  of  1834,  Father  Dupuy  undertook  the 
journey  to  Little  Rock,  two  years  and  a  half  after  the  reestablishment 
of  the  Arkansas  Mission  by  Bishop  Rosati.  He  writes  about  this  trip, 
August  7,  1834: 

"I  have  just  returned  from  a  journey  to  Petit  Rocher  (Little 
Rock),  satisfied  in  every  respect.  I  found  about  twenty  Catholic  families 
in  the  neighborhood,  separated  some  20  miles  from  each  other.  They 
earnestly  ask  for  a  priest  and  complain  that  You  desert  them;  and, 
feeling  the  necessity  of  serving  a  Supreme  Being  and  not  being  able 
to  have  the  instruction  required  they  are  compelled  to  receive  it  from 
the  mouth  of  a  false  minister.  Most  of  these  Catholics  have  subscribed 
for  two  Presbyterian  churches  at  Little  Rock ;  one,  of  wood,  is  finished ; 
the  other,  of  brick,  is  not  completed.  In  the  city  itself  no  Catholic  could 
be  shown  to  me,  but  there  are  said  to  be  three  families,  who,  seeing  they 
were  abandoned,  did  not  declare  themselves  Catholic.  About  twenty 
German  families  had  settled  here,  but  about  a  month  or  two  ago, 
they  went  twelve  miles  higher  up  the  river.  The  city  of  Little  Rock 
is  superbly  situated.  Placed  on  a  small  hill  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
river  Arkansas,  the  city  dominates  an  immense  plain  on  both  sides 
of  the  river.  Most  of  the  land  is  laid  in  very  rich  cotton  fields.  All 
the  bottoms  bristle  with  cypress  forests,  of  which  boards  are  made 
in  large  quantities;  these  are  transported  to  New  Orleans.  The  peo- 
ple here  are  very  gentle,  but  the  prejudice  against  the  true  religion 
is  deeply  rooted.  Numbers  of  these  circuit-riding  preachers  pass  here ; 
all  they  do  is  spread  calumnies  against  the  Church.  It  is  incredible, 
Monseigneur,  in  what  perplexity  these  poor  people  are.  The  Prot- 
estants are  mostly  Deists,  and  the  Catholics  are  not  very  far  from 
the  same  condition,  so  much  so,  that  several  of  them  neglect  to  have 
their  children  baptized.  Amongst,  those  whom  I  visited,  and  who 
have  not  seen  a  priest  since  the  coming  of  Father  Martin,  I  baptized 
only  one  infant.    But  I  am  sure,  that,  if  a  priest  came  here,  he  would 


s  Dupuy  to  Rosati,  1.  cit.,  p.  262.  The  "Dutch"  spoken  of  here  were  partly 
remnants  of  the  German  Colonists  settled  by  John  Law  on  his  seigniory  on  the 
Arkansas  River  before  1720. 


Post  of  Arkansas,  New  Gascony  and  Little  Bock  483 

soon  overcome  the  prejudices  and  refute  the  calumnies.  But  he  will 
have  to  go  through  sufferings  of  every  kind.  A  person  must  have  been 
here  to  understand."6 

In  September  1834,  Father  Dupuy  fell  sick  of  bilious  fever ;  to 
recuperate  and  make  a  retreat  at  the  Seminary  he  took  the  steam- 
boat Revenue;  then  he  visited  the  city  to  see  the  new  Cathedral,  and 
with  new  courage,  returned  to  his  forlorn  mission  on  the  Arkansas. 
The  Bishop  had  promised  that  he  would  send  him  an  assistant. 

Half  a  year  later,  April  13,  1835,  Bishop  Rosati  ordained  Charles 
Rolle,  a  native  of  the  diocese  of  Nancy,  and  on  April  21,  appointed 
him  assistant  to  Father  Dupuy.  According  to  a  letter  written  by 
Dupuy  in  Latin  (all  his  other  letters  were  written  in  French),  June 
18,  1835,  Father  Rolle  first  descended  to  New  Orleans,  then,  on  the 
eve  of  the  Ascension,  he  came  up  to  Pine  Bluff,  in  utter  poverty, 
"without  money,  without  a  chalice,  without  a  horse,  without  saddle;" 
but  Dupuy  welcomed  him  heartily ;  for  to  be  debarred  from  the 
company  or  at  least  proximity  of  a  brother  priest  was  to  him  the 
greatest  of  all  privations.  And  Dupuy  wrote  to  his  Bishop  about 
Father  Rolle :  "I  love  him,  it  is  sweet  to  me  to  live  with  him ' '  ( Ilium 
amo,  vivere  cum  eo  mihi  est  dulce).7 

But  the  peaceful  colaboration  of  the  two  priests  lasted  hardly 
two  months.  After  a  sick  call  under  the  noonday  sun,  Father  Rolle 
fell  sick  and  died  July  22,  1835.  Dupuy  himself  again  suffered  an 
attack  of  bilious  fever  and  was  so  ill  that,  for  a  while,  his  recovery 
was  despaired. 

Improved  in  health,  at  last,  December  7,  1835  Father  Dupuy  let 
the  contract  for  the  erection  of  a  small  chapel  at  his  mission ;  he 
also  intended  to  establish  a  school ;  even  at  the  Post  the  settlers  became 
interested  in  religion  and  talked  of  building  a  chapel,  if  the  priest 
would  promise  to  say  mass  there  now  and  then.  He  even  had  visited 
some  place  on  the  distant  Washita  River,  to  refute  certain  preachers 
who  "tormented"  the  Catholics.  On  Christmas,  he  had  twenty  com- 
munions. 

In  another  letter  of  May  4,  1836,  Dupuy  relates  that,  at  the  end 
of  April,  he  was  called  two  hundred  and  sixty-seven  miles  up  the 
Arkansas  River  to  marry  an  officer  of  the  1T.  S.  troops,  stationed  among- 
st the  Indians;  he  was  enchanted  with  the  beautiful  scenery  along 
the  river;  it  took  him  over  seven  days  to  make  the  trip.  The  people 
at  Pine  Bluff  are  losing  patience,  since  they  get  no  school,  no  church, 
no   division    of   missions.      The   chapel   is    commenced,    but    cannot    be 


G     Dupuy  to  Rosati,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

7     Latin  Letter  to  Rosati  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


484  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

finished,  because  nobody  wants  to  contribute,  unless  they  get  also  a 
school ;  he  feels  disheartened — nothing  worth  while  can  be  done  if  he 
must  remain  alone. 

But  months  passed  and  no  assistant  came.  Now  Dupuy  decided 
1  o  throw  the  weight  of  his  personal  presence  into  the  scale :  on  November 
5,  1836,  he  suddenly  appeared  at  the  Bishop's  house  in  St.  Louis. 
What  could  the  prelate  do?  Indeed,  he  had  four  deacons  at  the 
Barrens;  Guibride,  Heim,  Kenny  and  Donnelly.  To  satisfy  Dupuy, 
he  sent  for  Donnelly  and  ordained  him  priest  at  St.  Louis,  November 
20,  and  four  days  later  handed  him  his  papers  for  Arkansas.  Both 
Dupuy  and  his  Irish  assistant,  Peter  Donnelly,  at  once  set  out  for  the 
South.  After  their  arrival,  Dupuy,  in  the  joy  of  his  heart,  wrote 
a  letter  in  English  to  Father  Timon  of  the  Seminary.  We  reprint 
it  as  it  is : 

"Pine  Bluffs,  Jefferson  Co.,  Jan.  9,  1837. 
"Rev.  Sir: 

"I  just  seize  the  chance  to  write  you  a  few  words.  Our  travelling 
was  lucky  enough  coming  down,  with  the  exception  that  Mr.  Donnelly 
had  to  stay  some  eight  days  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  River.  Our 
labors  look  to  be  fruitful  till  now,  and  everything  is  growing  better 
and  better.  Mr.  Donnelly  looks  to  be  satisfied  with  the  place,  and  the 
people  like  him  well  enough  too.  I  hope  firmly  that  our  hardships 
will  be  in  the  advancing  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and  his  glory  in 
these  remote  countries.  We  are  both  in  good  health,  though  we  have 
been  in  a  pretty  long  and  muddy  riding  for  a  week.  Great  motions 
have  been  made  among  the  folks,  even  the  dissentients,  to  convert  our 
church  into  a  school  house,  being  too  small  for  a  church  and  agreeing 
to  build  a  large  one.  As  my  subscription  in  St.  Louis  was  a  little 
more  than  nothing,  I  am  going  to  New  Orleans  to  try  again.  For  we 
can  do  nothing  if  we  have  no  servant."8 

On  the  sixth  of  March  1837  he  went  to  New  Orleans  to  raise  some 
funds,  since  his  efforts  at  St.  Louis  in  this  direction  had  proven  futile. 
Father  Dupuy  wrote : 

"The  number  of  Catholics,  nominal  and  others,  does  not  go  be- 
yond six  hundred ;  they  are  scattered  in  the  four  corners  of  the  state. 
Most  of  them  are  in  Jefferson  Co. :  then  follows  the  Post  in  Arkansas 
Co.,  then  Little  Rock.  There  are  four  places,  where  mass  might  be 
said,  if  we  had  the  money  to  travel,  by  using  the  cabins  in  which  the 
settlers  live.  1)  Three  miles  below  Pine  Bluffs,  which  is  the  seat  of 
justice  of  Jefferson  Co. ;  on  the  left  river  bank  is  the  chapel  and  the 


s     Original    in   Archives   of    St.   Louis   Archdiocese.      Father   Dupuy    was    much 
better  at  French  than  English. 


Post  of  Arkansas,  New  Gascony  and  Little  Rock  \>-> 

priest's  house  which  I  built.  2)  At  New  Gascony,  fifteen  miles  lower 
down  and  in  the  same  county,  fifteen  families  could  be  gathered,  if 
mass  was  celebrated  there.  3)  At  Arkansas  Post,  sixty  miles  from 
my  chapel ;  but  there  is  no  chapel  and  it  is  so  difficult  to  build  one, 
because  the  people  do  not  pull  together.  I  tried  it  more  than  ten 
times,  but  did  not  succeed.  4)  At  Petit  Rocher  (Little  Rock)  ;  but 
first  a  chapel  must  be  built  there,  so  that  mass  can  be  celebrated  with 
pomp    and   with   a   forceful   sermon.      Wherefore    I    asked    you   to    be 

permitted  to  build  a  school  house  and  then  go  there As 

far  as  the  school  goes  (in  Pine  Bluff),  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  have  it, 
because  neither  at  St.  Louis,  nor  at  New  Orleans,  could  I  raise  enough 
to  pay  a  teacher.  Mr.  Donnelly  is  not  capable  to  teach  what  is  re- 
quired, because  he  cannot  write  his  own  language  correctly;  besides 
his  health  is  poor."9 

Since  everybody  is  crying  for  a  school  which  cannot  be  had,  Father 
Dupuy  asks  Bishop  Rosati  to  be  relieved  of  his  charge  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible; perhaps,  he  thinks,  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  might  adopt  him 
in  his  diocese,  or  he  might  retire  to  Lyons,  his  home  city. 

A  few  days  later  Mr.  Antoine  Barraque,  from  New  Gascony,  an 
apostate,  but  an  educated  man  who  even  knew  some  Latin,  in  the 
name  of  the  sixteen  families  of  his  district  sent  a  petition  to  St.  Louis, 
asking  Bishop  Rosati  to  appoint  Father  Donnelly  pastor  of  the  mis- 
sion of  New  Gascony.  And  now  something  happened  that  Father 
Dupuy  certainly  never  expected.  When  Donnelly  saw  that  radical 
changes  were  required,  and  that  he  could  not  work  in  harmony  with 
Dupuy,  he  abruptly,  August  15,  1837,  took  a  boat  for  St.  Louis,  promis- 
ing to  return  at  the  end  of  September.  The  result  of  this  journey 
was  that,  on  September  2,  Donnelly  was  appointed  pastor  of  Arkansas, 
whilst  Dupuy  was  transferred  to  New  Orleans.  Dupuy  was  hurt  to 
the  quick.  The  touching  letter  which  he  wrote  to  Rosati,  when  the 
new  pastor  arrived  at  St.  Mary's  Mission,  is  in  the  archives  of  the 
Archdiocese.     He  concluded  to  go  to  St.  John  the  Baptist's,  La. 

Father  Donnelly,  no  doubt,  was  successful  in  his  missionary  work, 
although  he  could  not,  as  Father  Dupuy  charges,  write  correct  English. 
On  October  31,  he  claimed  to  have  a  subscription  of  $900.00  for  a 
school  at  the  Mission  below  Pine  Bluff,  the  establishment  of  which 
Dupuy  had  despaired.  At  New  Gascony,  Barraque  furnished  a  house 
for  the  priest's  residence  and  another  house  for  church  purposes.  On 
November  26,  Mass  was  to  be  said  there  for  the  first  time  by  Father 
Donnelly.     On  January  6,  1838,  he  even  went  down  to  the  ill-omened 


9     Dupuy  to  Rosati,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese.     Hohveck,  1.  cit.,  vol.  I, 
pp.  264  and  265. 


486  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Post  of  Arkansas  and,  on  the  8th  commenced  to  take  up  subscriptions 
for  a  church  and  house;  he  collected  $630.00  in  one  week,  but  he  did 
not  see  more  than  one-half  of  the  inhabitants.  A  Mr.  Farrelly  was 
to  donate  the  lots.  At  St.  Mary's  the  carpenters  commenced  to  work, 
November  17;  they  finished  it  in  February;  it  had  cost  $960.00  (car- 
penter work)  ;  in  the  fall,  October  11,  Sister  Agnes  Hart,  with  two 
other  Sisters  of  Loretto,  from  Ste.  Genevieve,  Mo.,  opened  the  school. 
Their  principal  benefactor  was  Mr.  Creed  Taylor,  a  convert  who  had 
been  baptized  by  Father  Dupuy. 

In  March  Father  Donnelly  traveled  to  Little  Rock,  to  see  what 
could  be  done  to  give  to  the  Catholics  there  a  small  place  of  worship. 
He  arrived  on  March  23rd,  and  collected  in  subscriptions  $620.00  in 
one  day.    This  subscription  list  is  interesting  in  more  than  one  regard. 

"We,  the  subscribers,  whose  names  are  affixed  hereunto  promise, 
bind  and  oblige  ourselves  to  pay  the  sums  annexed  to  our  names  for 
the  purpose  of  purchasing  a  lot  of  ground  and  building  a  church  in  or 
at  the  City  of  Little  Rock,  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Bishop 
of  St.  Louis  or  his  agent,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  Catholics 
of  Little  Rock  and  adjoining  country. 

Witness  our  hands,  etc. 

Subscribers '  names,  Protestants 

Charles  Ashley $100.00 

Judge  Cross 50.00 

Captain  Collins 50.00 

J.  H.  Tucker 50.00 

L.  M.  Lincoln 25.00 

J.   C.  DeBauer 20.00 

W.  Woodruff 25.00 

Jud.  Johnson 50.00 

Subscribers'  names.  Catholics 

Hewes  Scull $  50.00 

D.   W.    Carroll 50.00 

Jacob    Rider 100.00 

S.   Marchong 50.00" 

Father  Donnelly  was  justly  proud  of  his  success. 

"Thus  far  the  encouragement  that  we  have  at  Little  Rock  and 
the  fruit  of  our  day 's  labor !  If  I  could  but  spend  twelve  or  fifteen 
days  in  this  city,  that  I  might  have  an  opportunity  to  make  ac- 
quaintances, I  could  get  a  good  subscription.  It  is  my  opinion  that 
this  place  offers  the  best  prospect  of  any  other  place  of  the  description 
in  America.     The  Catholics  are  but  few,  still  I  am  discovering  Cath- 


Post  of  Arkansas,  New  Gascony  and  Little  Rock  487 

olics  every  day  and  persons  that  were  considered  heretofore  to  be 
Protestants."10 

He  stayed  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Dugan.  In  this  house,  on  the 
second  floor  over  the  store,  he  said  the  first  mass,  ever  celebrated  at 
Little  Rock.  He  visited  Little  Rock  on  two  other  occassions  before  the 
end  of  1838,  collecting  the  greater  part  of  the  subscriptions.  But  his 
health  was  fast  declining.     In  the  Spring  of  1839  he  wrote : 

"The  number  of  Catholics  is  increasing  daily  at  Little  Rock.  There 
are  several  families  that  came  within  last  month.  It  is  said  there  are 
many  more  coming  from  Vicksburg ;  they  have  heard  it  said  that  there 
was  a  church  to  be  built  at  Little  Rock  shortly.  A  good  opportunity 
offers  if  it  be  only  attended  to.  I  hope  and  pray  that  Almighty  God 
may  enable  you  in  making  a  good  selection  or  appointment  for  that 
city,  who  will  complete  St.  Peter's  church  in  the  Rock  and  on  the 
Rock,  which  I  may  say  is  now  begun. ' ni 

From  New  Gascony  Ant.  Barraque  wrote,  on  August  5,  that  the 
chapel  was  ready  for  services,  and  that  it  was  dedicated  to  St.  Irenaeus 
of  Lyons ;  also  that  a  house  was  ready  for  a  school.  As  Donnelly  was  going 
to  St.  Louis,  Barraque  sent  a  statement  of  what  had  been  done.  In 
the  excess  of  zeal,  he  even  proposed  to  have  a  seminary  built  at  New 
Gascony  and  offered  forty  acres  of  land  for  that  purpose.12 

But  Father  Donnelly's  health  did  not  improve.  In  a  letter  of 
November  27,  he  saj'S  that  his  weakness  kept  him  from  pushing  the  work 
in  Little  Rock.  The  money  he  collected  was  in  Mr.  Dugan 's  hands. 
It  seems  that  Rosati  intended  to  give  the  missions  of  Arkansas,  at  least 
Pine  Bluff,  into  the  hands  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Missions.  After 
Christmas,  Donnelly  intended  to  go  to  New  Orleans,  probably  to  col- 
lect. 

In  1838,  October  28,  three  Lorettine  Sisters  from  Ste.  Genevieve 
had  founded  St.  Mary's  Convent  School  in  Pine  Bluff.13  Father 
Donnelly  was  delighted.  On  December  12,  he  writes  that  the  school 
promises  well;  it  killed  the  rival  Methodist  school  at  Pine  Bluff.  He 
now  also  has  a  lot  for  a  chapel  at  Napoleon.  He  did  not  go  to  New 
Orleans,  because  his  health  was  declining  fast.  He  desires  to  return 
to  Ireland. 

On  May  26,  Donnelly  wrote  his  last  letter  to  Rosati  from  Arkansas. 
It  brought  him  a  happy  message :  the  conversion  of  Frederick  Notre- 
bene  of  Arkansas  Post  and  of  Antoine  Barraque  of  New  Gascony. 
"They  were  the  champions  of  this  State  in  infidelity;  but  they  now 
seem  to  be  quite  the  reverse.     It  is  said  that  repentance  never  comes 


io  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

ii  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese 

i^  Barraque  to  Eosati,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

13  On  August  20,  1839,  Sister  Agnes  Hart,  the  superior  at  Pine  Bluff  died  there. 


488  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

too  ' lait, '  I  hope  and  pray  that  Almighty  God  may  'inable'  you  in 
'meaking'  a  good  selection  or  appointment  for  Little  Rock,  who  will 
'complait'  St.  Peter's  church  on  the  Rock."14 

On  May  21,  a  few  days  before  Father  Donnelly's  last  letter  was 
written,  Bishop  Rosati,  considering  the  feeble  health  of  the  young 
missionary  permitted  him  to  return  to  Ireland  and  on  the  same  day. 
appointed  Father  Joseph  Richard-Bole  pastor  of  the  Arkansas  mission, 
and  Father  August  Simon  Paris  his  assistant.  These  two  priests,  with 
Rev.  Francis  Joseph  Renaud,  had  arrived  in  St.  Louis  from  France, 
November  16,  1838;  all  three  had  been  parish  priests  in  the  diocese  of 
Besancon.15  As  soon  as  Richard-Bole  arrived  at  Pine  Bluff,  he  took 
an  inventory,  in  which  he  also  mentions  the  mission  at  Little  Rock. 

After  visiting  Little  Rock  he  describes  conditions:  "I  have  been  at 
Little  Rock,  last  week.  I  am  convinced  that  Mr.  Donnelly  has  spoiled 
everything  there  by  his  wild  promises,  which  he  could  not  realize  and 
which  are  difficult  to  carry  out.  He  had  received  505  dollars ;  he  bought 
a  plot  of  land  for  one  thousand  dollars  and  with  this  asset  he  wanted 
to  build  church,  school,  etc.  Wherewith?  With  the  money  he  expects 
from  Your  Lordship  and  with  the  collections  he  intended  to  take  up 
at  New  York,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  etc.  At  first,  when  we  came,  he 
was  glad  to  see  us.  But  when  we  spoke  to  him  of  his  promises,  im- 
possible to  realize  with  empty  wishes,  where  there  are  no  means  to 
accomplish  them,  he  changed  his  behavior.  I  told  him  that  great  things 
will  be  wrought  here,  because  man  in  them,  it  seems,  shall  be  nothing: 
God  will  do  it  all."16 

Father  Richard-Bole's  sarcastic  prophesy  was  fulfilled  in  a  manner 
that  could  hardly  be  anticipated.    Little  Rock  is  now  an  espiscopal  See. 

Both  Fathers  Joseph  Richard-Bole  and  Augustus  Simon  Paris  at- 
tended the  Diocesan  Synod  in  April  1839.  Father  Donnelly  was  not 
present.  From  the  Diocesan  Report  for  1839  it  appears  that  the  Church 
in  New  Gascony  was  dedicated  to  St.  Mary,  the  Mother  of  God,  and  that 
of  the  Post  of  Arkansas  to  St.  Denis.  Both  were  built  of  wood.  Father 
Richard-Bole  was  in  charge  of  St.  Mary's  and  Father  A.  S.  Paris  of 
St.  Denis.  Little  Rock  and  Napoleon  are  given  as  stations  without  a 
church. 

Father  Richard-Bole  sold  the  land  Father  Donnelly  had  bought 
for  church  purposes  in  Little  Rock  and  acquired  an  entire  square,  on 
an  elevation  which  dominates  the  whole  city.    The  cost  was  $2400.00. 

"I  have  also  furnished  a  plan  for  a  church,  55  by  35;  but  15ft.  will 
be  taken  off  for  a  sacristy  and  a  living  room  for*  the  priest.     If  I  stay 


14  The  spelling  is  Father  Donelly's. 

15  Eosati's  Diarj-. 

16  Letter  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Post  of  Arkansas,  New  Gascony  and  Littlt  Bock  4^(J 

here.  I  hope  to  raise  enough  money  for  the  foundation  and  for  the 
brick.  I  do  not  intend  to  go  further  at  present;  we  shall  see  "what 
can  be  done  later  on.  We  expect  Mr.  Timon,  and  we  shall  make  use  of 
his  presence  for  the  blessing  of  the  foundation,  for  I  shall  not  dare  to 
undertake  a  solemn  blessing  alone.  I  am  expecting  Mr.  Timon  or  your 
instructions  on  his  point.  If  anything  is  to  be  accomplished  at  Little 
Rock,  there  must  be  a  resident  priest  here.  One  for  the  Post,  one  for 
St.  Mary's;  both  shall  have  several  stations  and  more  work  than  they 
can  do.  How  I  would  wish  to  see  you  for  a  few  moments  about  these 
missions,  to  get  your  advice  and  your  instructions,  if  it  were  possible 
to  get  some  subscriptions  at  St.  Louis  for  Little  Rock!"17 

On  April  21,  1840,  Father  Richard-Bole  sent  his  last  letter  to  the 
Bishop  : 

"I  shall  leave  St.  Mary's  for  some  weeks  and  take  the  next  steam- 
boat to  Little  Rock  to  labor  there.  The  people  have  been  very  negligent, 
and  we  need  the  assistance  of  your  prayers.  I  shall  now  start  to  build 
the  church  of  which  I  wrote  to  you  in  my  proceeding  letter. 

I  hear  from  Mr.  Renaud  that  you  are  preparing  to  go  to  Rome. 
We  shall  pray  daily  that  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  may  accompany  you 
and  lead  you  back  safely  like  the  son  of  Tobias.  I  shall  not  have  the 
pleasure  of  receiving  your  benediction  before  you  start,  but  I  hope 
to  have  it  when  you  return.  You  will  visit  the  tombs  of  the  Apostles. 
You  know  what  this  mission  is ;  would  your  Lordship  ask  for  me  for 
some  of  that  apostolic  spirit,  needed  to  carry  on  the  work  of  God?18 

It  seems,  after  Rosati  was  gone,  Father  Richard-Bole  did  not  venture 
to  erect  a  church  at  Little  Rock.  There  was  certainly  not  even  the 
beginning  of  a  church  at  the  place,  when  Bishop  Byrne.  1844.  arrived 
there.  But  the  Lorettine  Sisters,  in  1841,  opened  a  school  at  Little 
Rock.     The  Superior  of  the  four  Sisters  was  Sister  Alodia  Vessels. 

When  it  became  known  that  a  diocese  had  been  erected  with  the 
episcopal  See  at  Little  Rock,  and  that  a  perfect  stranger.  Rev.  Andrew 
Byrne,  of  St.  Andrew's  Church.  New  York,  was  to  be  its  first  bishop. 
Father  Richard-Bole  left  Arkansas,  to  return  to  St.  Louis.  The  Lorettine 
Sisters,  were  compelled  by  poverty  to  give  up  their  schools,  both  at  the 
Post  and  at  Little  Rock ;  |  the  academy  at  Pine  Bluff  had  been  closed  in 
1842),  and  to  return  to  Ste.  (renevieve  and  to  Kentucky.  The  old 
French  and  Creole  regime  was  buried  forever.  All  the  St.  Louis 
priests  had  withdrawn,  but.  in  1845.  Bishop  Byrne,  with  the  Irish 
Fathers  John  Corry,  Peter  Walsh,  P.  Canavan,  John  Monaghan.  Thomas 
McKeone  and  others,  ushered  in  a  new  era  for  the  Church  of  Arkansas. 


17     Archives  of   St.   Louis   Archdiocese, 
is     Archives  of  St.  Louis   Arehdio 


Chapter  8 
THE  CHURCH  IN  CAPE  GIRARDEAU 


The  settlement  of  Cape  Girardeau  dates  from  1793 :  it  was  named 
in  memory  of  Ensign  Sieur  Giradot  who  from  1701  to  1720  was  sta- 
tioned with  the  French  troops  at  Kaskaskia,  and  after  the  withdrawal 
of  France  from  the  American  continent,  became  an  Indian  trader.  But 
the  real  founder  of  the  city  was  the  French  Canadian,  Louis  Lorimier, 
born  in  the  district  of  Montreal  in  the  year  1728.  Prior  to  his  com- 
ing to  Upper  Louisiana,  Lorimier  had  married  a  half-breed  Shawnee 
woman,  a  circumstance  that  greatly  endeared  him  to  the  Indians.  He 
was  a  man  of  considerable  ability,  but  of  little  education.  "In  1795," 
as  the  distinguished  Church-historian  Everhard  Pruente  tells  us,  "he 
presented  a  petition  to  the  governor-general,  Baron  Carondelet,  for  800 
arpents  of  land  at  Cape  Girardeau,  fronting  on  Cypress  Island,  Avhich 
was  granted.  At  about  this  time,  Spain  thought  it  advisable  to  populate 
Upper  Louisiana  as  a  barrier  to  the  English  in  Canada,  and  accord- 
ingly, offered  great  inducements  to  settlers,  especially  to  those  of  the 
United  States.  She  preferred  the  latter,  since  their  prejudices  against 
the  British,  which  were  strong  at  that  time,  rendered  their  attachment 
to  Spanish  interests  more  certain.  To  them  lands  were  given  gratui- 
tously, and  they  were  exempted  from  taxation.  The  extent  of  the  con- 
cession was  usually  regulated  by  the  wealth  and  importance  of  the 
settler,  the  size  of  his  family  and  his  ability  to  cultivate  the  land;  ex- 
cept for  special  services,  however,  it  did  not  often  exceed  800  arpents 
which  is  equally  to  about  680  acres."1 

"Under  these  inducements,  people  from  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
Kentucky,  and  other  States  came  to  Upper  Louisiana  in  large  numbers. 
Of  these  the  great  majority  located  in  Cape  Girardeau  District,  which 
soon  became  the  most  compactly  settled  section  in  the  whole  province. 
This  was  doubtless  due  to  the  fact  that  here  the  settlers  found  a 
country  most  similar  to  that  which  they  had  left,  and  no  prior  settle- 
ment of  the  French  prevented  their  securing  the  best  land.  This  was  in 
reality  the  first  purely  American  settlement  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
In  1799  the  population  of  the  district  numbered  416  whites  and  105 
slaves.  In  1803  a  second  census  was  taken,  which  showed  a  total  popula- 
tion of  1206  whites  and  180  slaves." 


1     Pruente,    Everhard,    "The    Beginnings    of    Catholicity    in    Cape    Girardeau, 
Missouri,"  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review, "  vol.  Ill,  pp.  50  and  51. 

(490) 


-~f-^/^^z  Jj^i u&^flJfi-  j> &<jZ,£> 


The  Church  in  Cape  Girardeau  491 

Don  Louis  Lorimier  was  appointed  Civil  and  Military  Commandant 
of  the  post  of  Cape  Girardeau  and  held  this  position  until  the  transfer 
of  the  government  to  the  United  States. 

For  a  long  time  the  members  of  the  Commandant's  family  were 
the  only  Catholics  in  the  entire  district.  The  town  was  incorporated 
in  1808,  the  County  in  1813. 

"Louis  Lorimier,"  as  Father  Pruente  states,  "lived  in  a  long  low 
frame  house,  which  he  built  three  or  four  years  before  the  town  was 
laid  out,  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by  St.  Vincent's  Academy.  His  son- 
in-law,  D.  F.  Steinbeck,  lived  on  the  corner,  now  occupied  by  the 
Sturdivant  Bank,  where  the  early  missionaries  were  want  to  stop  on 
their  way  to  New  Madrid  and  Arkansas.  Joseph  McFerron,  an  Irish- 
man by  birth  and  a  man  of  superior  education,  was  the  first  clerk  of  the 
courts  of  Cape  Girardeau  District.  The  town  continued  to  grow  and 
prosper  until  the  organization  of  Cape  Girardeau  County,  when  it  was 
dealt  a  severe  blow  by  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  justice  to  Jack- 
son. It  did  not  assume  a  position  of  much  importance  until  about  1835, 
when  the  great  increase  in  the  steamboat  business  on  the  Mississippi 
gave  it  a  decided  impetus.  Its  superior  location  soon  made  it  the 
metropolis  of  Southeast  Missouri  and  the  shipping  point  for  a  portion 
of  Arkansas  also."  Cape  Girardeau  became  a  noted  home  of  religion  and 
culture  through  the  missionary  labors  of  the  Lazarist  Fathers  established 
at  the  Barrens  in  Perry  County.  The  first  mention  of  religious  work 
done  in  Cape  Girardeau  is  found  in  a  letter  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to 
the  President  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary.  Father  Rosati.  November  24, 
1820,  directing  the  Superior  of  The  Barrens  to  send  a  priest  to  New 
Madrid  three  or  four  times  a  year.  Here  is  what  he  suggested  could 
be  done  at  Cape  Girardeau  : 

"He  may  go  first  to  Cape  Girardeau,  and  stop  at  Mr.  Steinbach's 
whose  family  are  Catholic ;  there  he  will  celebrate,  Mass  for  the  little 
number  of  Catholics  of  that  district.  I  believe  that  at  Cape  Girardeau, 
too,  they  will  contribute  to  defraying  the  expense  of  the  Priest."2 

Father  Cellini  was  appointed  to  the  mission  in  New  Madrid,  and, 
no  doubt,  he  stopped  at  Cape  Girardeau,  on  his  way  to  and  fro.  It  is 
probable  that  Father  Odin  and  the  deacon  John  Timon  also  visited 
Cape  Girardeau  in  September  1824,  although  only  the  neighboring 
town  of  Jackson  is  mentioned  in  their  account  of  the  journey.  Father 
Saulnier  was  at  the  Cape  in  December  1831,  but  as  he  states,  he  found 
no  Catholics  there. 

The  real  beginning  of  Catholicity  must  be  traced  to  a  remarkable 
event  in  the  life  of  the  future  Bishop  of  Buffalo,  John  Timon,  then  a 


2     Du  Bourg  to  Rosati,  November  24,  1820,  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


492  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

professor  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  which  shows  at  once  the  denseness 
of  bigotry  of  the  population,  and  the  conquering  power  of  Divine 
Providence. 

Bishop  Timon,  in  his  "Diary  of  our  Starting  the  Barrens,"  narrates 
the  incident.  "In  the  spring  of  1828,  Mr.  Timon  was  called  to  Jackson, 
Cape  Girardeau  Co.,  about  thirty  miles  from  the  Seminary,  to  see  a 
murderer,  who  was  under  sentence  of  death,  but  who  refused  to  receive 
any  clergyman.  The  priest  started  immediately,  arrived  at  night-fall, 
sought  admission  to  the  prison ;  but  on  various  pretexts  admission  was 
refused  until  the  Baptist  minister,  Mr.  Green,  editor  of  the  village  news- 
paper and  all-powerful  there,  was  ready,  with  a  band  of  anti-catholic 
bigots,  to  enter  into  the  prison  with  the  priest.  Mr.  Timon,  appealed 
to  the  jailer  for  the  privilege  of  speaking  alone  and  in  private  to  the 
condemned  man  on  affairs  of  his  own  conscience.  It  was  refused.  The 
culprit  lay  on  straw  strewn  over  the  clay  floor  in  the  dungeon,  chained 
to  a  fastened  post.  Finding  that  he  would  only  be  allowed  to  speak 
in  the  presence  of  the  hostile  crowd,  the  priest  lay  down  on  the  straw  with 
the  prisoner,  and  began  in  a  clear  and  loud  tone  which  all  might  hear, 
to  expound  to  the  poor  man  the  truths  of  religion — the  Holy  Trinity, 
the  Incarnation,  future  rewards  and  punishments,  the  Redemption  and 
the  Sacraments.  The  culprit  who,  up  to  that  moment,  had  laughed 
at  all  religious  teaching,  seemed  deeply  affected;  tears  flowed  from  his 
eyes;  and  the  priest,  judging  the  first  lesson  to  be  sufficiently  long, 
fatigued,  too,  by  the  journey  over  a  rough  road,  without  eating  from 
early  morning  till  nine  at  night,  told  the  prisoner  that  he  would  end 
the  instruction  by  reciting  with  him  the  Apostles'  Creed.  The  con- 
demned man  said  the  Creed  aloud  with  the  priest,  until  both  had 
recited  the  words,  'And  in  Jesus  Christ  His  only  Son  our  Lord.' 
Green,  the  Baptist  minister,  then  rushed  in  and  said:  'Do  not  deceive 
that  poor  man:  do  not  make  him  lose  his  soul  by  teaching  him  the 
commandments  of  men.'  'Mr.  Green'  said  the  priest,  'I  am  teaching 
him  the  Apostles'  Creed.  Do  not  you  also  hold  the  venerated  Creed?' 
'Oh!'  he  replied,  'but  your  Church  is  that  idolatrous  one  that  worships 
images  and  that  gives  to  Mary  the  homage  due  only  to  God ! '  The  priest 
replied:  'Mr.  Green,  not  long  since  I  preached  in  the  Court  House  of 
this  village  on  the  very  subject  you  now  touch.  I  proved  the  charges 
against  the  ancient  Church  to  be  foul  calumnies.  You  were  present. 
I  then  called  upon  anyone,  who  could  deny  the  truths  which  I  announced 
to  come  forward  and  show  if  there  were  any  flaw  in  the  evidence  which 
I  brought  to  prove  that  Catholics  had  been  cruelly  and  most  unjustly 
calumniated.  You  were  silent.  Surely  that  was  your  time,  not  this, 
when  I  am  preparing  an  unhappy  man  who  has  sent  for  me  to  aid 
him  in  meeting  a  death  so  certain  and  so  near.'     The  minister,  after 


The  Church  in  Cape  Girardeau  49:5 

some  vague  and  insulting  charges  challenged  the  priest  to  meet  him  in  the 
Court  House  next  day  and  to  discuss  before  the  public  the  merits  of 
their  respective  religions.  The  priest  accepted  the  challenge.  The 
minister  immediately  claimed  the  privilege  of  saying  night  prayers, 
knelt  with  his  myrmidons,  and  made  a  long  extemporaneous  prayer, 
in  which,  among  the  insulting  things,  he  prayed  thus:  'And,  0  God  of 
mercy,  save  this  poor  man  from  the  fangs  of  Anti-Christ,  who  now  seeks 
to  teach  him  idolatry  and  the  vain  traditions  of  men.'  When  he  had 
finished,  the  priest,  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  cried  to  the  crowd  that  then 
filled  the  dungeon :  '  Gentlemen,  is  it  right  that  in  a  prayer  to  the  God 
of  Charity,  and  of  truth  this  gentlemen  should  introduce  calumny 
against  the  majority  of  Christians?'  A  deep  silence  proved  that  all 
felt  the  appeal.  It  was  late  at  night :  the  Sheriff  required  all  to  leave 
the  dungeon.  On  quitting  it  the  preacher  renewed  his  challenge,  and 
it  was  arranged  that  meeting  should  take  place  in  the  Court  House. '  '3 

By  arrangement  a  religious  discussion  was  held  the  following  day 
at  the  Court  House  of  Jackson,  in  which  Father  Timon  completely 
routed  his  antagonist  and,  by  invitation  of  the  audience,  held  a  dis- 
course on  the  Faith  of  Catholics  to  their  entire  satisfaction.  The  con- 
version of  Ralph  Dougherty  and  his  children  followed  on  September 
28.  Through  the  violent  prejudice  of  his  wife,  the  children  were  kid- 
napped by  her  father,  whereupon  Mr.  Dougherty,  in  attempting  their 
recovery,  was  confined  in  the  jail  at  Jackson,  in  company  with  a  man 
who  was  sentenced  to  death  for  murder.  Having  comforted  his  f rk  nd 
Ralph  Dougherty,  Father  Timon  turned  his  attention  to  the  unfortunate 
man  who  was  to  be  executed  the  next  day.  This  poor  fellow  had  come 
to  the  sad  conclusion  to  die  drunk.  Father  Timon  commenced  to  talk 
to  the  prisoner,  but  found  him  so  much  under*  the  influence  of  liquor 
that  all  advice  was  lost  on  him.  He  was  not  capable  of  being  instructed. 
Father  Timon  had  all  the  liquor  removed  from  the  jail  and  requested 
the  jailer  not  to  let  any  more  enter  the  jail  that  night.  The  next  morn- 
ing before  day,  Father  Timon  sent  to  the  sheriff  and  obtained  the  keys  of 
the  jail,  and  entered  the  prison  before  any  liquor  could  be  brought  to 
the  culprit.  This  poor  man  now  listened  attentively  to  the  instructions 
given  by  the  holy  priest.  He  was  greatly  moved.  The  light  of  hope 
and  confidence  in  the  mercy  of  God  entered  his  soul.  He  professed 
his  belief  in  Jesus  Christ,  was  filled  with  sorrow  for  his  past  errors, 
shed  an  abundance  of  tears.  Fr.  Timon  continued  with  the  poor  man 
and  baptized  him  about  an  hour  before  he  was  led  to  execution.  Oh ! 
the  mercy  of  God  to  come  to  the  help  of  this  poor  man  in  his 
very  last  hour ! 


3     Timon 's  Diary,  quoted  op.  cit.,  pp.  57  and  58. 


494  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Father  Timon  obtained  Mr.  Dougherty's  release  from  prison. 
He  soon  after  received  the  elder  Dougherty  and  the  family  of 
Jermiah  Able,  and  Paul  A'.  Sanford  into  the  Catholic  Church.  These 
conversions  roused  the  persecuting  spirit  of  the  protestants  to  fever- 
heat.  Mr.  Dougherty  being  in  danger  of  losing  all  his  property  through 
law-suits,  sold  his  lands  in  Cape  Girardeau  and  vicinity,  for  a  con- 
sideration of  thirty  two  hundred  dollars.  "It  is  the  most  beautiful 
property  in  the  County"  wrote  Father  Timon.  "The  Seminary  with 
its  noble  and  spacious  grounds  and  the  beautiful  Church  of  St.  Vincent 
stand  on  part  of  it."  Ralph  Dougherty's  father  died  of  the  cholera  on 
June  24,  1833,  after  having  received  the  last  sacraments  at  the  hands 
of  Father  Timon.  Mrs.  Dougherty,  his  wife,  became  a  Catholic  and 
made  her  first  confession  with  great  compunction  and  to  the  great  edifi- 
cation of  all  present.  Father  Timon  arranged  everything  for  the  decent 
interment  of  Mr.  Dougherty,  and  on  his  return  to  Jackson  visited  and 
consoled  many  cholera  patients.  Near  Jackson,  Father  Timon  admin- 
istered the  sacraments  to  Mrs.  Green,  who,  to  the  great  surprise  of 
all,  recovered.  The  daughter  of  Mrs.  Green,  though  yet  a  Protestant, 
declared  to  the  neighbors  that  she  had  been  cured  by  the  Sacrament 
of  Extreme  Unction.  She  declared  that  as  soon  as  Father  Timon  finish- 
ed the  prayers,  her  mother  had  no  more  pain  and  recovered  in  a  few 
hours  her  usual  health.  On  the  6th  of  July,  1833,  Father  Timon  said 
Mass  in  the  home  of  Samuel  Morion  in  Cape  Girardeau,  very  few  Cath- 
olics being  present.  On  July  7th,  he  turned  an  old  frame  warehouse, 
the  former  residence  of  the  Spanish  Commandant,  into  a  chapel,  and 
held  the  first  public  l'eligious  service.  Many  Protestants  attended  witli 
the  few  Catholics  of  the  town.  But  the  Congregation  was  growing  apace, 
through  conversion  to  the  Faith  and  accessions  from  abroad.  "At  first, 
once  in  three  months,  then  once  a  month,  Father  Timon  rode  down  from 
the  Barrens,  said  Mass,  preached  and  catechized,  with  very  happy 
results  in  dissipating  the  prejudice  of  the  people."4 

In  October  1835,  Father  Tornatore  and  Father  Timon  came  to 
Cape  Girardeau  unannounced,  but  immediately  after  their  arrival  came 
a  call  to  visit  some  sick  lady,  a  Protestant,  who  wished  to  be  received 
into  the  Church.  She  had  heard  voices  saying  almost  continually:  "If 
you  want  to  be  saved  you  must  become  a  Catholic."  Her  relations 
would  not  consent  to  get  a  priest  from  the  Barrens:  but,  hearing  of 
the  priest's  arrival  in  Cape  Girardeau,  they  gratified  her  wish.  Father 
Timon  came  at  once  and  finding  the  room  filled  with  the  children  and 
relations  of  the  sick  woman,  explained  the  main  doctrines  of  Faith  to 


4  Gleaned  from  a  MS.  account  in  Archives  of  St.  Vincent's  College,  written  in 
1861,  entitled  "God  is  Wonderful  in  All  His  Works."  Dean  Pruente  published  a. 
large  part  of  it  in  his  article  already  quoted. 


The  Church  in  Cape  Girardeau  49.") 

all,  and  then  administered  conditional  Baptism  to  her.  She  lingered 
on  another  day,  full  of  joy  and  peace.  Her  name  was  Esther  Bradley. 
In  the  sequel  all  those  that  were  present  on  this  occasion  were  received 
into  the  Church.5 

On  April  9th,  1836,  Cape  Girardeau  received  its  first  resident 
priest  in  the  person  of  John  M.  Odin,  who  was,  in  the  course  of  time,  to 
become  Archbishop  of  New  Orleans.  He  was  accompanied  by  J.  B. 
Robert,  a  postulant,  and  a  negro  family.  Under  the  charitable  and 
zealous  administration  of  Father  Odin  the  Congregation  began  to  assume 
distinct  form  at  the  Cape.  The  Protestants  were  impressed  with  love  and 
respect  for  the  holy  priest.  The  name  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  was 
given  to  the  new  and  rising  congregation.  When  Father  Odin  arrived 
at  the  Cape,  the  inhabitants  generally  manifested  great  satisfaction  on 
seeing  a  priest  stationed  among  them.  The  number  of  Catholics  was 
but  small.  The  families  then  known  as  belonging  to  the  Church  were 
those  of  Nicholas  B.  Miles,  nine  persons  in  number ;  Mrs.  Nathan  and 
her  son-in-law,  eight  persons;  Mr.  Marto  and  two  children  (all  the  above 
recent  immigrants  from  Maryland)  ;  Bernard  Layton  and  family,  five 
in  number,  lately  from  Perry  county ;  John  Mattingly  and  family,  four 
in  number,  lately  from  Kentucky ;  Miles  Doyle,  an  old  resident  of  this 
place,  who  left  Ireland  when  young;  John  Roach,  Avho  had  to  fly 
from  Ireland,  being  a  United  Irishman.  (This  man's  brother,  a  priest, 
was  shot  by  the  Orangemen ;  John  was  kneeling  on  his  coffin  to  be  shot 
when  his  reprieve  came  from  the  King;)  Mrs.  Hannah  Smith,  eleven  in 
the  family,  from  Maryland ;  Jeremiah  Able  and  his  mother-in-law,  con- 
verts, six  in  number  at  Jackson ;  Mrs.  Sanf  ord  and  three  children ;  two 
daughters  of  Nathan  Vanhorn,  who  were  converted  and  baptized  at 
Bethlehem  Convent  whilst  at  school  there ;  the  widows  Atwell  and  Green; 
John  Corvelle,  nineteen  in  the  family,  which  makes  altogether  eighty-seven 
Catholics  at  the  Cape  and  environs,  consisting  of  adults,  children  and 
servants.  Every  Sunday  the  small  frame  chapel  was  crowded  and  fre- 
quently on  high  feasts  it  could  not  contain  all  that  came  from 
a  great  distance.  Those  of  different  denominations  composed  the  greater 
number  of  the  audience.  They  expressed  a  desire  to  hear  the  word 
of  God  explained  by  the  priest.  Prejudice,  so  deeply  rooted  in  this  place, 
seemed  to  die  away  gradually  and  even  the  most  strict  among  the 
various  sects  declared  publicly,  that  it  would  be  useless  for  them  to 
erect  a  meeting  house,  as  the  Catholics  would  soon  draw  all  the  population 
to  their  church. 

The  catechism  was  regularly  taught  every  day,  even  when  only  a  few 
children  presented  themselves.    On  Sundays  the  catechism  class  was  held, 


'God  is  Wonderful,"  MS.,  1.  cit.,  p.  62. 


496  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Loins 

once  for  the  white  children,  and  a  second  time  for  colored  persons  who 
manifested  a  desire  to  be  instructed,  many  of  whom  became  good  Cath- 
olics. Father  Odin  visited  occasionally  the  few  families  scattered  about 
the  country,  at  -Jackson,  .Moses  Byrne's  across  the  big  swamp  and  Golden 's 
at  Commerce,  etc.  The  family  of  Moses  Byrne  have  all  fallen  away 
from  their  religion.  There  were  about  twenty  persons  belonging  to 
Protestant  families  baptized  by  Father  Odin,  and  many  others  were 
preparing  when  he  was  recalled  to  the  Seminary  on  November  3,  1836. 
A  few  months  before  his  departure,  a  few  more  Catholic  families  came  to 
reside  at  the  Cape,  viz.,  Mr.  John  Doyle  whose  wife  was  not  a  Catholic, 
Thos.  B.  English,  George  Boarman  and  some  few  others.6 

Father  Odin  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  John  Bouillier  and  Rev. 
John  Rossi.  Brother  Daniel  Harrington  accompanied  them  to  take 
charge  of  the  farm.  John  Hutcheson  and  family,  together  with 
some  work-hands  for  the  farm  arrived  the  same  day  that  Father  Odin 
left  Cape  Girardeau.  The  number  of  Catholics  began  to  increase.  Rev. 
John  Bouillier  repaired  the  house  and  garden  in  a  very  neat  manner. 
He  conciliated  to  himself  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city  and  vicinity.  He  had  just  begun  to  make  preparations  for 
the  erection  of  a  new  Church  when  he  was  called  to  the  Seminary  at 
the  Barrens. 

During  this  year  1837  Cape  Girardeau  was  visited  from  time  to 
time  by  Father  Timon  as  formerly.  It  was  on  one  of  these  occasions  that 
Mrs.  Sarah  Watson,  wife  of  Wm.  Watson,  in  consequence  of  what  she 
had  seen  and  heard  at  the  death  of  her  mother,  applied  to  Father 
Timon,  to  be  received  into  the  Catholic  Church.  Her  request  was  grant- 
ed; she  was  instructed  and  baptized  by  Father  Timon  that  same  day, 
and  subsequently  made  her  first  Communion.  She  had  always  persevered 
and  remained  a  fervent  Catholic.  The  members  of  her  family  were  of 
extraordinary  assistance  to  the  missionaries,  as  they  always  took  care 
of  the  chapel,  and  also  of  the  priests,  whenever  they  happened  to  become 
ill.7 

On  March  17,  1838,  Rev.  John  Brands  was  sent  to  the  Cape  to 
replace  Rev.  John  Bouillier.  The  number  of  adults,  viz.,  those  who  had 
made  their  first  Communion,  was,  at  Cape  Girardeaii  and  vicinity,  forty- 
three  ;  of  those  who  had  not  made  their  first  Communion  about  the  same : 
in  all  about  eighty-six  persons.  On  April  2nd,  1838,  Mary,  the  wife  of 
Mr.  John  Doyle  was  baptized,  sub  conditione,  and  on  the  same  day, 
Easter  Sunday,  she  made  her  first  Communion.  April  29th,  1838,  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  gave  confirmation  at  the 
Cape    to    ten   persons,    among    whom    were    three    converts,    viz.,    Mrs. 

e     "God  is  Wonderful,"  1.  (it.,  p.  (35. 
i     Ibidem,  pp.  66  and  67. 


The  Church  in  Cape  Girardeau  497 

Doyle,  Mrs.  Wm.  Watson  and  Mrs.  Geraghty.  This  was  the  first  time 
that  Confirmation  was  administered  at  the  Cape.  April  30th,  1838,  Bishop 
Rosati  laid  and  blessed  the  cornerstone  of  the  new  church,  assisted 
by  the  Very  Rev.  John  Timon,  the  Revs.  Brands  and  Rossi.  A  very 
numerous  assemblage  of  people  of  all  denominations  were  in  attendance 
and  behaved  with  great  respect  and  attention.  The  Bishop  preached  a 
long  sermon,  in  which  he  explained  the  meaning  of  the  ceremonies  used 
at  the  blessing  and  laying  of  the  cornerstone.  Mr.  Andrew  Gibony,  not 
a  Catholic,  gave  the  width  of  twenty  feet  of  the  two  lots  adjoining  the 
parish  property,  for  the  purpose  of  building  the  church  thereon.  On  the 
same  day  the  Bishop  baptized  the  wife  of  Miles  Doyle  and  validated 
their  marriage.  May  1st  Rev.  J.  Rossi  left  the  Cape,  and  a  short  time 
after  the  Rev.  John  Alabau  was  sent  as  companion  to  Father  Brands,  but 
remained  only  until  the  feast  of  St.  Vincent,  July  19,  1838. 

On  May  29th,  1838,  Rev.  J.  Brands  crossed  the  big  swamp  to  bury 
Moses  Byrne.  He  found  a  large  number  of  people  who  had  gathered 
there  for  the  occasion.  Before  going  to  the  burying  ground,  Father 
Brands  explained  the  meaning  of  the  ceremonies  performed  at  the  funer- 
al and  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory  and  prayers  for  the  dead,  and  after 
having  returned  to  the  house,  he  gave  an  explanation  of  the  principal 
points  of  the  Catholic  doctrine.  This  lasted  about  two  hours.  All 
were  attentive  and  pleased.  He  then  baptized  the  youngest  son  of  Mr. 
Byrne  and  two  of  his  grandchildren.  The  people  of  this  neighbor- 
hood were  opposed  to  the  Protestants,  and  particularly  displeased  with 
the  Methodist  preachers,  who  had  been  among  them,  and  being  well 
pleased  with  what  they  had  heard  of  the  Catholic  religion  (this  was 
the  first  time  they  had  ever  heard  a  Catholic  priest),  they  requested  Rev. 
Brands  to  return  among  them  and  preach.  To  this  he  agreed  and 
promised  to  visit  them  from  time  to  time.8 

Thus  the  seed  of  God's  word  was  springing  up  and  bearing  rich 
fruit  on  all  sides :  Cape  Girardeau  had  become  a  parish  of  importance. 
On  October  22nd,  1838,  the  day  school,  called  St.  Vincents  Male  Academy 
was  opened  under  Mr.  M.  Flinn  as  its  teacher.  The  attendance 
was  not  large  at  first,  but  there  was  a  distinct  promise  of  healthy 
growth. 

On  October  23rd,  1838,  The  Sisters  of  Loretto  from  Bethlehem 
Convent,  Perry  County,  arrived  at  Cape  Girardeau,  seven  in  number,  with 
six  boarders  whom  they  brought  with  them.  The  Sisters  were  lodged 
in  the  priests'  house,  where  they  remained  until  July  of  the  next  year. 
whilst  the  priests  occupied  the  small  house  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
street.  In  July  the  Sisters  removed  to  the  house  purchased  for  them 
from  M.  J.  Doyle.    They  commenced  their  school  in  the  new  house  with 


"God  is  Wonderful,"  1.  'it.,  pp.  (>7  and  68. 


498  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

as  little  human  prospect  as  the  Fathers  had  commenced  their  school 
for  boys.  Many  of  the  citizens  were  still  very  much  prejudiced 
against  them.  John  McLane,  a  Presbyterian  preacher,  did  all  in  his  power 
to  oppose  their  school,  and  for  this  purpose  he  opened  a  school  for  boys 
and  girls.  However,  his  preaching  and  teaching  so  much  displeased 
the  people,  that  he  lost  all  popularity  and  had,  after  some  time,  to 
give  up  his  school  and  pulpit.  Both  our  schools  increased  gradually  and 
were  the  cause  of  great  good  in  the  way  of  removing  prejudice.9 

Cape  Girardeau  now  had  two  outlying  missions,  Jackson,  the  County 
Seat,  and  Tywappity  Bottom  in  Scott  County.  At  Jackson  Mass  was 
said  once  a  month,  the  number  of  first  Communions  in  1838  was  eighteen 
in  a  total  of  thirty-two.  In  Tywappity  there  were  twenty-seven.  The 
number  of  adults  in  the  Congregation  of  Cape  Girardeau  in  1839 
was  fifty-eigbt. 

On  the  30th  of  April  1838,  Bishop  Rosati  had  blessed  the  first  stone 
of  the  new  Church  of  St.  Vincent  in  Cape  Girardeau,  and  July  21,  1839 
he  had  the  happiness  of  consecrating  the  completed  edifice.  "It  is  a 
fine  stone  building  with  cut  stone  front  and  neat  steeple.  There  were 
as  yet  no  pews  and  only  a  few  benches.  There  were  more  than  five 
hundred  persons  assembled  from  every  direction  and  of  all  denomina- 
tions. Whilst  the  ceremonies  were  performed  within  closed  doors,  the 
Very  Rev.  John  Timon  addressed  the  large  assemblage  in  the  open  air 
on  the,  meaning  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  consecration  and  dedication  of 
the  church,  then  proceeding  in  the  interior  of  the  church.  He  also 
preached  an  appropriate  sermon  during  the  Mass  in  his  own  happy 
and  eloquent  manner.  A  handsome  collection  was  then  taken  up,  which 
would  have  been  much  larger,  had  it  been  previously  announced.  Solemn 
Vespers  were  sung  in  the  evening  and  Benediction  was  given  with 
the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Here  again  the  Very  Rev.  Timon  preached. 
On  September  15th,  1839,  Rev.  J.  Brands,  by  permission  of  the  Visitor, 
J.  Timon,  blessed  the  chapel  of  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  and  the  grave-yard 
attached  to  it,  in  Tywappity  Bottom,  about  two  hundred  persons  being 
present.10 

Thus  within  the  brief  period  of  ten  years  the  wilderness  of  Cape 
Girardeau  County  was  changed  into  a  flourishing  garden  of  God,  still 
infested  with  noxious  weeds,  but  everywhere  embellished  Avith  the 
flowers  of  Catholic  life.  The  three  Congregations  have  prospered  unto 
the  present  day,  Jackson,  Tywappity  Bottom,  now  St.  Henry's  of 
Charleston,  and  St.  Vincents  of  Cape  Girardeau  with  its  German  off- 
spring, St.  Mary's.  Truly  the  hand  of  God  is  visible  in  this  work,  that 
promised  so  little  and  rendered  so  very  much. 


a     "God  is  Wonderful,"  1.  eit.,  p.  69. 
o     Ibidem,  p.  71. 


Chapter  9 
THE  DAWN  OF  A  NEW  ERA 


On  December  31st,  1824,  Bishop  Rosati  sent  Father  Saulnier  the 
communication  that  he  had  appointed  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  the 
Superior  of  the  Jesuits,  as  his  Vicar-General.  Father  Saulnier  was 
grieved  and  disappointed,  and  wrote  some  arrogant  letters  to  Bishop 
Rosati,  for  which  he  had  to  apologize ;  yet  his  request,  that  he  receive  the 
"major  faculties"  which  included  the  power  of  dispensing  from  certain 
inpediments,  was  granted. 

On  April  25th,  Father  Saulnier  asked  for  a  priest  who  might  be 
sent  to  the  English  settlement  at  James  (Prairie  du  Long,  111.)  and  to 
O'Hara's  (now  Rtuna,  111.)  Saulnier  was  actually  alone  in  St.  Louis, 
the  priests  at  the  college  were  gone,  and  the  college  itself  had  sunk 
into  utter  insignificance.  He  feared  that  it  would  have  to  be  closed. 
"The  president,  Mr.  Brun,"  he  writes  "is  a  pious  man,  but  otherwise 
amounts  to  nothing.  Mr.  Shepard  is  a  Protestant,  and  the  revenues 
are  not  sufficient  to  pay  the  meagre  salaries :  200  and  400  dollars. ' ' 
He  wants  Rosati  to  send  him  Father  De  Neckere  for  the  College  and 
for  the  parish,  especially  for  the  English  sermons. 

As  Father  De  Neckere  was  needed  elsewhere,  the  Bishop  sent  him 
Father  Audizio,  an  Italian  who  knew  little  French  and  less  English.  At 
last  the  ardently  desired  Fleming  De  Neckere  arrived,  in  May  l*l'!>. 
Father  De  Neckere  was  an  ideal  priest,  filled  with  the  spirit  of  his  holy 
mission.  He  spoke  French  and  English  with  equal  facility  and  correct- 
ness. Besides  he  had  the  rare  gift  of  true  apostolic  eloquence.  The 
people  were  delighted.  His  English  sermons  attracted  great  crowds. 
The  Irish  Catholics  rejoiced,  as  the  change  seemed  to  augur  their 
victory  in  the  socalled  language  question  in  the  Cathedral.  St.  Louis 
Avas  originally  a  French  City,  and  even  under  the  Spanish  regime  the 
French  language  remained  predominant.  When"  the  City  came  under 
American  control,  the  English  language  began  to  supersede  the  French 
in  public  life,  but  received  no  recognition  in  the  Church  until  the 
arrival  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg. 

AVhilst  Bishop  Du  Bourg  resided  at  St.  Louis  the  sermon  at  High 
Mass  was  always  preached  in  French.  But  because  a  considerable 
number  of  Irish  Catholics  had  made  the  city  their  home,  men  who  were 
good  Catholics  and  liberal  to  the  Church.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  made  the 
new  rule,  that  every  Sunday,  after  Vespers,  a  sermon  should  be  preached 
in  English.    This  appears  from  a  letter  of  Rosati:   "On  every  Sunday  at 

(499) 


500  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

morning  services  we  preach  in  French,  and  in  the  afternoon  at  Vespers 
in  English." 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  wrote  and  spoke  English  well.  The  English 
of  De  Andreis  shows  that  he  thought  in  Italian.  Also  Father  Niel, 
after  the  demise  of  De  Andreis  pro-rector  of  the  Cathedral  and  Presi- 
dent of  St.  Louis  Academy,  was  able  to  preach  the  English  sermon, 
but  he  seemed  to  have  discontinued  the  pratice.  In  1823,  therefore, 
when  he  made  an  attempt  at  regulating  the  financial  affairs  of  the 
congregation,  the  Irish  Catholics  "were  led  to  believe  that  there  would 
be  an  English  sermon  every  second  Sunday  at  High  Mass."  But  if 
any  such  promise  was  ever  made  by  Father  Niel,  it  was  never  realized. 
It  was  difficult  for  the  French  clergy  of  those  days  to  leave  the  estab- 
lished groove.  The  expectations  of  the  Irish  Catholics  were  not  complied 
with. 

Father  Edmond  Saulnier  who  was  appointed  prorector  of  the 
Cathedral,  was  notoriously  a  poor  speaker,  hardly  able  to  preach  in 
French,  still  less  in  English.  Naturally,  the  Irish  Catholics  became 
impatient  of  being  treated  as  stepchildren,  whilst  they  were  the  main 
contributors  to  the  support  of  the  church.  It  was  their  right  to 
have  the  word  of  God  announced  to  them  in  the  language  they  could 
understand.  Their  petition  to  the  Bishop  to  make  permanent  Father 
De  Neckere's  appointment  to  the  pulpit  of  St.  Louis  Cathedral  and 
to  order  him  to  preach  an  English  sermon  twice  a  month,  at  the  time 
of  the  Highmass,  made  an  impression,  though  it  did  not  meet  with 
immediate  success.  Bishop  Rosati  sent  his  answer  to  the  Trustees  of 
the  church  of  St.  Louis  on  September  1st,  1826:  "As  God  is  no 
respector  of  persons,  so  those  of  his  ministers  whom  he  has  appointed 
the  pastors  of  his  flock,  make  no  distinction  between  the  souls  entrusted 
to  their  care.  French  and  Americans,  Creole  and  Irish,  are  equally 
dear  to  us,  because  we  think  them  equally  entitled  to  the 
spiritual  assistance  which  is  in  our  power  to  afford  them.  But 
imperious  necessity  often  renders  ineffectual  our  most  ardent  desires 
and  reduces  us  to  the  painful  impossibility  of  doing  what  we  would 
think  our  happiness  to  do.  The  parish  of  St.  Louis  has  hitherto  had 
a  greater  share  in  the  solicitude  of  her  pastors  than  any  in  the  diocese ; 
and  if  those  amongst  the  parishioners  who  speak  the  English  language 
have  been  often  deprived  of  instructions  from  the  pulpit,  it  has  not 
been  the  effect  of  neglect  or  disregard  on  our  side.  We  have  been  more 
deeply  affected  than  any  other  by  the  consideration  of  the  sad  results 
that  are  to  be  expected  from  this  inconvenience.  But  we  cannot  give 
what  is  out  of  our  power  and.  in  such  circumstances,  the  only  remedy 
which  we  can  find  for  our  evils  is  to  have  recourse  to  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  and  beseech  him  to  send  evangelical  workmen  into  his  harvest. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Era  501 

In  the  meantime  we  think  it  our  duty  to  exert  ourselves  in  order  to  raise 
a  national  clergy,  who  knowing  the  language  spoken  in  the  country, 
may  be  able  to  assist  all  their  countrymen. ' n 

The  practice  of  preaching  the  English  sermon,  not  at  Highmass, 
but  after  Vespers,  was  continued.  Then,  as  Father  De  Neckere's  health 
was  declining,  Bishop  Rosati  gave  him  permission  to  go  to  Europe. 
The  people  were  surprised  and  indignant.  Father  Saulnier  had  to 
bear  the  blame  for  the  loss  of  Father  De  Neckere.  "What  is  to  become 
of  the  Catholics  of  poor  St.  Louis?"  he  exclaimed  in  a  letter  to  Bishop 
Rosati,  "If  you  could  do  without  Mr.  Timon,  he  could  attract  crowds 
to  the  Church.  You  can  hardly  conceive  how  glad  the  Protestant 
ministers  are  since  Mr.  De  Neckere  is  gone.  Whilst  he  was  here 
they  complained  that  their  church  was  deserted."2 

In  November  and  December  of  the  same  year,  the  Irish  Catholics 
of  St.  Louis  enjoyed  a  pleasant  surprise ;  Father  Timon,  C.  M.,  the  son 
of  one  of  their  citizens,  preached  the  jubilee  in  English.  But  after  that, 
for  eighteen  months,  Father  Saulnier  had  to  supply  the  English  ser- 
mons. He  even  went  beyond  the  episcopal  instructions,  and  to  satisfy 
both  parties,  gave  two  short  sermons,  one  in  French,  and  the  other  in 
English,  at  every  High  Mass.  On  February  28,  1828,  he  wrote  to 
the  Bishop  on  this  subject : 

' '  If  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  would  have  you  among  them  and 
if  you  had  a  priest  for  the  American  Catholics  who  could  preach  to 
them  in  English,  things  would  turn  out  better  in  the  Church  in  regard 
to  religion  as  well  as  to  those  continual  financial  troubles. '  '3 

On  June  29,  1828,  Father  Regis  Loisel  was  ordained  priest  at  the 
Cathedral,  and  immediately  became  Father  Saulnier 's  assistant.  He 
was  the  first  native  of  St.  Louis  to  attain  the  priesthood.  He  spoke 
French  and  English  very  well.  Father  Loisel  was  instructed  to  preach 
the  English  sermon  every  Sunday  at  9  o'clock.  Father  Saulnier 
complained  to  the  Bishop,  that  nine  o'clock  was  too  early  for  the  English 
sermon,  and  hinted  that  the  English  sermon  should  be  preached  twice 
a  month  at  the  Highmass,  thus  alternating  with  the  French  sermon.  But 
the  Bishop  clung  to  the  old  practice.  He  would  not  permit  Father 
Saulnier  to  preach  in  English  during  High  Mass ;  on  August  17,  1828, 
he  instructed  him:  "Preach  in  English  at  Vespers  or  even  after  High 
Mass." 

Father  Loisel,  like  Father  Saulnier,  was  no  orator;  and  the  sermon 
of  that  day  in  the  style  of  Bourdaloue  required  an  orator.  Besides 
the    state    of    his    health    was    precarious.     Consequently,    the    English 


1  Original  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis   Archdiocese. 

2  Saulnier  Letter  of  September  12,  1826,  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

3  Saulnier  to  Kosati,  February  28,  1828,  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese 


502  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

sermon  at  the  Cathedral  was  omitted,  because  there  was  no  one  to 
preach  it. 

In  December,  1831,  Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  having  returned 
from  his  Indian  Missionary  ventures,  became  Father  Saulnier's  successor 
at  the  Cathedral. 

The  new  pastor  knew  English  fairly  well,  although  he  was  only 
five  years  in  this  country.  In  his  missionary  trips  to  Kansas,  Illinois, 
and  the  Northwest  Territory  he  had  been  thrown  together  with  Indian 
agents  and  other  English  speaking  men  and  had  acquired  some  facility 
in  using  the  English  idiom. 

Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  Father  Lutz,  after  a  retreat  made  by 
Bishop  Rosati  in  the  Bishop's  house,  with  Fathers  Rondot,  Lutz,  Con- 
damine,  and  Roux,  a  new  ride  was  announced  regarding  the  sermons. 

English  sermons  were  to  be  preached  at  High  Mass  on  the  first 
and  third  Sunday  of  every  month ;  on  all  other  Sundays,  French. 
After  Vespers  the  sermon  was  to  be  preached  in  English,  when  the 
morning  sermon  had  been  in  French  and  vice  versa.  The  Jesuits  were 
to  preach  the  English  sermons  in  the  morning.  Catechism  was  to  begin 
at  2  :30  P.  M.,  in  French  by  Roux,  in  English  by  Lutz,  as  long  as  Lent 
lasted.  Every  evening,  on  week  days  and  Sundays,  there  should  be  a 
sermon.  At  the  Lenten  devotions  Father  Lutz  sometimes  preached  in 
English. 

On  Monday,  April  2,  1832,  at  the  Lenten  devotions,  for  the  first 
time,  prayers  were  said  in  English  at  the  Cathedral.  So  the  contest 
for  recognition  of  the  English  speaking  part  of  the  parish  at  High  Mass, 
a  contest  which  had  lasted  six  years,  was  won  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Irish  Catholics.4 

Since  his  appointment  to  the  See  of  St.  Louis  in  1827  until  the 
consecration  of  Bishop  De  Neckere  as  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  June  24, 
1830,  Bishop  Rosati  held  spiritual  charge  of  the  vast  territory  once 
designated  as  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana.  This  double  burden  was  a 
severe  drain  on  his  resources,  as  well  as  on  his  strength. 

Realizing  that  his  own  diocese  needed  his  exclusive  attention,  he 
used  all  the  means  in  his  power  to  secure  a  Bishop  for  the  See  of  New 
Orleans.  The  Seminary  at  the  Barrens  also  was  in  need  of  a  competent 
Rector:  Father  Leo  Raymond  De  Neckere  was  absent  on  account  of 
ill  health,  and  might  never  return.  Accordingly,  petition  after  petition 
went  to  Father  Baccari  in  Rome,  that  a  Superior  be  sent :  Father  John 
Tornatore  was  the  man  whom  Bishop  Rosati  thought  an  ideal  selection. 
When  he  heard  of  Father  De  Neckere 's  appointment  to  the  See  of  New 


4     The  whole  language  question  was  treated  by  Msgr.  Holweek  in  "St.  Louis 
Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  II,  pp.  5-18. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Era  503 

Orleans,  he  wrote  to  Father  General  at  Paris:  "De  Xeckere's  nomi- 
nation is  a  great  loss  for  the  Seminary,  please  send  Tornatore."  From 
the  1st  to  the  18th  of  October  he  was  in  attendance  at  the  Council 
of  Baltimore :  On  the  closing  day  of  this  great  assembly  he  appointed 
De  Neckere  his  Yicar  General. 

On  his  return  voyage  he  heard  of  De  Xeckere's  appointment  as  a 
certainty :  but  on  meeting  the  newly  designated  Bishop,  who  had  in 
the  meantime  returned  to  the  Barrens  from  abroad,  he  found  him 
stubbornly  opposed  to  accepting  the  proposed  honor.  At  last  on  Jan- 
uary 7,  1810  Father  De  Neckere  consented  to  be  consecrated.  All 
arrangements  were  now  made  for  the  consecration  which  was  set  for 
May  16th,  at  New  Orleans.  But  when  Bishop  Rosati  started  for  the 
South,  Father  De  Neckere  refused  to  go.  Bishop  Rosati  journeyed  on 
without  De  Neckere.  The  priests  assembled  for  the  Consecration  peti- 
tioned the  Holy  See  that  De  Neckere 's  resignation  be  not  accepted. 
In  the  meantime  Father  Tornatore  arrived  at  the  Barrens.  (May  26) 
Bishop  Rosati  was  overjoyed  at  having  a  new  Superior  of  the  Congre- 
gation. Father  Dahmen  had  proved  a  failure  as  Superior :  Father 
Timon  was  needed  elsewhere.  On  June  30th,  the  good  Bishop  wrote  to 
Father  Anthony  Blanc:  Annuntio  tibi  gaudium  magnum:  De  Neckere 
is  in  New  Orleans  and  readj^  to  receive  consecration. 

A  very  interesting  letter  of  Bishop  Rosati  to  Father  Baccari,  dated 
June  6,  1830,  recounts  the  moving  scenes  that  had  occurred  before  De 
Neckere  would  acquiesce.  "At  last  I  am  rid  of  New  Orleans.  De  Neck- 
ere surely  has  the  gift  of  speech.  The  priests  petitioned  him  to  become 
their  Bishop.  Bishop  Portier  fell  on  his  knees  before  him,  I  (Rosati) 
knelt  beside  him.    How  could  De  Neckere  refuse  any  longer."5 

On  his  return  to  St.  Louis,  Bishop  Rosati  appointed  Father 
Tornature  his  Vicar  General. 

On  November  21st,  the  Bishop  wrote  to  his  brother  Nicola  at 
Sora  in  answer  to  an  invitation  to  come  on  a  visit  to  his  old  home  and 
friends :  "  I  am  rid  of  New  Orleans,  and  of  the  Seminary,  but  I  have 
only  two  priests  with  me,  and  one  is  almost  always  absent  on  Sundays. 
I  must  preach  twice  every  Sunday,  in  French  and  in  English.  I  am 
burdened  with  the  building  of  a  Church  at  the  Barrens,  and  of  the 
Cathedral,  as  the  old  Cathedral  is  threatening  to  fall  in  ruins.  How 
can  I  undertake  a  journey  to  Italy."0  To  Cardinal  Cappellari  the 
Bishop  gives  the  following  description  of  the  old  Cathedral,  and  the 
reasons  for  undertaking  to  build  a  new  one : 


5  Rosati  to   Baceari,   June   6,   1830,   in   "Letter  Book  of   Bishop  Eosati,"   cf. 
Diary  of  the  dates  mentioned  above. 

6  Archives  of  Kenriek  Seminarv. 


•)()-l  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

"The  building  of  it  was  commenced  with  great  courage;  all  the 
citizens  contributed  willingly  according  to  their  ability  to  erect  only 
the  walls;  the  roof  and  the  floor  cost  about  24,000  dollars.  It  was 
never  finished  and  the  interior  remained  rustic,  and  looked  like  a  barn. 
The  work  was  badly  done,  so  that  a  side  wall  130  feet  long  is  about 
to  collapse.  .  .  this  Church  could  not  serve  much  longer  because  it 
is  dangerous  to  leave  it  in  its  present  state  and  because  it  cannot  be 
repaired  for  a  sum  smaller  than  it  will  take  to  erect  a  new  Church. 
In  the  meanwhile  we  celebrate  the  holy  mysteries  in  this  barn,  which 
is  about  to  fall,  is  open  to  rain,  snow  and  wind.  In  winter,  and  the 
winters  in  these  parts  are  rigorous,  we  cannot  pass  an  hour  at  the 
altar  without  freezing  (Senga  Gelarsi)  and  often  the  sacred  ceremonies 
are  disturbed  by  the  rain  which  the  storm  carries  to  the  very  steps 
of  the  altar.  I  have  applied  everywhere,  I  sacrificed  what  I  could, 
but  if  the  Lord  does  not  open  to  us  some  way,  we  have  to  do  without 
a  Church.  Without  revenues,  without  income  from  our  own  country, 
a  poor  missionary  bishop  can  only  recommend  his  needs  to  Divine 
Providence,  explain  them  to  those  who  can  help  him  and  hope  that 
the  Lord  will  speak  to  their  hearts  in  his  favor."7 

When  at  last,  after  a  long  period  of  anxious  waiting  Bishop  Rosati 
was  relieved  of  the  administration  of  New  Orleans,  he  turned  his  full 
energy  to  the  upbuilding  of  his  episcopal  city,  St.  Louis.  The  old  brick 
Church  was  an  ugly  structure,  and  in  its  half-finished  condition  in- 
adequate to  its  purpose  and  the  dignity  of  the  diocese :  To  replace 
it  by  a  magnificent  temple  of  God  seemed  a  sacred  duty.  The  finest 
Church  in  the  entire  west  his  Cathedral  was  intended  to  be,  the  grand 
outward  symbol  of  central  authority  and  general  leadership  in  the 
Church.  A  meeting  of  the  parishioners  was  called  for  the  fourth  day 
of  April,  1830.  The  Bishop  presided  and  Marie  Philip  Leduc  acted 
as  secretary.8  It  was  resolved  to  build  a  new  Cathedral,  worthy  of 
the  city  and  diocese.  In  order  to  raise  funds  for  the  undertaking 
it  was  decided  to  lease  the  north  half  of  the  Church-block,  where,  the 
record  says,  "is  the  ancient  cemetery,  and  the  old  Church  stands." 
William  Higgins,  M.  P.  Leduc,  John  O'Rourke,  Michael  O'Rourke, 
Louis   Menard,   and   James  Lynch  were  selected   as   a  standing   Com- 


7  Eosati  to  Prefect  of  Propaganda,  December  30,  1821.  Original  draft  of 
letter  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

8  The  facts  stated  in  the  following  account  of  the  building  of  the  Cathedral 
are  derived  from  an  address  delivered  before  the  Missouri  Historical  Society,  Sep- 
tember 16,  1875,  entitled  "Retrospective  View  of  the  First  Religious  Establishments 
in  the  City  of  St.  Louis, ' '  published  by  Msgr.  Tannrath,  Chancellor,  in  the  ' '  Church 
Progress,"  December  14,  21  and  28,  1916.  The  author,  Wilson  Primm,  was  secretary 
of  the  Cathedral  Building  Committee. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Era  505 

mittee,  with  full  power  to  adopt  all  measures  necessary  and  conducive 
to  accomplish  the  proposed  end.  Wilson  Primm  was  appointed  Perma- 
nent Secretary.  Subsequently,  William  Higgins  having  died,  and  Lewis 
Menard,  Patrick  Walsh  and  John  O'Rourke,  resigned,  Col.  Rene  Paul, 
Hugh  O'Neill,  and  General  Bernard  Pratte  were  appointed  to  fill  the 
vacancies. 

The  committee  set  on  foot  private  subscriptions,  for  the  building 
of  the  church  and  the  removal  of  the  dead  from  the  graveyard ;  a  loan 
of  eight  thousand  dollars,  generously  proffered  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg, 
was  gratefully  accepted;  and  the  north  half  of  block  No.  59  was  leased 
to  George  Morton  and  Joseph  C.  Lavelle.  This  lease  was  executed  on  the 
25th  of  August  1830,  in  "presence  of  St.  Gamier  and  Wilson  Primm 
of  the  committee,  and  the  said  Lavelle  and  Morton." 

On  the  15th,  upon  the  report  of  this  special  committee,  it  was 
determined  "that  the  walls  should  be  three  feet  thick  from  the  foun- 
dations to  the  floor,  and  two  and  a  half  above  the  floor ;  the  foundation 
should  be  sunk  four  feet  in  the  ground  and  raised  five  above  the 
ground ;  that  the  church  should  be  eighty  by  one  hundred  and  thirty, 
and  thirty-four  feet  high  from  the  floor ;  that  the  front  should  be  of 
neat  hammered  stone,  and  the  sides  of  good  range  work." 

On  the  20th,  the  proposal  of  John  Darst  for  the  carpenter  work, 
and  of  John  Goodfellow  for  excavating  the  foundation,  were  accepted. 

On  the  20th  of  December  "the  proposals  of  Hugh  O'Neil  for 
building  the  stone  Avails  were  read  and  accepted,  provided  he  binds 
himself  to  finish  the  whole  of  the  stone  work,  except  what  is  to  be  made 
according  to  contract  by  the  stone  cutters  and  the  columns  inside,  for 
$6000,"  and  that  the  further  sum  of  $500  be  granted  for  grouting  the 
whole  work. 

The  proposals  of  John  Withnell  and  Charles  Coutts  for  the  stone 
cutting  work  and  furnishing  all  the  materials  therefor  for  $5300,  were 
read  and  accepted,  provided  they  make  themselves  responsible  for  the 
accidents  that  might  happen  in  putting  up  the  stones,  and  make  the 
steps  of  the  portico  returned  to  end." 

On  August  1st,  1831,  the  work  was  so  far  advanced  that  the 
cornerstone  of  the  new  edifice  could  be  laid  with  the  prescribed  solemni- 
ties: 

"At  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,"  as  Bishop  Rosati  writes,  "the 
people  having  been  called  together  by  the  ringing  of  the  bells,  and 
having  vested  ourselves  in  the  sacristy,  in  company  of  the  Rev.  Fathers 
Edmond  Saulnier,  assistant  priest;  John  Elet,  deacon,  and  Michael 
Condamine,  subdeacon  ;  Rev.  L.  Doutreluingne,  Cruciferarius,  together 
with  the  Revs.  L.  Rondot,  P.  Verhaegen,  S.  J.,  and  A.  Mascaroni, 
master  of  ceremonies,  we  proceeded  to  the  Church,  where  Rev.  Rondot 


506  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

delivered  a  sermon  in  French.  Having  chanted  the  'Veni  Creator' 
we  proceeded  to  the  foundation  of  the  New  Cathedral.  Then  having 
observed  all  that  the  rubrics  prescribed,  we  blessed  and  placed  the 
cornerstone  in  the  front  angle  of  that  part  of  the  Church  which  looks 
to  the  East.  The  stone  contained  a  metal  case  in  which  was  placed  a 
glass  vase  well  sealed;  this  vase  contains  several  coins  of  the  previous 
year,  a  parchment  on  which  is  written  the  early  history  of  the  foun- 
dation of  the  City  of  St.  Louis,  and  a  parchment  with  the  following 
inscription:  "In  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1831,  on  the  1st  day  of  August, 
the  55th  year  of  our  American  Independence,  during  the  pontificate 
of  Pope  Gregory  XVI,  Andrew  Jackson  being  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  John  Miller  Governor  of  Missouri,  the  cornerstone  of  this 
Cathedral  Church,  in  honor  of  St.  Louis  of  France,  to  be  erected  by  the 
Catholic  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  was  blessed  and  placed  by  the  Right 
Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Fathers 
E.  Saulnier,  P.  J.  Verhaegen,  S.  J.,  L.  Rondot,  P.  W.  Walsh,  M. 
Condamine,  J.  A.  Elet,  A.  Mascaroni  and  L.  Doutreluingne.  There 
were  present  Messrs.  Bernard  Pratte,  P.  M.  Leduc,  Hugh  O'Neill,  R. 
Paul,  James  Lynch  and  M.  O'Rourke,  the  Cathedral  trustees,  and  a 
large  concourse  of  people.  Having  finished  this  ceremony  we  returned 
to  the  Church,  where  Rev.  P.  J.  Verhaegen,  S.  J.,  preached  a  sermon 
in  the  English  language.  A  collection  was  then  taken  up  for  the  benefit 
of  the  new  Church,  and  the  sum  collected  amounted  to  $62.50.  "9 

On  January  2nd,  1832,  the  good  Bishop  is  happy  to  record  a 
large  contribution.  "I  received  a  letter  from  the  Propaganda  at  Rome, 
which  contained  an  order  from  Pope  Gregory  XVI  for  $3,000  in  gold, 
to  be  devoted  to  the  building  of  the  new  Cathedral.  Needless  to  add 
that  this  communication  brought  me  great  consolation  and  joy."10 

The  Bishop  had  now  taken  up  his  residence  at  the  Cathedral  with 
Very  Rev.  Louis  Rondot  as  Vicar  General,  and  the  Fathers  Saulnier, 
J.  A.  Lutz,  Benedict  Roux,  as  Cathedral  clergy. 

There  were  chapels  at  the  Jesuit  College,  the  Convent  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  and  the  Hospital  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  The  priests 
at  the  Jesuit  College  in  1831  were  Fathers  P.  J.  Verhaegen,  Rector, 
Charles  Van  Quickenborne,  Peter  Walsh,  P.  J.  De  Smet,  J.  Van  Lommel, 
James  Van  de  Velde,  and  J.  A.  Elet,  all  members  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  The  city  was  now  well  provided  in  this  regard:  But  there  was 
ample  work  for  all,  and  above  all,  for  the  Bishop.  On  July  27th,  1831 
he  had  blessed  and  laid  the  cornerstone  for  the  new  Church  at  Ste. 
Genevieve,   where   his   old   and   trusted   friend,    Father   Dahmen.   was 


9     Eosati's  Diary. 
io     Eosati's  Diary. 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Era  507 

pastor :  On  October  9th,  of  the  same  year  he  consecrated  the  new  brick 
church  at  Old  Mines  built  by  Father  Philip  Borgna,  C.  M. 

On  April  23rd,  1830,  the  Bishop  paid  $4000,  out  of  the  annual 
allowance  derived  from  the  Society  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith 
to  Pratte  and  the  Chouteaus  on  his  note  of  $4500  .  .  Relieved  of  the 
burden  of  the  Cathedral  debt,  the  Bishop  took  steps  to  insure  a  quick 
expansion  of  the  Church  into  the  numerous  new  settlements  of  Euro- 
peans, that  had  suddenly  sprung  up  like  the  corn  in  the  fields  after  the 
first  warm  spring  rain.  From  all  corners  of  his  vast  diocese  came  the 
call  for  priests.     We  shall  see  how  nobly   Bishop   Rosati   responded. 


Chapter  10 
BISHOP  ROSATI'S  CATHEDRAL 


In  the  meantime  building  operations  had  proceeded  slowly  but 
steadily,  until  in  September  1834  the  massive  structure  stood  there  in 
solemn  grandeur,  the  finest  House  of  God  this  side  the  Allegheny 
Mountains. 

A  final  meeting  of  the  committee  was  held  on  the  3rd  of  October 
1834,  at  which  were  present  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Rosati,  Mary  P.  Leduc, 
Hugh  O'Neil,  Sr.,  and  Rene  Paul.  The  arrangements  for  the  conse- 
cration of  the  Cathedral  were  now  made.  Bishop  Rosati  records  in  his 
Diary  under  date  of  November  12th:  "I  have  written  a  full  report, 
in  Italian,  of  the  consecration  of  our  new  Cathedral  Church  to  His 
Holiness,  Pope  Gregory  XVI,  as  also  to  Cardinal  Pedicini,  and  have 
sent  a  copy  to  the  Leopoldine  Society.1  As  a  memorial  of  Bishop 
Rosati 's  most  memorable  triumph,  the  first  part  at  least,  of  the  document 
containing  a  full  description  of  the  building  deserves  a  place  in  the 
History  of  St.  Louis  r 

"This  august  temple,  raised  in  the  City  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  was  begun 
about  three  years  ago.  The  first  stone  thereof  was  blessed  and  set 
in  place  with  the  customary  ceremonies  on  August  1st,  1831,  by  the 
present  Bishop  of  the  Diocese.  Thanks  to  the  munificence  of  the  reign- 
ing Sovereign  Pontiff,  Gregory  XVI,  through  the  generous  aid  given  by 
the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  established  in  France, 
and  of  the  Leopoldine  Institution  established  in  the  dominions  of  His 
Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Austria;  by  means  of  the  repeated  efforts  of 
the  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  who  have  contributed  according  to  their 
capacity,  either  by  subscriptions,  or  by  collections  taken  a  number  of 
times  for  this  purpose ;  finally  owing  to  other  resources  drawn  from 
a  piece  of  property  adjacent  to  the  old  church,  and  loans  of  various 
sums  of  money  obtained  at  reasonable  rates,  this  edifice  has  been  con- 


1  Eosati  's  Diary.  Card.  Pedicini  was  Prefect  of  the  Congregation  of  Pro- 
paganda from  1831-1834  in  succession  to  Card.  Maurus  Cappellari. 

2  Bishop  Eosati 's  letter  to  the  Leopoldine  Society  was,  no  doubt,  identical 
with  that  sent  to  the  Pope  and  to  the  Cardinal,  but  it  was  published  in  Heft  IX,  in 
abbreviated  form.  The  complete  letter  was  first  published  in  English  by  Eev.  Dr. 
Souvay  in  his  excellent  booklet,  ' '  The  Cathedrals  of  St.  Louis. ' '  For  the  sake  of 
brevity  and  greater  clearness,  we  have  omitted  a  few  irrelevant  remarks,  indirect 
requests  for  help,  and  minor  details.  Nothing  of  historical  importance  was  sacrificed. 
The  account  of  the  Consecration  we  have  used,  but  not  quoted.  The  sums  expended 
on  the  building  before  it  was  completed  reached  the  grand  total  of  $85,000. 

(508) 


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Bishop  Rosati's  Cathedral  509 

tinned  without  other  interruptions  than  those  which  were  caused  by 
the  rigor  of  the  winter,  which  in  this  country  does  not  permit  building 
operations;  and  has  at  length  been  put  in  condition  of  being  conse- 
crated. 

"The  dimensions  of  the  church  are  as  follows:  length,  136  feet; 
width,  84  feet;  and  height,  40  feet.  The  entire  facade,  as  also  27  feet 
of  the  sides  near  the  facade,  are  of  beautiful  polished  stone,  much  like 
marble.  The  portico  is  sustained  in  front  by  four  columns  of  the  same 
material,  27  feet  high,  and  of  a  diameter  of  four  feet.  It  is  40  feet 
long  and  12  feet  deep,  Doric,  after  the  fashion  of  the  ruins  of  Paestum. 
On  the  frieze  of  that  portico  and  of  the  whole  facade'  is  read  in  relief 
the  following  inscription :  In  honor  em  8.  Ludovici.  DEO  UNI  ET  TRINO 
DICATUM.  A.  MDCCCXXXIV.  Above  the  three  doors  are  placed  three 
slabs  of  Italian  marble,  upon  which  is  engraved  the  following  text  of 
the  Apocalypse:  Ecce  Tabernaculum  Dei  cum  hominibus,  et  habitabit 
cum  eis;  this  inscription  is  in  Latin  over  the  middle  door,  in  English 
over  the  door  to  the  east  and  in  French  over  the  other.  The  Gospel  text : 
Domus  mea  Domus  orationis  vocabitur,  is  inscribed  on  two  other  slabs 
in  French  and  in  English  on  either  side  of  the  facade.  Over  the  parapet 
surmounting  the  outer  cornice  of  the  facade  are  placed  six  candelabra 
of  stone.  The  portico  is  crowned  by  a  beautiful  pediment  in  the 
center  of  which  is  engraved  in  large  gilded  Hebrew  characters  the 
ineffable  Name  of  God  surmounted  by  rays.  Back  of  that  pediment 
arises  the  belfry,  about  20  feet  square  and  40  feet  high  above  the  apex 
of  the  facade  which  itself  is  50  feet  high;  it  is  all  constructed  of 
polished  stone,  ornamented  with  two  rows  of  pilasters  and  cornices.  In 
the  center  of  the  lower  row  of  pilasters  there  is  on  the  four  sides  a  clock 's 
dial  face ;  and  in  the  center  of  the  upper  row  are  the  openings  of  the 
bell-house.  Time  has  not  permitted  to  finish  the  octagonal  spire,  45 
feet  high,  before  the  consecration  of  the  church;  the  approach  of 
winter  having  compelled  the  workmen  to  suspend  work  until  next 
spring.  The  skeleton  of  this  spire  is  of  wood;  it  will  be  covered  out- 
side with  sheets  of  tin,  and  surmounted  by  a  ball  of  gilded  brass,  on  the 
top  of  which  will  be  raised  a  cross  ten  feet  high  covered  likewise  with 
gilded  brass.  The  entire  roof  of  the  church  is  covered  with  sheets  of 
brass.  The  portico  rests  upon  a  platform  of  stone,  which  is  raised 
five  feet  above  the  level  of  the  street,  and  reached  by  steps  all  around 
the  three  sides.  The  front  of  the  church  is  separated  from  the  street  by 
a  narrow  space,  surrounded  by  an  iron  fence  resting  on  a  low  stone 
wall  and  interrupted  in  five  places  by  gates,  two  of  which  lead  to  a 
beautiful  passage-way  paved  with  brick,  which  runs  all  around  the  church 
and  is  intended  for  processions;  the  other  three  lead  from  the  street 
to  the  church  steps. 


510  Histori/  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

"  Inside  the  church  is: 

In  the  first  place,  the  Sanctuary,  four  feet  higher  than  the  floor  of 
the  rest  of  the  church.  It  is  40  feel  Long  and  30  wide,  and  is  separated 
by  Corinthian  balusters,  which  form  the  communion  rail,  reached  by 
several  steps  running  all  the  Length  of  the  sanctuary.  The  back  of  the 
sanctuary  is  decorated  with  four  fluted  columns,  with  their  gilt  capitals, 
an  architrave,  a  frieze  and  a  cornice,  all  of  Corinthian  style;  in  the 
pediment  above  is  an  oval  window  before  which  was  placed  a  trans- 
parent picture  representing  the  Holy  Ghost  under  the  form  of  a  dove, 
emitting  on  all  sides  rays  of  light,  some  of  which  lose  themselves  in  clouds 
in  the  midst  of  which  may  be  seen  many  angels;  on  either  side  of  the  pedi- 
ment is  the  gilded  figure  of  an  angel  carrying  the  two  tables  of  the  Old 
and  the  New  Law  respectively.  The  organ  loft  is  placed  on  one  side 
of  the  sanctuary ;  and  on  the  opposite  side  is  a  gallery  destined  for 
the  children  of  the  orphanage.  Underneath  these  two  galleries  are 
the  doors  giving  access  to  the  two  side  sacristies.  The  picture  of  the 
main  altar  represents  our  Lord  crucified,  with  the  Blessed  Virgin,  St. 
John  and  the  holy  women  at  foot  of  the  cross.  This  picture  impresses 
greatly  the  Protestants  who  see  it.  The  altar  is  of  stone,  and  it  is 
covered  with  antipendia. 

"The  two  side  chapels  with  their  altars  next  arrest  our  attention. 
These  two  chapels  are  on  the  same  level  as  the  sanctuary  and  the 
sacristies.  They  are  decorated  with  two  Ionic  columns  with  gilded 
capitals,  which  support,  an  architrave,  frieze,  cornice  and  pediment  of 
the  same  style.  The  one  is  dedicated  to  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  secondary 
Patron  of  the  Diocese,  and  the  other  to  St.  Patrick,  the  apostle  of 
Ireland. 

"Underneath  the  sanctuary,  the  side  chapels  and  the  sacristies  is 
a  large  underground  chapel,  measuring  84  feet  in  length  and  30  ft. 
in  width.  It  may  be  reached  from  the  two  side  aisles  of  the  church 
by  two  flights  of  stone  steps;  and  likewise  from  the  two  sacristies  and 
from  the  outside.  This  chapel  is  consecrated  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament; 
it  is  also  destined  for  the  administration  of  the  Sacrament  of 
Penance,  and  for  this  purpose  four  handsome  confessionals  have  been 
placed  in  it.  There  also  are  the  stations  of  the  Way  of  the  Cross. 
Hence  it  will  be  a  place  where  the  faithful  shall  be  able  to  cultivate 
and  exercise  their  devotion  without  distractions.  Although  this  chapel 
is  five  feet  under  ground,  yet  it  is  well  lighted  by  means  of  six 
windows. 

"To  return  to  the  church  above,  its  main  body  is  made  up  of  three 
aisles  divided  by  two  rows  of  five  columns;  these  are  of  brick  covered 
with  stucco  and  tinted  so  as  to  imitate  marble;  they  measure  27  feet 
in  height  and  3%   in   diameter;    the     capitals,    which    are    of    stone 


Bishop  Rosati's  Cathedral  511 

painted  in  brass  finish,  the  architrave,  the  friez  and  the  large  cornice 
running  along  both  sides  of  the  nave,,  are  Doric.  The  vault  of  the  nave 
soars  forty  feet  above  the  floor;  it  is  in  the  shape5  of  a  surbased  arch, 
and  divided  in  eighteen  rectangular  panels  corresponding  to  the  spaces 
between  the  columns,  each  decorated  with  cornice,  rose  and  other  orna- 
ments of  stucco.  The  ceilings  of  the  two  side  aisles  are  likewise  stuccoed 
and  painted  so  as  to  figure  panels.  The  church  is  lighted  by  fourteen 
large  windows,  sixteen  by  eight  feet,  semicircular  in  the  upper  part ; 
there  are  also  a  number  of  other  smaller  Avindows,  semi-circular,  oval 
or  rectangular.  Alongside  the  wall  in  front  are  several  spacious  gal- 
leries for  the  use  of  the  people ;  these  galleries  are  so  arranged  that 
the  men  will  be  separated  from  the  women,  the  boys  from  the  girls. 
Attention  was  also  given  to  the  accommodation  of  the  poor  negroes :  for 
their  special  use  are  two  beautiful  galleries,  where  the  persons  of  both 
sexes  belonging  to  this  class  may  assist  separately  at  divine  offices.  Fin- 
ally, a  handsome  recess  closed  by  an  iron  gate  contains  the  Baptismal 
Font  at  a  short  distance  from  the  church  door.  The  pulpit,  located 
by  one  of  the  columns  in  the  middle  of  the  church,  is  of  varnished  wood, 
and  of  a  quite  elegant  shape.  Two  hundred  pews,  disposed  regularly 
in  the  body  of  the  church,  and  a  number  of  others  in  the  various  gal- 
leries, offer  to  the  Catholics  of  the  city,  and  to  the  Protestants  who  come 
with  pleasure  and  in  goodly  numbers,  the  necessary  accommodations 
to  hear  comfortably  the  word  of  God  and  the  expounding  of  the 
dogmas  of  the  Catholic  religion.  As  winter  here  is  quite  rigorous,  there 
were  constructed  in  the  basement  two  furnaces  on  the  model  of  the 
heating  apparatus  invented  recently  and  used  successfully  in  various 
cities  of  this  country;  thus  the  furnaces  are  out  of  sight,  and  the 
hot  air  is  let  into  the  church  by  means  of  two  circular  openings,  two  feet 
in  diameter,  covered  with  a  metal  grate ;  the  cost  of  heating  is  very 
little,  owing  to  the  abundance  of  coal  in  this  country ;  and  thus  are 
removed  the  pretexts  and  excuses  of  those  who  invoked  the  severity  of 
the  cold  to  dispense  themselves  from  coming  to  church. 

"The  new  Cathedral  is  alongside  the  residence  of  the  Bishop,  from 
which  it  is  separated  only  by  an  alley  eighteen  feet  wide.  The  secular 
priests  residing  in  St.  Louis  and  exercising  the  parochial  ministry 
with  the  Bishop,  live  with  him  a  kind  of  community  life,  with  its 
rules,  its  regular  exercises  of  piety,  spiritual  conferences,  reading  of 
Holy  Scripture  at  table,  etc.  Their  life  is  one  of  retirement  from  all 
useless  relations  with  seculars,  from  whom  they  never  accept  any  in- 
vitations either  to  dinner  or  to  supper  outside  the  house,  so  that  they 
may  always  be  ready  for  any  calls.  Their  number  is  still  inadequate 
to  the  needs,  which  in  this  city  are  harder  to  satisfy  than  elsewhere, 
because  the  population  speaks  three  languages,   French,   English  and 


■ill.'  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

German.  A  large  number  of  German  Catholics  have  come,  and  are 
continuing  to  come,  to  settle  in  the  Diocese  and  the  city  of  St.  Louis. 
As  a  rule,  they  are  very  pious,  industrious,  and  they  do  honor  to  the 
religion  which  they  profess  by  word  and  deed.  It  is  therefore  necessary 
to  preach  in  these  three  languages;  yet  all  the  clergy  employed  in  the 
service  of  the  parish  at  present  consists  only  of  the  Bishop,  two  priests 
and  a  cleric.  From  time  to  time  a  Jesuit  comes  from  the  College  to 
preach  in  English ;  and  on  solemn  feast  days,  these  Fathers  come  to 
assist  at  pontifical  functions,  so  that,  with  the  further  aid  of  altar  boys 
vested  in  red  cassocks  and  surplices,  who  fulfill  the  minor  offices,  the 
solemnities  may  be  celebrated  with  proper  dignity. 

' '  On  the  west  side  of  the  Cathedral  there  is  a  beautiful  piece  of 
ground  belonging  to  the  church,  which  might  otherwise  have  been  turned 
into  a  source  of  revenue ;  however,  in  order  to  obviate  the  inconvenience 
resulting  from  having  living  houses  so  near  the  church,  the  Bishop  has 
reserved  this  piece  of  property  for  the  Orphan  Asylum.  The  charity 
of  the  faithful  is  much  interested  in  these  children,  of  whom,  after 
the  outbreak  of  the  cholera,  twenty-five  were  gathered  together  and 
are  raised  in  a  small  house;  a  fair  held  by  the  most  respectable  ladies 
of  the  city  in  favor  of  the  Orphanage  has  returned  $1,000,  besides  $800 
for  the  building  of  a  new  asylum.  Providence  will  certainly  do  the 
rest.  Building  operations  for  this  new  Orphanage  will  commence  next 
spring. 

"The  Church  is  now  completed;  but  far  from  being  paid,  and  there 
is  a  dearth  of  vestments  and  other  articles  of  ornament  and  use. 

"The  twenty -third  Sunday  after  Pentecost.  October  26th,  was  set 
apart  for  the  solemn  consecration  of  the  Cathedral.  Nothing  was  left  un- 
done, that  could  add  to  the  splendor  of  these  festivities.  Bishop  Flaget 
of  Bardstown  and  Bishop  Pureed  of  Cincinnati  were  invited  by  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis  to  grace  the  occasion  with  their  presence  and  to 
perform  the  consecration  of  the  newly-appointed  Bishop  of  Vincennes, 
Simon  Brute,  in  the  newly  consecrated  Church.  The  Bishops  consented. 
All  the  missionary  priests  of  the  diocese,  the  Jesuits  with  their  clerics 
and  novices,  the  faculty  of  the  Seminary  and  University  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  at  the  Barrens,  made  their  appearance  on  the  appointed  day. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  city  were  full  of  joy,  the  ladies  brought  all  kinds 
of  ornaments  to  decorate  the  altars.  The  citizens  vied  with  each  other 
in  giving  assistance  in  their  military  uniforms,  in  keeping  order  and 
marching  to  the  tune  of  trumpet  and  drum. 

"On  the  eve  of  the  celebration  the  three  bells  of  the  Cathedra! 
rang  out  the  glad  tidings  of  the  coming  festivities;  the  roar  of  the 
cannon  invited  all  to  the  consecration.    In  the  old  Cathedral  the  sacred 


Bishop  Rosati's  Cathedral  513 

relics  were  exposed  on  the  altar,  richly  decorated  and  covered  with 
a  crown.    Matins  were  sung  by  the  assembled  Bishops  and  clergy. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  October,  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis, 
and  the  other  Bishops  and  priests,  assembled  in  the  old  Cathedral, 
and  put  on  their  vestments.  The  procession  moved,  under  an  escort 
of  honor  and  cheered  by  martial  strains,  to  the  new  church.  The 
number  of  onlookers  increased  from  minute  to  minute.  The  sacred 
functions  were  carried  out  in  accordance  with  the  Roman  Ritual. 
Two  missionary  priests  explained  the  sacred  ceremonies  to  the  people, 
in  French  and  in  English.  The  procession  with  the  sacred  relics  from 
the  old  to  the  new  Cathedral  exceeded  in  splendor  anything  that  St. 
Louis  had  ever  seen  of  religious  ceremonies.  Good  order  was  not 
disturbed  for  a  moment.  A  stranger  might  have  imagined,  that  all 
inhabitants  of  St.  Louis  were  Catholics,  so  attentive,  so  quiet,  so  devout 
were  even  the  non-catholics  at  the  celebration. 

"After  the  ceremony  of  consecration  was  completed  all  the  clergy 
vested  themselves  in  the  chapel  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  to  assist  at 
the  first  Holy  Mass  in  the  newly-consecrated  Church.  The  Bishop 
of  St.  Louis  pontificated,  the  other  Bishops  assisted.  The  Bishop  of 
Cincinnati  moved  the  entire  audience  to  enthusiasm  by  his  eloquent 
sermon.  Three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  saw  the  conclusion  of  the  holy, 
never-to-be-forgotten,  celebration,  of  which  all  St.  Louis,  Catholic 
and  Protestant,  old  and  young,  men  and  women,  as  well  as  the  sur- 
rounding country,  spoke  and  will  speak  for  years  to  come,  and  whose 
holy  results  the  Church  will  soon  experience  in  the  return  of  numerous 
non-Catholics  to  the  bosom  of  Mother  Church. 

"Vespers  were  held  at  6  p.  m.  by  the  Senior  Bishop  of  America, 
Flaget,  assisted  by  a  large  number  of  the  clergy.  An  American  priest, 
Mr.  Abell,  delivered  the  sermon  in  English.  During  the  entire  month 
of  October  Solemn  High  Mass  and  Vespers  were  held  with  sermons  in 
the  English  and  French  languages,  the  visiting  prelates  taking  turns. 

"On  the  28th  of  October,  the  feast  of  the  Apostles  Simon  and  Jude, 
the  solemn  consecration  of  the  newly  appointed  Bishop  of  Vincennes, 
Simon  Brute,  was  performed  by  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  Flaget, 
assisted  by  the  Bishops  of  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati.  The  latter  preached 
an  eloquent  sermon  on  the  divine  institution  of  the  Episopacy,  paint- 
ing in  the  most  glowing  colors  the  rapid  spread  of  the  Catholic 
religion  in  America. 

"On  the  Feast  of  All  Saints  the  Bishop  of  Cincinnati  participated, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  entire  festivities  of  the  consecration,  the  newly 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Vincennes  held  Pontifical  High  Mass  and  Vespers, 
with  the  Te  Deum  before  the  Blessed  Sacrament.     After  Benediction  the 

Vol.  1-17 


51-1  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

Blessed  Sacrament  was  carried  in  procession  to  the  chapel  of  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  and  reposed  on  the  altar. 

On  the  3rd  of  November  the  visiting  prelates  departed  to  install 
the  newly  consecrated  Bishop  of  Vinccnnes  in  his  See. 

"There  it  stands,  the  temple  of  God  in  glory.  Would  that  all  its 
children  were  living  stones  in  the  grand  Temple  of  God,  the  Catholic 
Church."? 

A  new  era  had  now  begun,  an  era  of  progress,  and  expansion,  no 
more  to  be  arrested  by  adverse  powers.  The  old  order  had  changed, 
and  its  symbol,  the  Brick  Cathedral  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  too,  was 
destined  to  disappear.  Bishop  Rosati  writes  in  his  Diary,  in  1835,  on 
the  7th  day  of  April,  of  a  very  serious  fire,  which  destroyed  a  livery 
stable  situated  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Cathedral.  The  fire  occurred 
at  midnight.  There  was  great  consternation  and  fear  among  all  the 
people  that  the  new  Cathedral  would  be  destroyed,  but  he  adds  that 
the  strenuous  efforts  of  the  citizens  saved  the  Church  building,  and  he 
offers  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  His  great  favor.  The  Catholic  Herald 
of  January  8th,  1835  copied  the  following  item  anient  the  consecration 
of  the  St.  Louis  Cathedral  from  the  "Catholic  Telegraph"  of  Cincinnati, 
which  had  a  poem  on  the  subject : 

"At  the  dedication  of  the  Cathedral  at  St.  Louis,  when  the  solemn 
moment  of  the  Consecration  approached,  and  the  Son  of  the  Living  God 
was  going  to  descend  for  the  first  time  upon  the  new  residence  of  His 
glory  on  earth,  the  drums  beat  the  reveille,  three  of  the  Star  Spangled 
Banners  were  lowered  over  the  Balustrade  of  the  Sanctuary — The  ar- 
tillery gave  a  deafening  discharge — the  bells  were  again  rung,  and  tears 
flowed  from  every  eye   .     .     .     . " 

Miserable  alarmists  endeavored  to  seize  on  this  circumstance  and 
affected  to  see  the  subversion  of  the  temporal  liberty  of  the  country."4 


3  Bishop  Rosati 's  Cathedral  is  still  one  of  the  monumental  buildings  of  the 
city.  The  "St.  Louis  Republican"  of  August  15,  1875,  said  of  it:  "It  is  fit  that 
all  who  cherish  memories  of  the  past,  who  have  regard  for  the  preservation  of  this, 
the  most  important  historical  monument  left  to  us,  should  join  in  the  work  of  main- 
taining and  keeping  in  order  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis.  It  is  not  alone  a  work  for 
the  Catholics  to  do,  but  in  a  large  sense  it  is  a  special  work  for  the  Protestants  as 
well.     It  belongs  to  all ;   it  is  historical. ' ' 

4  It  was  on  the  7th  day  of  April,  1835,  that  the  Eev.  Samuel  Parker  arrived  in 
St.  Louis  to  meet  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman,  his  associate,  on  their  way  to  Oregon  and 
incidentally  to  witness  two  memorable  events  in  the  history  of  the  Catholic  Church: 
namely,  the  completion  of  the  new  Cathedral  of  Bishop  Rosati  and  the  passing  of  the 
old  brick  church  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg.  Of  the  former,  he  says  in  his  journal:  "The 
Catholic  Cathedral  is  built  of  a  firm  light  brown  sandstone,  and  is  a  large  expensive 
building."  Concerning  the  latter,  he  remarks:  "A  fire  last  night  destroyed  a  very 
large  livery  stable,  in  which  we  lost  a  horse,  saddle  and  bridle.  The  Old  Cathedral, 
which  was  used  for  a  store  house,  Was  also  burnt,  together  with  a  very  large  quanti- 
ty of  crockery,  which  it  contained."  Du  Bourg 's  brick  Cathedral  had  served  the 
people  of  St.  Louis  until  the  consecration  of  the  new  one,  for  the  noblest  purposes 
of  religion,  and  now,  six  months  after  its  disuse,  it  was  saved  from  all  vulgar  use 
by  an  act  of  Divine  Providence,  the  great  fire  of  1835. 


Chapter  11 
THE  MISSOURI  RIVER  PARISHES 


By  virtue  of  the  Concordat  of  1823,  the  Jesuits  of  Florissant  had 
spiritual  sway  over  the  entire  Northwest  part  of  the  diocese  between 
the  Missouri  and  the  .Mississippi  Rivers.  Consequently  the  ancient  but 
sadly  reduced  parishes  of  St.  Charles,  St.  Ferdinand,  Dardenne,  and 
Portage  des  Sioux  became  dependent  upon  their  ministrations.  Every 
one  of  these  parishes  had  landed  property,  and  a  rude  structure  of 
logs  they  called  their  church.  These,  as  well  as  the  trustee-system 
were  an  inheritance  from  the  Spanish  regime.  Father  Van  Quickenborne 
assumed  charge  of  the  spiritual  affairs,  succeeding  the  Lazarist  Father 
Aquaroni.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  ordained,  in  the  case  of  St.  Ferdinand, 
that  the  authority  of  the  trustees  was  to  cease  as  soon  as  the  new 
church,  begun  by  Father  De  La  Croix,  should  be  blessed.  The  work 
of  constructing  tins  brick  building  consumed  eleven  years,  so  that 
the  consecration  services  had  to  be  deferred  until  September  2nd, 
1832.  The  church  was  dedicated  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus;  the 
secondary  patron  saints  being  St.  Ferdinand  and  St.  Francis  Regis. 

The  Creole  population  of  St.  Ferdinand  was,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
Catholic,  but,  owing  to  long  neglect,  rather  poorly  instructed  or  sadly 
oblivious  of  duty.  "At  the  same  time,"  as  Father  Van  Assche  wrote, 
"there  were  many  conversions  and  a  better  state  of  things  could  be 
hoped  for."1 

"The  revivals  preached  by  the  Fathers,"  wrote  Mother  Duchesne, 
"bring  into  the  church,  and  then  to  the  sacraments,  almost  all  the 
village.  One  hundred  and  sixty  men  have  made  their  Easter  Com- 
munion. On  the  Feast  of  Corpus  Christi  the  procession,  folloAved 
by  all  the  parishioners,  w7ent  along  the  streets  and  through  the  fields. 
The  Blessed  Sacrament  rested  on  an  altar  erected  in  our  outfield. 
These  Fathers  would  convert  a  kingdom."2 

What  attracted  these  naturally  devout  people  most  was  the  annual 
Corpus  Christi  procession,  held  in  the  open,  accompanied  by  soldiers, 
who  would  discharge  their  muskets  in  salute  to  their  Divine  King, 
at  Benediction.  The  earliest  Jesuit  pastor  in  residence  at  St.  Ferdi- 
nand of  Florissant  Avas  Father  Jodocus  Van  Assche.  At  first  he 
attended  his  parish  from  the  Novitiate :  but  in  1832  he  took  up  his 
residence  near  the  church.  For  a  time  the  presence  of  a  pastor  in  their 
midst  had  no  palpable  effect  on  the  people  of  the  sleepy  village.     The 


1  Van  Assche  to  Rosati,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

2  Baunard-Fullerton,  "Life  of  M.  Du  Chesne,"  p.  261. 

(515) 


516  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

spiritual  harvest  remained  as  small  as  ever:  even  the  pomp  and  splen- 
dor of  Confirmation,  administered  by  Bishop  Rosati,  had,  as  the  An- 
nalist regretfully  remarks,  "very  few  spectators"  in  Florissant. 
Father  De  Theux,  the  Superior  at  the  Novitiate,  in  September  1835, 
opened  a  school  for  boys,  which  Avas  taught  by  the  Jesuit  Brother  De 
Meyer,  whilst  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  continued  their  day- 
school  and  boarding  school  for  girls.  As  "The  Annual  Letters"  of 
1837  put  the  matter:  "The  reformation  of  the  parish  must  begin  with 
the  children."  That  was  Father  De  Theux 's  last  hope,  short  of  a 
miracle.  AVe  can,  therefore,  sympathize  with  his  strong  protest  to 
Bishop  Rosati  against  the  contemplated  withdrawal  of  the  Ladies  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  from  their  educational  field  in  St.  Ferdinand. 

During  the  period,  May  1835,  to  August  1836,  Father  Van  Assche 
was  pastor  of  St.  Charles,  his  place  at  Florissant  being  taken  by  Father 
James  Busschotts;  then  he  returned  to  Florissant  to  remain  until 
April  1838,  when  he  was  made  Rector  and  Master  of  Novices.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Father  Paillasson3  and,  after  four  months,  by  Father 
James  Gleizal.  Through  the  prayers  and  exertions  and,  above  all, 
through  the  priestly  conduct  of  these  Fathers,  a  marked  transformation 
was  effected  in  the  religious  life  of  the  Congregation.  Where,  in 
former  years,  scarcely  two  hundred  members  made  their  Easter  duty, 
in  the  year  1839  the  number  of  Easter  Communicants  reached  eight 
hundred.  Of  all  the  parishes  on  the  Missouri  River,  St.  Charles  was 
at  this  time  the  most  considerable.  It  had  enjoyed  the  ministry  of 
resident  priests  for  a  number  of  years  before  the  coming  of  the  Jesuits. 
But  in  the  general  collapse  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  after  the  with- 
drawal of  the  secular  arm  that  had  supported  the  spiritual,  sad  days 
of  almost  utter  destitution  fell  upon  the  people.  Father  Benedict 
Richards,  soon  after  his  appointment  to  the  pastorship,  was  called 
away  to  New  Orleans.  The  first  Jesuit  to  exercise  the  sacred  ministry 
in  St.  Charles,  was  Father  Timmermans,  and  his  last  visit  to  St.  Charles 
was  the  occasion  of  his  death.  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  in  his  isola- 
tion, could  do  no  more  than  visit  the  place  on  week  days,  or  send  the 
scholastics  Verhaegen  and  Elet  to  hold  religious  services  for  the  people. 
Immediately  after  his  ordination  at  the  Barrens,  Father  Peter  Ver- 
haegen was  assigned  as  visiting  missionary  to  the  parishes  of  St.  Charles 
and  Portage  des  Sioux  with  three  other  stations. 

Religious  and  moral  conditions  among  the  Creoles  of  St.  Charles 
were  most  deplorable.  "Bacchanalian  orgies  of  pagan  days"  seemed  to 
have  returned  to  the  Christian  settlement ;  men  and  girls  spending  their 
time  in  public  dancing  and  drinking  whisky."4 


3  Father  Paillasson,  after  his  unfortunate  attempt  to  build  up  the  School  in 
new  Madrid,  was  sent  to  various  places  in  Missouri  and  Illinois;  in  1836  he  entered 
the  Novitiate  at  Florissant. 

4  Baunard-Fullerton,  "Mother  Du  Chesne,"  p.  182. 


The  Missouri  River  Parishes  517 

The  conditions  obtaining'  in  1819  were  slowly  changing  for  the 
better;  but  all  too  slowly  for  the  Father's  fiery  zeal.  "I  do  not  hear 
regularly  more  than  twenty  confessions  a  month,  "Father  Verhaegen 
wrote  in  1827,  at  a  time  when  the  Catholic  population  of  St.  Charles 
was  about  five  hundred,  "and  I  do  not  see  how,  without  a  change  in 
circumstances,  this  number  Avill  increase.  The  French  spend  the  spring, 
summer  and  fall  on  the  river,  finding  thus  their  only  means  of  support. 
During  their  absence,  their  wives  almost  perish  of  hunger  and  are 
often  without  decent  dress,  whilst  the  children  are  in  a  miserable  state. 
When  the  voyageurs  return,  a  mass  of  debts  contracted  during  their 
absence  has  to  be  paid.  I  am  convinced  it  will  require  a  miracle  for 
our  missionaries  to  gather  in  anything  like  a  spiritual  harvest.  For 
if,  according  to  the  old  saw,  occasion  makes  the  thief,  here  navigation 
makes  the  devil."5 

The  old  log  church  of  Blanchette's  time  (1792)  was  in  danger  of 
falling  to  pieces.  Father  Van  Assche  called  it  "a  barn,  not  of  stone 
but  of  wood,  without  foundation  of  any  kind  except  a  few  stones  placed 
under  the  joists  to  keep  them  from  rotting.  The  windows  are  now 
without  glass.  If  I  receive  money  from  Europe,  as  I  expect,  I  shall 
buy  in  the  town  of  St.  Charles  a  piece  of  property  nine  acres  in  extent, 
together  with  the  house  in  which  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  for- 
merly resided.  In  that  case  I  will  build  a  church  there  and  lease  the 
land  on  which  the  old  church  now  stands,  if  your  Lordship  approves 
the  plans,  and  the  parishioners  consent.'"5  According  to  Bishop  Du 
Bourg's  policy,  the  trustee-system  was  abolished  by  the  parish,  and 
the  pastor  was  named  sole  administrator  of  all  the  church-property 
of  St.  Charles  Parish. 

Not  long  after  his  ordination  in  1826,  Father  Verhaegen  came 
to  superintend  the  construction  of  the  new  Church  which  Avas  to  be 
the  finest  sacred  edifice  in  the  entire  diocese.  It  was  to  cost  upwards 
of  five  thousand  dollars.  Whence  the  funds  were  to  come  remained 
the  secret  of  Father  Van  Quickenborne.  All  the  contributions  in  money 
and  labor  did  not  amount  to  one  thousand  dollars.  Yet  the  work  pro- 
gressed, and  the  bills  were  duly  paid,  and  in  1828  the  church  was  ready 
for  divine  worship.  It  is  believed  that  Father  Van  Quickenborne  had 
devoted  a  considerable  part  of  his  patrimony  to  this  great  undertaking, 
and  had  obtained  generous  sums  from  some  of  his  Belgian  friends. 
Father  Verhaegen  felt  greatly  relieved  at  the  completion  of  the  beauti- 
ful building,  with  its  "facade  of  cut  stone,  surrounded  by  a  pretty 
cornice,  which  rested  upon  four  pilasters."    "It  was  eighty  feet  long," 


5     Verhaegen  to  Dziorizynski,  November  7,  1827. 
o     Van  Assche  to  De  Nef,  January  9,  1825. 


518  History  of  the  Archd/iocese  of  St.  Louis 

he  proudly  tells  lis,  "forty  feet  wide  and  twenty-nine  feet  high,  and 
the  only  church  in  the  diocese  which  was  plastered."7 

The  consecration  of  the  new  edifice  by  Bishop  Rosati,  was  an  affair 
of  unprecedented  splendor.  Nine  priests  were  in  attendance ;  the  laity 
of  St.  Charles  and  neighboring  places  took  a  real  interest  in  the 
proceedings.  The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  were  deeply  impressed: 
"The  new  Church,"  Madam  Duchesne  wrote  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg  in 
France,  "looks  out  upon  the  Missouri,  and  is  built  upon  the  site  of 
Your  former  garden,  and  just  over  the  spot,  from  which  You  helped 
with  Your  episcopal  hands  to  pull  up  a  young  sapling."8  Father 
Verhaegen  to  whom  a  great  part  of  the  credit  was  due,  now  retired 
to  Florissant,  and  on  August  15,  1828,  Father  John  Baptist  Smedts 
was  commissioned  as  the  first  Superior  of  the  St.  Charles  Residence. 
Father  Felix  Verreydt  came  as  his  assistant,  but  was  principally  em- 
ployed in  the  out-missions.  The  logs  of  the  old  church  were  conveyed 
to  the  lot  where  the  dwelling  stood,  and  were  built  up  into  two  apart- 
ments, one  of  which  was  to  serve  as  a  school  room  for  the  boys  of  the 
parish. 

In  1828,  the  tireless  energy  of  Father  Van  Quickenborne  succeeded 
in  reestablishing  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  in  the  now  thriving  town 
of  St.  Charles.  Just  prior  to  his  departure  for  the  Osage  Excursion, 
he  sent  a  deed  of  donation  of  their  former  house  in  St.  Charles,  which 
he  asked  them  to  occupy.  The  sainted  Mother  Barat  gratefully  ac- 
quiesced, and  in  June  1828,  Mother  Duchesne  took  possession  of  the 
new  residence.  But  a  new  building  of  brick  for  the  Sisters  was  under- 
taken by  Father  Van  Quickenborne  in  1833.  Madame  Lueille  Mathevon 
was  then  in  charge  of  the  Convent  and  school.  The  school  for  boys 
had  opened  its  doors  under  the  Jesuit  Brother  Henry  Rysselman,  with 
thirty-five  pupils.  If  the  school  for  girls  should  not  languish,  a  new 
building  was  requisite.  But  whence  can  the  means  be  obtained?  "Sure 
of  $300."  says  Father  Verhagen,  "he,  (that  is  Father  Van  Quicken- 
borne) will  get  the  rest,  though  he  should  wear  out  six  pairs  of  shoes 
by  running  through  St.  Louis  on  begging  excursions.  "9  And  he  did 
get  the  requisite  sum,  he  whose  very  name  designated  a  living  fountain. 
Owing-  to  an  attack  of  sickness,  Brother  Henry  was  not  able  to  teach 
for  about  three  months,  during  which  time  Father  Verreydt  took  his 
place  in  school. 

This  school  at  St.  Charles  was  established  in  1828 ;  it  was  followed 
in   1835  by   the   school   at   Florissant   under   Brother   De   Meyer,   and 


"  "Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi. "  That  a  church  was  plastered  was 
considered  a  real  distinction,  as  most  of  the  log  structures  "gaped  unplastered  and 
unceiled. " 

8  "Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  apud  Erskine,  p.  296. 

9  Verhaegen  to  McSherry,  October  16,  293,  Archives  of  Baltimore. 


The  Missouri  River  Parishes  519 

others.  After  the  pioneer  efforts  of  the  Christian  Brothers  at  Ste. 
Genevieve,  the  St.  Charles  School  for  boys  is  the  earliest  parochial 
school,  west  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

Father  Van  Quickenborne  certainly  deserves  the  gratitude  of  all 
lovers  of  Catholic  education,  for  his  foresight  and  energy  in  laying 
the  foundation  for  the  wonderful  system  of  parochial  schools,  Ave  now 
behold  in  the  shadow  of  almost  every  Catholic  Church  in  the  country. 
The  valiant  and  wise  pioneer  did  not  always  meet  the  encouragement 
he  deserved  in  the  matter  of  such  schools.     Yet  he  urged  their  necessity : 

"All  of  our  Fathers  are  of  opinion,"  he  wrote  to  Father 
Dziorizynski  in  1829;  "that  schools  like  Brother  Henry's  are  of  the 
greatest  importance,  and  without  them  the  young  in  this  poor  region 
cannot  be  raised  Catholics.  I  saw  somewhere  in  the  history  of  the 
Society  that  one  of  our  Generals  declared  this  to  be  in  accordance 
with  the  spirit  of  the  Institute."10  Religious  conditions  were  improv- 
ing in  St.  Charles  in  1829:  "A  great  part  of  the  good  done  there," 
Father  Van  Quickenborne  reported  to  Bishop  Rosati,  "must,  under 
God,  be  attributed  to  the  schools."11 

On  the  west  bank  of  the  crystal-clear  Mississippi  River  a  few 
miles  above  its  junction  with  the  turbid  Missouri,  lies  the  dreamy 
village  of  Portage  des  Sioux.  It  has  seen  more  lively  days:  one  of 
the  greatest  Indian  gatherings  met  here  to  deed  away  their  landed 
possessions  for  a  pittance.  But  like  the  other  Creole  settlements  the 
place  never  attained  its  full  stature.  American,  German  and  Irish 
settlers  have  now  supplanted,  to  a  great  extent,  the  early  French 
population.  In  the  days  of  Van  Quickenborne  it  Avas  still  exclusiA-ely 
French.  It  had  a  church,  of  the  traditional  log  construction,  but 
it  had  no  resident  priest  until  the  advent  of  the  Italian  Lazarist 
Acquaroni  in  1818.  Father  Timmermans  Avas  wont  to  say  Mass  at 
Portage  every  second  Sunday.  Father  Smedts  attended  the  place 
from  the  Seminary  and  later  on  from  St.  Charles.  In  1835  it  re- 
ceiA'ed  its  first  resident  pastor  in  the  person  Father  Felix  Verreydt. 
It  Avas  as  late  as  1827  that  the  parish,  at  last,  gaA-e  possession  of  the 
Church  presbytery  and  cemetery  to  the  Jesuits :  thus  eliminating  the 
dangers  of  the  old  trustee-system. 

In  sharp  contrast  with  the  other  Creole  parishes  of  St.  Charles 
County,  the  parish  of  Portage  des  Sioux  always  enjoyed  the  reputa- 
tion of  excelling  in  religious  feiwor.  "Here  if  anywhere  in  Missouri," 
witness  the  Annual  Letters  for  1837,  "the  life  of  the  first  Christians 
is  reproduced.  None  can  be  called  rich  and  there  are  few  Avho  do 
not  have  to  toil  for  a  living.  Perhaps  it  is  this  circumstance  AA-hich 
preA'ents   A'ice   from    entering   in    and    preserA'es   the    innocence   of    the 


111     Van  Quickenborne  to  Dziorizynski,  November  13,  1829,  Archives  of  Baltimore. 
11     Van  Quickenborne  to  Kosati,  Archives  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


520  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

inhabitants.  A  Father  attended  by  a  lay-brother  is  stationed  here.  He 
is  poor  among  the  poor  but  he  is  fortunate,  for  all  that,  seeing  that 
those  committed  to  his  charge  are  rich  in  virtue."12 

But  in  spite  of  their  poverty  the  people  of  Portage  were  anxious 
to  build  a  new  Church.  Father  Verreydt  met  their  wishes  cheer- 
fully, and  on  May  1st,  1836,  the  cornerstone  of  the  new  temple  of 
God  was  laid  by  Bishop  Rosati.  In  1839,  Church  and  parsonage, 
both  of  brick,  were  completed ;  the  Church  was  solemnly  blessed  under 
the  title  of  St.  Francis  Assisi. 

The  village  of  Dardenne,  with  its  Church  of  St.  Peter,  was  one 
of  the  missions  of  the  "Good  Father  Prior,"  who  built  the  log-chapel 
the  Jesuits  found  there  on  their  arrival  in  1824.  The  names  of 
.Fathers  Timmermans  and  Verreidt  occur  most  frequently  in  connec- 
tion with  the  early  history  of  the  parish.  It  was  under  Father 
Verreidt 's  administration  in  1832,  that  the  young  Jesuit  Missionary 
Father  John  Van  Lommel  gave  his  three-days  mission  at  Dardenne, 
then  the  most  forlorn  and  spiritually  destitute  corner  of  the  diocese. 
The  exercises  had  been  announced  to  begin  on  Saturday  evening, 
August  14th.  A  dreary  spot  with  a  few  miserable  cabins  in  sight, 
and  a  church  that  might  easily  be  mistaken  for  a  barn.  He  entered 
the  church  and  began  to  ring  the  bell,  but  no  sign  of  life  far  and 
wide.  Yet,  as  the  good  Father  himself  tells  us :  "  After  ringing 
the  bell  at  intervals  I  gathered  about  fifteen  hearers,  partly  French 
and  partly  American.  I  said  to  myself,  this  will  never  do.  But  re- 
membering St.  Jame's  experience  in  Spain,  I  took  courage  and  began 
to  preach  in  English,  and  as  well  as  I  could  in  French,  a  thing  I 
never  attempted  before.  I  announced  the  regulations  of  the  triduum, 
firmly  resolved  to  speak  three  times  a  day  in  French  and  English, 
even  though  there  should  be  but  a  single  hearer.  But  God,  who  does 
not  place  too  great  a  strain  upon  the  weak,  came  to  my  assistance  at 
once.  The  next  day  there  were  about  seventy,  among  them  many 
Protestants.  This  was  not  so  remarkable,  but  it  was  remarkable  that, 
on  Monday  and  Tuesday,  the  same  gathering  of  about  seventy  should 
be  present  at  the  three  exercises.  There  were  thirty-eight  communions 
(never  so  many  before  in  Dardenne),  fifty  confessions  and  three  bap- 
tisms of  converts.  I  need  not  say  that  T  returned  from  the  excursion 
in  high  spirits."13 

A  great  change  was  in  store  for  Dardenne :  Father  De  Theux 
writes  in  1835:  "Father  Verreydt  has  succeeded  in  finishing  his 
church  of  St.  Peter,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  being  able  to  say  Mass 
in  it  on  the  29th  of  last  March  1835.  A  great  number  of  persons 
assisted    at    the    services.      The    children,    very    modest    and    well-pre- 


12  Litterae  Armune,  1837. 

13  Van  Lommel  to  Dziorizynski,  September  20,  1832. 


The  Missouri  River  Parishes  521 

pared,  made  their  first  communion  ...  It  is  possible  that  with  time 
the  needs  of  the  people  arid  the  growing  number  of  Catholics  will 
require  that  a  resident  priest  be  stationed  there.  The  church  is  of 
wood,  but  well  constructed  and,  when  plastered,  will  be  a  very  hand- 
some one  for  Missouri.  It  is  strongly  built  too,  and  has  already 
.cost  more  than  $700.     I  suppose   $300  more  will  finish  it."14 

The  population  in  the  Country  around  Dardenne  was  increasing 
by  leaps  and  bounds.  The  constant  stream  of  immigration,  chiefly 
of  German  farmers  and  artisans  filled  every  nook  and  corner  of  St. 
Charles  County.  As  early  as  November  1831,  when  Fathers  Kenny, 
McSherry  and  Van  De  Velde  sojourned  at  the  newly  established  Jesuit 
College  in  St.  Louis,  Father  Van  De  Velde  wrote:  "Another  object 
of  curiosity  to  us  "Three  Wise  Men  from  the  East,"  is  the  almost 
continuous  influx  of  strangers  from  other  states ;  the  public  road 
which  leads  to  the  interior  of  this  State  passes  before  our  College 
and  along  it  you  may  see  every  day,  men,  women  and  children,  on 
foot  or  in  wagons  and  other  vehicles,  cows,  horses,  carts,  emigrating 
westward  and  forming  a  complete  procession.  Whole  bands  have  to 
wait  at  the  ferry-boat,  which  is  a  pretty  large  steam-boat  and  is  al- 
most always  crowded.  Others  arrive  from  Pittsburg,  Wheeling  and 
other  places  on  the  Ohio,  especially  Louisville,  in  steamboats  and  flat- 
boats.  Even  this  morning,  17th  of  November,  a  part  of  an  Indian 
tribe  has  arrived  here  from  the  limits  of  Canada  via  Pittsburg  and  the 
remainder  of  the  tribe  is  soon  expected  .  .  .  they  are  all  civilized, 
dress  like  white  men  and  are  going  to  form  a  settlement  in  the  Arkansas 
Territory.     I  would  suppose  that  they  are  Catholics."1"' 

St.  Charles  County  retained  a  large  part  of  these  seekers  of 
new  homes.  For  two  years  after  the  erection  of  the  new  church  at 
Dardenne  it  Avas  found  too  small  for  the  crowd  of  worshippers  who 
flocked  to  it  from  all  sides.  The  Catholic  settlers  of  Dardenne  dis- 
trict had  indeed  become  a  church-going  people,  as  the  ' '  Annual  Letters ' ' 
frequently  testify. 

Two  other  missionary  stations  on  the  Missouri  River  must  be 
mentioned  here,  although  they  Avere  first  visited  by  Father  Charles 
De  La  Croix,  Cote  Sans  Dessein  and  Franklin.  Mother  Duchesne 
writes  to  the  sainted  Mother  Barat  from  St.  Charles  under  date  of 
February  15,  1819:  "Father  De  La  Croix,  a  Fleming,  and  our  ex- 
traordinary Confessor,  has  just  come  back  from  a  part  of  Missouri 
which  no  missionaries  had  yet  visited.  There  are  noAv  two  stations 
there,  one  at  Cote  Sans  Dessein,  which  he  has  consecrated  to  the 
Apostle  St.  Paul,  and  Avhere  there  are  twenty-two  families;  the  other 


14     "Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  vol.  VIII,  p.  285. 
1-">     ATan    de    Velde    quoted    by    Garraghan    in    M.    S.    "History    of    the    Missouri 
Province, ' '  p.  430. 


522  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

at  Boonslick  or  Franklin,  he  has  dedicated  to  St.  Francis  de  Sales. 
There  he  gave  a  mission  attended  even  by  Protestants,  and  fruitful 
for  the  Catholics.  Some  Protestants  there  are  allowing  their  children 
to  be  instructed  in  the  true  faith  by  a  catechist  lately  appointed"10 

Cote  Sans  Dessein  was  first  mentioned  in  authentic  writing  by 
Brackenridge  in  his  Journal,  published  in  Pittsburg  in  1814: 

"Cote  Sans  Dessein  is  a  beautiful  place  situated  on  the  N.  E. 
side  of  the  (Missouri)  river  and  in  sight  of  the  Osage.  It  will  in 
time  become  a  considerable  village.  The  beauty  and  fertility  of  the 
surrounding  country  cannot  be  surpassed.  It  is  here  that  we  met 
with  the  first  appearance  of  prairies  on  the  Missouri,  but  it  is  hand- 
somely mixed  with  woodland  .  .  .  The  name  is  given  to  the  place 
from  the  circumstances  of  a  single  detached  hill  filled  with  limestone, 
standing  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  about  500  yards  long,  and  very 
narrow.  The  village  has  been  established  about  three  years;  there 
are  thirteen  French  families,  and  two  or  three  of  them  Indian.  They 
have  handsome  fields  in  the  prairies,  but  the  greater  part  of  their 
time  is  spent  in  hunting."17 

Brackenridge 's  prophesy  was  not  fulfilled,  as  the  village  was 
swept  away  by  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  Cote  Sans  Dessein 
lay  in  Callaway  County  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Osage  River, 
Franklin  in  Howard  County  opposite  Boonville. 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  told  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  that 
the  Jesuits  of  Georgetown  intended  to  build  a  large  establishment 
in  Franklin.  Father  Verreidt  visited  both  places  on  his  quarterly 
rounds,  which  usually  lasted  six  weeks.  Father  Timmermans,  how- 
ever, was  the  first  Jesuit  to  come  to  Cote  Sans  Dessein. 


16     Erskine,  Marjorie,  "Life  of  Mother  Du  Chesne, "  p.  198. 
i"     Brackenridge,  Henry,  Journal,  p.  209. 


Chapter  12 
THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD  IN  THE  WILDERNESS 


The  great  currents  of  immigration  that  had  set  in  towards  the 
northwest  from  the  eastern  and  southern  states  and  from  beyond  the 
sea,  naturally  followed  the  courses  of  the  rivers  and  streams  and,  spread- 
ing over  the  valleys  and  hillsides,  formed  innumerable  settlements 
under  primitive  conditions.  In  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  there 
were  three  main  arteries  of  this  modern  wandering  of  the  nations,  the 
Missouri,  the  Mississippi  and  the  Illinois:  these  and  their  tributaries 
received  the  almost  exclusive  benefit  of  the  mighty  vivifying  inunda- 
tion. In  regard  to  the  spiritual  interests  of  these  newcomers,  especial- 
ly of  the  Catholics  among  them,  the  chief  duty  devolved  upon  the  Jesuits, 
who  were  now  firmly  established  in  St.  Louis,  St.  Charles  and  Floris- 
sant. The  three  great  districts  of  recent  settlements  of  Catholics  were 
along  the  Missouri  as  far  as  Westport  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas 
River,  then  the  Salt  River  district  north  of  St.  Louis  along  the 
Mississippi,  and  finally  the  northern  part  of  Illinois  which  was  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis. 

As  the  Lazarist  Fathers,  and  the  secular  clergy  were  settled  in 
the  old  parishes  and  missionary  stations  of  Missouri  and  Illinois  south 
of  the  episcopal  city,  the  Jesuits  felt  it  incumbent  upon  themselves 
to  foster  the  virtue  of  faith  in  the  wilderness  of  the  north  on  both  sides 
of  the  Mississippi.  In  this  work  the  newly  established  residence  at 
St.  Charles,  being  north  of  the  Missouri  River,  proved  a  true  coign 
of  vantage  to  them. 

The  early  Catholic  immigration  from  beyond  the  sea  to  the  valley 
of  the  Missouri  was  from  the  various  parts  of  Germany,  preeminently 
from  Westphalia  and  Bavaria,  and  the  Rhineland.  These  Catholic 
immigrants,  however,  were  not  the  pioneer  settlers :  others  had  pre- 
ceded them  from  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  from  Illinois  and  Kentucky  : 
The  towns  of  Franklin,  Boonville,  Columbia,  and  Liberty  had  been 
founded  by  them.  But  the  work  of  the  Germans  began  in  the  early 
thirties  and  continued  long  after  Father  Quickenborne's  advent  in  North 
Missouri.  The  land  was  cheap  yet  very  good,  and  the  glowing  descrip- 
tions of  Missouri's  beauty  and  fertility  by  travelers  like  Duden,1  as 
well  as  his   followers   already   settled    on   their   farms,    drew   ever   in- 


1  Duden,  Gottfried,  "Bericht  ueber  eine  Reise  naeh  den  westlichen  Staaten 
Nord-Amerika's, "  1829.  Translation  into  English  by  William  S.  Beck  in  the 
"Missouri  Historical  Eeview, "  vol.  XII,  ss. 

(523) 


524  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

creasing  numbers  of  sturdy,  honest,  and  deeply  religious  families  to 
that  "Paradise  of  the  West,"  Missouri.  Though  disappointed  in  their 
fervid  anticipations,  they  did  not  despair,  but  set  to  work  resolutely 
and  created  their  own  little  paradise  of  a  home  for  themselves  out  of 
the  rough  materials  of  the  wilderness. 

By  one  provision  of  the  Concordat  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans 
ceded  and  surrendered  "to  the  Society  of  Jesus  the  absolute  and  ex- 
clusive care  of  all  the  missions  already  established,  and  which  shall 
hereafter  be  established  on  the  Missouri  River  and  its  tributary  streams. ' ' 
We  have  seen  with  what  energy  and  holy  zeal  Father  Van  Quicken- 
borne  and  his  assistant  Father  Timmermans  undertook  this  work  Provi- 
dence had  carved  out  for  them.  Hancock  Prairie  and  Cote-Sans-Dessein 
were  among  the  earliest  stations  visited  by  the  latter.  Father  De 
Theux  in  the  Spring  of  1827  sought  out  the  Catholic  settlements  scat- 
tered within  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  distance  to  the  north  and 
west.  In  1828  Father  Verhaegen  arrived  in  Jefferson  City,  the  first 
priest  to  set  his  eye  on  the  rising  walls  of  Missouri's  Capital.  Father 
Verreydt's  quarterly  rounds  carried  him  over  a  great  part  of  north- 
western Missouri  as  far  as  Council  Bluffs  in  Iowa  and  Sugar  Creek 
and  St.  Mary's  in  Kansas.  One  excursion  .in  the  direction  of  Franklin 
in  Howard  County  lasted  six  weeks  and  brought  him  through  Hancock 
Prairie,  Cote-Sans-Dessein,  the  fords  of  the  Gasconade,  Jefferson  City, 
Franklin  and  Booneville.  These  journeys  had  to  be  made  on  horse- 
back; the  hospitality  extended  to  the  missionary,  though  hearty  and 
cheerful,  was  in  accordance  with -the  condition  of  the  settlers,  rough 
and  poor.  The  Catholic  population  of  the  Missouri  River  district,  in 
1836  had  grown  to  about  six  hundred.  No  doubt,  many  more  lay 
hidden  away  in  the  nooks  and  corners  of  this  wide  area:  but  the 
actual  number  was,  as  yet,  very  small.  What  there  was,  however, 
formed  the  seed-grain  for  coming  harvests.  Here  is  the  statement  of 
the  status  of  Catholicity  in  the  interior  of  the  state  as  preserved  for 
us  in  the  Annual  Letters  of  1837.  The  number  of  Catholic  inhabitants 
follows  the  name  of  the  town  visited. 

"On  the  right  bank  of  the  Missouri:  (1)  Manchester,  10,  a  great 
crowd  of  non-catholics,  many  of  them  well  disposed  towards  the  faith, 
also  attended  the  services.  (2)  Merrimac,  14.  (3)  Washington,  11 8. 
The  people  here  are  building  a  church  for  us,  39  by  49  feet,  and 
have  given  us  ten  acres  of  land.  (4)  Burbus,  11.  (5)  Bailey's  Creek, 
22.  Preparations  are  here  being  made  for  a  church.  (6)  French 
Village,  24.  (7)  Mary  Creek,  80.  The  people  wish  to  build  a  church. 
The  place  seems  suitable  for  a  residence.  (8)  Jefferson  9.  (9)  Boone- 
ville, 20.  On  the  left  bank:  (10)  Fayette,  1.  (11)  Columbia,  11. 
(12)   Chariton,  2.      (13)   Rocheport,  26.     A  church  here  is  projected. 


The  (load  Shepherd  in  the   Wilderness  525 

(14)  Cote-Sans-Dessein,  63.  (15)  Hancock  Prairie,  14.  (16)  Port- 
land, 14.  (17)  Lay  Creek,  34.  (18)  Marthasville,  3.  (19)  Mount 
Pleasant,  30.  On  a  single  circuit  of  these  stations,  about  150  confes- 
sions were  heard  and  115  Communions  distributed."2 

One  of  the  two  principal  highways  of  immigrant  travel  starting 
from  St.  Charles  led  in  a  northwesterly  course  through  Lincoln,  Pike, 
Ralls  and  Marion  Counties  and  beyond.  Along  this  road  were  a  number 
of  small  towns,  Troy,  Alexandria,  Bowling  Green,  New  London,  Palmyra. 
This  entire  region  was  called  the  ' '  Salt  River  district, ' '  named  so  from 
a  tributary  of  the  Mississippi,  having  its  mouth  at  Louisiana  in  Pike 
County.  The  first  missionary  to  visit  the  Salt  River  district  was  Father 
Felix  Verreydt.  He  reported  that  the  Catholics  were  scattered  over  a 
wide  stretch  of  territory.  They  were  for  the  most  part  immigrants  from 
Kentucky.  Father  John  Elet,  coming  a  little  later,  found  that  the  chil- 
dren of  all  families  excepting  one,  had  been  baptized  by  Protestant 
ministers:  But  he  also  records  one  beautiful  instance  of  heroic  faith 
among  these  forlorn  settlers.  A  Mrs.  Shields,  whose  Inisband  was  a 
Presbyterian,  journeyed  several  times,  with  her  daughters,  all  the  way 
to  Kentucky,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  holy  communion.  She  did 
not  know  that  there  were  English-speaking  priests  any  nearer.  Accord- 
ing to  the  report  made  by  Father  Van  Quickenborne  to  the  Maryland 
Superior,  "Father  Elet  had  three  stations,  Buffalo  Creek,  Louisiana 
and  New  London.  Mass  was  said  in  private  houses:  and  the  services 
were  well  attended  even  by  Protestants. 

Many  a  touching  scene  the  good  Father  witnessed  in  suddenly 
coming  upon  some  poor  Catholic  family  in  some  forest  glade,  believing 
itself  to  be  forsaken  by  all  and  bereft  forever  of  the  consolations  of 
religion,  and  now  to  have  a  visit,  an  unhoped  for  visit,  from  a  Catholic 
priest.  It  filled  the  missionary's  heart  with  joy  and  the  hearts  of  the 
people  with  new  hopes  and  aspirations/1 

Father  Verreydt  continued  his  ministrations  from  his  base  of  oper- 
ations in  St.  Charles  until  the  arrival  of  Father  Peter  Paul  Lefevere, 
the  future  Bishop  of  Detroit  in  1833.  No  Jesuit  Residence  was  estab- 
lished in  the  district,  although  the  plan  of  placing  one  at  New  London 
was  spoken  of  by  Father  De  Theux  in  1831. 

It  was  only  after  the  Black  Hawk  war  that  the  northern  half  of 
Illinois  was  opened  to  white  settlers.  Indeed,  there  were  some  small 
towns  and  villages  on  the  Mississippi,  and  on  the  Illinois  River :  Yet  the 
interior    was    one    great    primeval    wilderness    of    prairies,    with    small 


2     Annual  Letters  of  1837. 

a     Letters  of  Fathers  Elet,  Verreydt  and  Van  Quickenborne  in  the  Archives  of 
St.  Louis  Andidiocese. 


526  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

clumps  of  woodland  scattered  here  and  there  The  Indians,  or  rather 
the  dread  of  Indian  power  and  cruelty,  held  sway  over  the  dreaming 
solitude.1 

The  Jesuit  apostle  of  Northern  Missouri  had  returned  from  the 
mission  to  a  quiet  nook  in  the  College  of  St.  Louis,  where  he  taught 
Latin  and  thought  of  new  conquests  for  Christ. 

In  the  Spring  of  1832  he  began  his  missionary  journeys  in  Illinois 
and  southern  Iowa,  which  earned  for  him  the  title  of  the  Apostle  of 
the  Faith  in  Northwestern  Illinois.  Father  Van  Quickenborne  made  at 
least  six  missionary  excursions  during  the  years  1832,  1833  and  1834. 
The  first  of  these  made  in  May  and  June  1832  through  the  Salt  River 
country  in  Missouri  resulted  in  42  baptisms :  then  crossing  over  to 
Illinois  in  August  he  exercised  his  ministry  in  Edwardsville,  Wood 
River,  Springfield,  Lick  Creek,  Brush  Creek,  Bear  Creek,  Flat  Branch, 
Sangamon  River,  Indian  Creek,  Head  of  the  Rapids,  (Warsaw)  Crooked 
Creek,  Fort  Edwards  and  Quincy,  then  crossing  over  to  Keokuk,  Iowa, 
he  returned  to  St.  Louis  by  way  of  the  Salt  River  country,  including 
Florida  in  Monroe  County.  Palmyra  and  Louisiana.  The  next  apostolic 
journey  in  February  and  March  1833  was  confined  to  Illinois,  chiefly 
Calhoun  and  Schuyler  Counties,  with  a  harvest  of  twenty-two  bap- 
tisms. The  fourth,  during  May  and  June  1833  led  through  St.  Clair, 
Madison,  Sangamon,  Montgomery  and  Shelby  Counties;  the  fifth  in 
July  1833  included  visits  to  Galena,  Dubuque,  Mill  Seat  and  Gratiot's 
Grove.  These  names  of  places  thus  hurriedly  enumerated  may  mean 
but  little  or  nothing  to  a  modern  reader :  Yet  to  Father  Quickenborne 
they  meant  very  much,  each  one  representing  a  little  oasis  of  the  Faith 
amid  the  broad  extent  of  a  new  world  just  rising  from  the  dereliction 
of  six  thousand  years.  5 

"In  the  course  of  a  single  year,"  as  Father  De  Theux  informs 
us,  "Father  Van  Quickenborne  travelled  4,373  miles,  baptized  213 
persons,  83  of  whom  were  converts  to  the  Faith,  discovered  more  than 
600  Catholics  in  Illinois  and  more  than  700  in  a  part  of  Missouri, 
where  eight  or  nine  years  before  he  knew  of  scarcely  more  than  eight. '  '6 

These  toilsome  journeys  in  search  of  the  scattered  members  of 
Christ's  flock  in  Illinois  and  northeastern  Missouri  were  after  1835 
continued  by  other  missionaries,  diocesan  and  regular,  Mazzuchelli, 
McMahon,  St.  Cyr,  Lefevere,  Hilary  Tucker,  Briekwedde,  Hamilton 
and  the  Lazarists  Raho  and  Parodi.  the  ever  ready  and  tireless  Van 
Quickenborne    even   then   turning    up    in    unexpected    calls    where    his 


4  Cf.  Ford's  "History  of  Illinois,"  passim. 

5  Van  Quickenborne  to  Eosati  in  Archives  of  the  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

6  De  Theux  to  Eosati,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


The  Good  Shepherd  in  the  Wilderness  527 

presence  seemed  desirable.  But  in  the  Missouri  settlements  the  Jesuit 
ministrations  to  the  Catholic  pioneers  in  town  and  village  and  country 
were  extended,  until  1838,  from  the  Indian  Missionary  centers  among 
the  Kickapoos,  the  Potawattomi  Indians  both  of  Council  Bluffs  and 
of  Sugar  Creek. 

To  these  important  foundations  we  must,  after  reviewing  the  work 
done  by  the  diocesan  clergy  and  the  Lazarist  Fathers,  turn  our  attention. 
It  was  pre-eminently  for  the  Indian  Missions  the  Jesuits  had  come 
to  the  West.  What  they  accomplished  in  this  arduous  line  of  evan- 
gelization, so  long  delayed  by  adverse  circumstances,  yet  so  gladly 
undertaken,  forms  one  of  the  crowning  glories  of  the  devoted  Society 
of  Jesus. 


Chapter  13 
THREE  CROWDED  YEARS  OF  BISHOP  ROSATI'S  LIFE 


The  period  of  Cathedral  building  by  Bishop  Rosati  in  St.  Louis 
was  also  a  period  of  strenuous  and,  we  may  add,  efficient  upbuilding 
of  the  spiritual  edifice  of  the  church  in  ever  widening  circles  from 
the  episcopal  city  as  its  center.  The  wisdom  and  energy  and  patient 
care  of  the  Bishop  in  choosing  the  proper  men  for  the  various  positions 
of  trust,  then  supporting  them  as  best  he  could,  with  the  slender 
means  at  his  disposal,  and  bearing  with  their  shortcomings  and  indio- 
syncraeies  and  even  flat  failures,  are  really  worthy  of  the  deepest 
admiration.  On  the  other  hand  the  spirit  of  devotion  to  their  calling 
manifested  by  the  great  majority  of  the  clergy,  both  regular  and 
diocesan,  and  the  members  of  the  various  sisterhoods,  is  truly  inspiring. 
There  may  have  been  but  few  among  Bishop  Rosati 's  secular  priests 
who  could  be  called  extraordinary  men  in  natural  gifts,  or  cultural 
acquirements :  yet,  for  the  most  part,  they  were  true  priests,  of  strong 
and  simple  faith,  and  burning  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  Of  the 
two  religious  Orders,  laboring  in  the  diocese  at  that  time,  the  Lazarists 
and  the  Jesuits,  the  same  can  be  said  and  more:  They  had  among  their 
members  a  number  of  men,  whose  superior  talents,  made  them  worthy 
of  the  episcopate,  though  not  all  attained  it,  men  like  Portier,  De  Neck- 
ere,  Odin,  Timon,  Van  de  Velde  and  others.  Theirs  was  the  honorable 
and  arduous  office  of  pathfinders  and  pioneers,  aud  nobly  have  they 
fulfilled  its  requirements.  But  the  secular  clergy  also  were  employed 
in  the  laborious  task  of  planting  the  faith  in  the  wild  and  refractory 
soil  of  early  Missouri,  Illinois  and  Arkansas. 

Men  of  heroic  mold  like  Peter  Paul  Lefevere,  or  at  least,  approach- 
ing the  height  of  that  untiring  missionary's  courage  and  constancy, 
men  like  John  McMahon  of  Galena,  Ennemond  Dupuy  of  Arkansas. 
Irenaeus  Saint  Cyr  of  Chicago,  Benedict  Roux  of  Kansas  City,  Hilary 
Tucker  of  Quincy,  Florentine  Brickwedde  founder  of  the  German 
parish  in  Quincy  and  of  the  first  parochial  school  in  Illinois,  and 
George  Hamilton  of  Springfield  and  Alton,  must  forever  occupy  a 
distinguished  place  in  our  early  ecclesiastical  Annals,  side  by  side 
with  the  great  names  of  Van  Quickenborne,  Timon  and  Mazzuchelli  and 
their  associates.  But  the  greatest  name  of  all,  the  guiding  spirit  and 
loyal  supporter  of  the  grand  missionary  movement  of  the  Thirties  was 
Joseph  Rosati,  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis.  Before  we  enter  upon  the 
cheering  account  of  the  work  of  these  lowly  apostles  of  the  diocesan 

(528) 


Three  Crowded  Years  of  Bishop  Rosati' s  Life  529 

clergy,  a  brief  conspectus  of  the  more  personal  acts  and  events  of  the 
Bishop's  life  at  this  time  must  be  given.  The  Diary  of  Bishop  Rosati 
contains  the  story.1 

On  August  1st,  1831,  Bishop  Rosati  blessed  and  laid  the  corner- 
stone of  his  Cathedral,  thus  solemnly  initiating  a  new  era  of  religious 
life  in  the  city  and  of  the  greatest  expansion  of  the  diocese.  On  the 
26th,  he  visited  Major  Biddle,  wounded  in  the  duel  with  Benton  and, 
on  the  29th,  received  him  into  the  church,  Father  Saulnier  administer- 
ing the  sacraments  to  the  dying  man. 

On  September  27th,  the  Bishop  gave  permission  to  the  Sisters  of 
Loretto  at  the  Barrens  to  found  a  house  at  Apple  Creek,  where  a  new- 
church  was  then  near  completion.  Speaking  of  the  German  immigrants 
that  made  up  the  progressive  settlement  of  Apple  Creek,  Bishop 
Rosati  writes:  "It  is  a  good  acquisition  for  the  community  at  large  and 
for  religion  in  particular.  These  good  Germans  are  very  industrious 
and  useful  citizens  and  excellent  Catholics." 

On  October  1st,  the  Bishop  with  a  great  cavalcade  of  priests  and 
Seminarians  rode  from  Perryville  to  St.  Michaels,  Fredericktown,  and 
thence  to  Old  Mines,  where  he  dedicated  the  new  church  of  St.  Joachin, 
(October  9th.)  and  visited  Richwoods,  a  new  mission  twelve  miles  distant 
from  Old  Mines.  On  November  3rd,  Bishop  Rosati  and  the  trustees 
of  St.  Louis  Cathedral  sold  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg  a  part  of  the  annual 
payments  due  from  Messrs.  Martin  and  Lavail  on  account  of  the  lease 
of  the  northern  half  of  the  church  block. 

On  the  20th,  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary  he  ordained  John  McMahon. 
Ennemond  Dupuy,  Vital  Van  Clostere,  Peter  Paul  Lefevere  and  Peter 
F.  Beauprez  to  the  priesthood,  and  Irenaeus  St.  Cyr  to  deaconship. 
Proceeding  across  the  river  to  Kaskaskia  he  confirmed  Mrs.  Morisson, 
once  a  bitter  opponent  of  the  Catholic  religion,  but  now  its  most 
strenuous  defender. 

On  the  28th,  he  sends  Father  Saulnier  and  Beauprez  to  the  mission 
(.('  Arkansas. 

The  diocese  now  had  seventeen  churches  and  thirty-five  priests. 
The  year  1832  opens  auspiciously  with  the  announcement  from  Rome 
that  the  Pope  had  assigned  three  thousand  dollars  to  the  building  fund 
of  the  Cathedral.  On  March  6th,  the  Bishop  received  a  visit  from  an 
emissary  of  John  Smith,  the  Mormon  leader,  who  requested  the  privi- 
lege of  preaching  his  doctrine  in  the  Cathedral. 

The  Bishop  demands,  as  an  evidence  of  the  divine  origin  of  his 
mission,  that  the  preacher  of  the  new  religion  perform  the  miracle  of 
raising  the  dead  to  life.   The  Mormon  preacher  then  departs.    On  March 


i     Diary  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


530  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

11th,  a  large  number  of  German  Catholic  families  arrive  in  St.  Louis: 
the  bishop  directs  them  to  the  neighborhood  of  Old  Mines.  On  the 
17th,  Deodal  Taylor,  a  convert  from  Montreal,  proposes  to  bring  his 
paper  The  Catholic  Press  to  St.  Louis.  "1  will  assist  him  with 
all  my  power."  The  first  Shepherd  of  the  \'<ttl<  y  was  the  outcome 
of  this  visit.  On  April  22nd,  two  students  from  the  Barrens  leave  for 
Home  to  pursue  their  theological  studies  in  the  College  of  the  Propa- 
ganda. They  were  Hilary  Tucker  and  George  Hamilton.  Both  of  these 
young  men  kept  up  a  spirited  correspondence  with  Bishop  Rosati 
all  through  their  stay  in  the  Eternal  City.  On  the  next  day  Fathers 
Paillasson  and  Lefevere  start  for  their  mission  in  New  Madrid.  On 
May  6th,  Father  Verhaegen,  at  the  Bishop's  request,  blessed  the  chapel 
of  St.  Mary,  in  the  building  that  once  housed  the  St.  Louis  College,  now 
suppressed  in  favor  of  the  new  St.  Louis  College  of  the  Jesuits.  St. 
Mary's  Chapel  was  assigned  to  the  Catholic  Negroes:  In  1834  it  became 
the  house  of  worship  for  the  German  Catholics. 

On  May  15th,  the  Bishop  was  overjoyed  at  receiving  from  the 
Leopoldine  Association  of  the  Austrian  Empire  the  munificent  sum 
of  20,000  francs.  Of  this  sum  he  gave  to  Deodat  Taylor  $200.00  for 
the  paper  to  be  established  in  St.  Louis,  and  to  Father  Francis  Cellini 
$100,  for  the  Sisters  House  of  Fredericktown,  and  $500,  for  the  new 
church  at  Apple  Creek.  July  4th,  the  national  holiday  was  celebrated 
with  all  patriotic  appurtenances  of  the  occasion.  On  the  16th,  the 
Bishop  administered  confirmation  at  Portage  des  Sioux.  Sixty  new 
German  Catholic  families  have  lately  arrived  to  infuse  fresh  life  into 
the  old  parish. 

Bishop  De  Neckere  is  determined  on  resigning  his  charge  of  New 
Orleans  and  wishes  Anthony  Blanc  to  succeed  him.  Father  Blanc  is 
appointed  De  Neckere 's  coadjutor,  but  sends  back  the  bulls  of  appoint- 
ment. Both  are  in  earnest  consulation  with  Bishop  Rosati.  On  August 
10th,  Bishop  Rosati  promises  $300  to  Father  Bouillier  for  his  new 
house  at  Old  Mines.  On  the  16th,  Father  Van  Clostere  is  appointed 
to  Prairie  du  Rocher,  O 'Haras,  English  Settlement,  James  Settlement 
and  Harrisonville.  On  the  20th,  Father  Verhaegen  blessed  and  laid 
the  cornerstone  for  the  new  stone  church  of  St.  Peter  at  Gravois,  now 
called  Kirkwood,  and  two  days  later  the  Bishop  sent  Father  McMahon 
to  the  northernmost  part  of  the  diocese,  Fever  River  and  Prairie  du 
Chein.  On  September  2nd,  the  Bishop  consecrated  the  new  Church 
of  St.  Ferdinand  of  Florissant.  On  October  4th,  he  sends  Father  Dupuy 
to  the  Arkansas  mission,  promising  him  an  annual  subsidy  of  $150,  and 
giving  him  the  $400,  which  Father  Saulnier  had  collected  in  New 
Orleans  for  a  church  at  the  Post  of  Arkansas. 


Three  Crowded  Years  of  Bishop  Eosati's  Life  531 

On  Oct.  13th,  the  Bishop  instructs  Father  Timon  at  the  Barrens 
that  the  little  Loretto  community  of  Apple  Creek  be  recalled  to  the 
Motherhouse,  and  that  the  Sisters  may  proceed  to  St.  Michaels,  Fred- 
ericktown  and  New  Madrid. 

On  December  3rd,  Father  Lefevere  is  appointed  to  the  missions 
of  the  Salt  River  region  in  Northeastern  Missouri,  with  residence  at 
St.  Paul. 

Almost  all  December  was  spent  by  Bishop  Rosati  in  Bardstown 
in  giving  comfort  and  counsel  to  Bishop  Flaget  in  what  was  probably 
his  most  serious  trouble.  The  venerable  Bishop  of  Bardstown  had  re- 
signed his  position,  and  Bishop  David  succeeded  him.  But  the  entire 
diocese  was  shocked  and  grieved  at  the  idea  of  losing  their  saintly 
prelate.  .  .  Bishop  Rosati 's  advice  was  decisive.  Bishop  David  sent 
his  resignation  to  Rome,  which  was  accepted,  and  Bishop  Flaget  was 
reappointed,  with  Father  Chabrat  as  his  coadjutor.  Thus  Bishop  Flaget 
came  to  be  the  first  and  the  third  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  David  being 
the  second. 

Bishop  Rosati  started  for  St.  Louis  on  January  24th,  1833,  and 
arrived  there  on  February  1st.  He  brought  with  him  M.  Marellano  as 
Cathedral  organist  at  a  salary  of  $100.  On  the  4th,  he  promulgated  the 
Decrees  of  the  First  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  and  issued  the 
call  for  a  Diocesan  Synod  to  assemble  on  the  third  Sunday  after  Pente- 
cost. On  the  12th,  he  gives  Father  Timon  permission  to  send  Loretto 
Sisters  to  Old  Mines.  The  Sisters  of  Charity  are  building  a  house 
on  their  lot  in  Carondelet.  The  Easter  Collection  in  the  Cathedral 
amounted  to  $150. 

On  April  16th,  Bishop  Rosati  received  a  petition  from  Chicago, 
which  was  then  a  rough  little  frontier  town,  asking  for  a  priest.  A. 
H.  Taylor,  a  brother  Deodat,  brought  the  petition  and  explained  that 
there  were  about  one  hundred  Catholics  in  the  place,  and  many  more 
non-catholics  inclined  to  join  the  Church :  and  that  the  Indians  at 
Chicago  had  received  permission  from  the  U.  S.  Government  to  donate 
2500  acres  of  land  near  the  town  to  any  priest  that  might  be  sent 
there.  Prompt  action  was  necessary,  said  Mr.  Taylor.  The  Bishop 
acted  immediately.  On  the  next  day  he  wrote  in  his  Diary  that, 
considering  the  urgent  necessity  in  which  the  Catholics  of  Chicago 
found  themselves,  he  had  made  use  of  the  faculties  of  Vicar  General 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  the  ordinary  of  the 
Eastern  part  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  he  had  decided  to  send  Father 
John  Mary  Saint  Cyr  to  that  place,  until  further  notice,  and  that  he 
had  informed  Bishop  Flaget  concerning  his  act  and  the  motives  for  it. 
On  April  18th,  Father  St.  Cyr  was  on  his  way  across  the  boundless 
prairie  to  Chicago  where  he  arrived  on  May  1,  1833. 


532  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 

In  Augusl  the  Bishop  receives  an  invitation  to  attend  the  Second 
Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore.  John  B.  Pureed  had  been  appointed 
Bishop  of  Cincinnati  and  Frederick  lire  of  Detroit.  The  latter  invited 
Bishop  Rosati  to  act  as  his  consecrator  on  October  6th,  in  Cincinnati 
on  his  way  to  Baltimore.   Bishop  Rosati  accepted  both  invitations. 

( >n  September  23rd,  the  Bishop  starts  for  Baltimore  in  company 
of  Fathers  John  M.  Odin,  C.  M.  and  Peter  De  Smet,  S.  J.  At  Cincin- 
nati he  consecrates  Bishop  Reze  (October  6th).  The  Council  opens 
on  October  20th.  As  far  as  Bishop  Rosati  was  concerned,  the  most 
important  business  was  the  division  of  Illionis  lid  ween  the  dioceses  of 
St.  Louis  and  Vincennes.  The  special  Committee  of  three  Bishops, 
with  Rosati  as  chairman,  proposed  that  the  limits  dividing  the  two 
adjoining  dioceses,  should  be  a  line  drawn  from  Fort  Massac  on  the 
Ohio  River,  and  north  to  that  part  of  the  Illinois  River  called  the 
Great  Rapids,  eight  miles  above  the  town  of  Ottawa  in  La  Salle  County 
and  thence  to  the  Northern  limits  of  Illinois.  The  report  was  approved 
by  the  Council  and  later  on  by  the  Holy  See,  thus  rendering  the 
provisional  administration  of  Western  Illinois  by  St.  Louis,  a  perma- 
nent one.  The  Mission  of  Chicago  now  fell  to  the  care  of  the  Bishop 
of  Vincennes:  but  at  Bishop  Brute's  earnest  request,  Father  St.  Cyr 
was  sent  back  to  Chicago. 

It  wTas  on  the  occasion  of  the  Council  that  Bishop  Rosati  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  of  Philadelphia,  Vicar  General, 
President  of  the  Seminary,  and  editor  of  the  Catholic  Herald. 

The  young  priest  seems  to  have  made  a  favorable  impression  on  the 
visiting  prelate :  on  a  later  occasion  Bishop  Rosati  described  our  Peter 
Richard  with  the  comprehensive  term:  sacerdos  numeris  omnibus 
dbsolutus.  A  Decree  was  proposed  and  accepted  by  which  all  the 
faculties  which  the  priests  of  all  American  dioceses  enjoyed  outside 
of  their  own  through  a  certain  compact  of  the  various  bishops,  were 
declared  to  have  ceased.  But  all  the  Bishops  gave  each  other  the  privi- 
lege of  exercising  all  priestly  functions  in  their  respective  dioceses. 

By  the  end  of  the  year  Bishop  Rosati  was  at  home  once  more. 
On  December  28th,  he  records  that  he  had  given  Withnell  and  Coutts 
the  contract  to  build  the  bell  tower  of  his  Cathedral,  of  cut  stone,  forty 
feet  high,  at  a  cost  of  $4000. 

According  to  Bishop  Rosati  ?s  report  on  the  condition  of  the  diocese 
there  were  nineteen  Congregations  wdth  churches,  and  ten  without  church- 
es. Thirteen  with  resident  priest,  fourteen  that  received  regular  visits 
from  elsewhere,  and  four  that  had  been  founded  within  the  year.  There 
were  thirty-six  priests,  the  bishop  included:  three  had  died  in  the  year, 
six  had  joined  the  diocese,  and  two  had  been  ordained.    Ten  of  the  total 


Three  Crowded  Years  of  Bishop  Rosati's  Life  533 

number  were  Lazarists,  eleven  Jesuits  and  fourteen  of  the  diocesan 
clergy. 

The  congregations  with  churches  were  St.  Louis,  Carondelet,  Floris- 
sant, St.  Charles,  Portage  des  Sioux,  Dardenne,  Gravois,  Salt  River, 
Old  Mines,  Potosi,  St.  Genevieve,  Little  Canada,  The  Barrens,  Apple 
Creek  and  New  Madrid,  all  in  the  State  of  Missouri:  then  in  Illinois. 
Cahokia,  OTiarasburg,  Prairie  du  Rocher  and  Kaskaskia.  St.  Mary's 
Seminary  had  four  priests  and  five  brothers  and  fourteen  Seminarians, 
the  College  at  the  Barrens  had  four  priests :  the  St.  Louis  College  of  the 
Jesuits  had  six  priests :  the  Novitiate  of  the  Jesuits  at  Florissant  had 
one  priest  and  a  number  of  brothers  and  novices. 

Father  De  Smet  is  marked  as  having  been  transferred  to  another 
diocese.  He  was  absent  in  Europe,  on  business  of  his  Order,  from  1833 
to  1837. 

On  his  return  to  St.  Louis  he  was  sent  with  one  Father  and  two 
brothers  to  found  the  Mission  among  the  Potawattomi  at  Council 
Bluffs.  The  Nuns  of  the  Sacred  Heart  had  three  Convents:  in  St.  Louis 
in  Florissant,  and  in  St.  Charles  with  twenty-one  members.  The  Sisters 
of  Loretto  had  four  houses :  Bethlehem  at  the  Barrens,  St.  Josephs  at 
Apple  Creek,  St.  Michaels  at  Fredericktown  and  the  late  foundation 
at  New  Madrid  with  twenty-seven  sisters.  The  Sisters  of  Charity  had 
the  Hospital  and  Orphanage  in  St.  Louis,  and  House  in  Carondelet  with 
twelve  sisters.  The  Sisters  of  the  Visitation  at  Kaskaskia  were  the  latest 
accession  to  the  Sisterhoods  of  St.  Louis  Diocese,  numbering  six  choir- 
sisters,  one  lay-sister,  one  novice,  the  well  known  Mary  Josephine  Barber, 
and  one  postulant.  The  Orphanage  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  contained 
twenty  boys,  and  that  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  seventeen 
girls. 

Thus  the  New  Year  1834  dawned  upon  many  slowly  evolving  plans 
for  the  perfection  and  extension  of  the  diocese.  Everything  looked 
propitious. 

The  new  Cathedral  was  nearing  completion ;  St  Louis  was  firmly 
established  as  the  center  of  Catholicity  in  the  West.  The  great  waves 
of  immigration  from  Catholic  Ireland,  and  the  Catholic  portions  of 
Germany  were  carrying  their  precious  human  freight  to  all  parts  of 
Missouri  and  Illinois,  and  depositing  it,  along  the  rivers  in  towns  and 
villages  and  country  settlements.  "A  good  number  of  German  Cath- 
olics have  come  to  St.  Louis,"  writes  Bishop  Rosati  about  this  time. 
' '  I  directed  some  of  them  to  Mr.  Roussin  at  Richwood,  where  there  is 
a  large  body  of  public  land  vacant,  and  I  think  they  will  find  the  place 
suitable  to  them.  Others  have  been  to  look  at  the  country  towards  St. 
Charles,  others  towards  Belleville.  A  large  number  of  the  same  class 
are  to  come.     I  expect  a  good  priest  from  Lorraine,  who  speaks  French 


534  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

and  German  and  is  actually  parish  priest  in  the  diocese  of  Nancy. 
St.  Mary's  will  soon  be  finished,  and  any  congregation  in  this  diocese 
would  feel  proud  to  have  such  a  fine  church." 

On  January  26th,  Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz  said  Mass  for  the 
German  Catholics  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Mary  and  preached  to  them  in 
their  native  language.  The  Bishop  ordered  this  practice  to  be  continued 
throughout  the  year,  and  all  Sundays  and  Feast  days  of  obligation.  On 
this  matter  we  would  quote  Msgr.  Holweck: 

"When  Father  Lutz.  the  'German  priest,'  in  November  1831,  set- 
tled down  at  St.  Louis  permanently,  a  new  field  of  labor  opened  to  him. 
A  large  number  of  Catholic  families  had  emigrated  from  the  various 
principalities  of  Germany  and  had  settled  in  the  rising  city  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  For  their  religious  needs  they  came 
to  Father  Lutz,  for  he  alone  could  speak  their  language.  He  has 
been  accused  of  purposely  neglecting  his  countrymen.  He  may  have 
shared  the  feeling  then  prevailing  at  the  Cathedral,  the  fear  of  a  third 
language  raising  its  head  and  demanding  recognition.  There  had  been 
so  much  bitter  feeling  in  the  parish  of  St.  Louis  on  account  of  the 
two  languages,  English  and  French;  and  now  the  Germans  also  de- 
manded sermon  and  prayer  and  instruction  in  their  own  language,  the 
compatriots  of  those  Germans  who  had  caused  so  much  strife  at  Phil- 
adelphia, Baltimore  and  elsewhere.  Good  Bishop  Rosati,  so  full  of  zeal 
for  the  salvation  of  souls,  was  mortally  afraid  of  them  and  their  priests. 

Still,  something  had  to  be  done  for  the  Germans.  Because  a  third 
language  coidd  not  be  introduced  in  the  Cathedral,  the  Bishop  gave 
orders  that  the  German  sermon  should  be  preached  in  St.  Mary's 
chapel,  south  of  the  Cathedral,  in  the  church  block.  This  chapel  had 
been  blessed  May  6th,  1832,  and  had  been  used  for  the  negroes.  There, 
on  Septuagesima  Sunday,  January  24th,  1834,  Father  Lutz,  for  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  St.  Louis,  preached  in  German  to  his  as- 
sembled compatriots.  Probably  this  was  the  first  German  sermon  Lutz 
preached  in  his  life.2 

In  the  "Relation  of  the  Consecration  of  St.  Louis  Cathedral"  which 
Bishop  Rosati  sent  to  Rome,  he  writes  about  the  language  question  and 
the  Germans:  "The  people  speak  three  languages:  English,  French  and 
German.  Very  many  Catholics  belonging  to  the  German  nation,  have 
come  and  are  still  coming  and  have  settled  in  this  diocese  and  city. 
Most  of  them  are  pious  and  industrious  and  are  an  honor  to  the  religion 
which  they  profess  in  word  and  deed.  We  have  to  preach  in  these  three 
languages.     Two  priests  and  one  cleric,  with  the  Bishop,  constitute  the 


2     Holweck,  F.  G.,  "Public  Places  of  Worship  in  St.  Louis  Prior  to  Palm  Sun- 
day, 1843,"  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,  vol.  4,  pp.  6  and  7. 


Three  Crowded  Years  of  Bishop  Rosati's  Lift  535 

clergy  of  this  parish.     In  the  meanwhile  a  Jesuit  Father  preaches  in 
English."3 

In  the  course  of  time  it  proved  irksome  to  the  Jesuit  Fathers  to 
be  obliged  to  preach  every  Sunday  at  the  Cathedral,  after  their  labori- 
ous duties  of  teaching  at  the  College.  But  they  continued  their  office  of 
charity  until  after  the  Synod  of  1839. 

On  April  2nd,  1834,  the  consecration  of  Father  Bouillier's  beauti- 
ful Church  at  Old  Mines,  under  the  invocation  of  St.  James  the  Greater, 
was  performed  by  Bishop  Rosati,  Father  John  Timon  preaching  on 
the  occasion. 

The  Pentecost  collection  at  the  Cathedral  amounted  to  $94.10.  On 
June  29th  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  Church  at  Carondelet,  was  bless- 
ed and  laid  by  Bishop  Rosati  under  the  invocation  of  "Our  Blessed 
Lady  of  Mount  Carmel. "  On  the  same  day  the  Bishop  received  notice 
from  Rome,  that  Father  Jean-Jean  had  been  appointed  Bishop  of  New 
Orleans.  Father  Jean- Jean  refused  to  accept.  On  October  21st,  Bishops 
Flaget,  Purcell,  and  Brute  arrived  for  the  solemnities  of  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  Cathedral.  The  consecration  was  held  on  the  26th  by  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  the  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Bishop  of  Cin- 
cinnati. 

On  the  28th,  the  Bishop  Elect  of  Vincennes,  Simon  Gabriel  Brute 
was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Rosati,  with  the  assistance  of  Bishops  Flaget 
and  Purcell.  On  the  following  Sunday  after  Solemn  Highmass  and 
Benediction  the  Blessed  Sacrament  was  carried  in  procession  to  the 
lower  chapel,  and  placed  in  the  altar,  dedicated  to  its  cultus,  where  it 
shall  be  preserved  hereafter :  on  November  3rd  the  three  visiting 
Bishops  departed  for  the  east.  As  a  kind  of  diversion  the  Bishop 
started  on  a  round  of  episcopal  visits  to  the  Barrens,  thence  to  St. 
Michaels,  the  Old  Mines  and  back  again  to  St.  Michaels.  The  journey  was 
performed  on  horseback.  On  the  way  to  St.  Michaels  the  Bishop  lost 
his  pectoral  cross.  On  December  26th,  1834,  Bishop  Rosati  received 
the  Papal  Bull  extending  his  diocese  to  the  line  he  had  suggested, 
from  Fort  Massac  to  the  Great  Rapids  of  the  Illinois  River,  eight  miles 
above  the  town  of  Ottawa  in  La  Salle  County,  Illinois.  The  varied 
incidents  and  activities  recorded  in  this  chapter  of  Bishop  Rosati's  life 
during  the  three  years  intervening  between  the  inception  and  the  comple- 
tion of  the  building  of  the  Cathedral,  convey  but  an  inadequate  idea 
of  the  total  work  accomplished  by  him.  His  multifarious  correspondence 
with  all  manner  of  men,  high  and  low,  clergy  and  lay-men,  official  and 
private  would,  in  itself,  have  exhausted  the  mental  and  physical  re- 


3     Cf.  Chapter  IX  of  this  book. 


536  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

sources  of  an  ordinary  man.4  Then  the  " sollicitudo  omnium  eccles- 
iarun,"  which  he  could  not  share  with  any  one,  the  constant  study  and 
effort  to  find  the  men  and  the  means  for  his  projects,  and  the  kindly 
offices  of  friendship  extended  to  all  his  priests,  the  pious  care  for  the 
various  Sisterhoods  employed  in  his  diocese  in  their  labor  of  love  for 
the  Indians,  the  poor,  the  sick,  the  aged  and  the  orphans,  and  lastly  his 
private  devotions  and  meditations  and  public  functions  and  instruc- 
tions fdled  almost  every  moment  of  his  laborious  life.  But,  really  great 
is  lie  that  can  accomplish  through  others  the  great  things  he  could 
never  accomplish  by  himself:  and  such  a  man  was  Bishop  Joseph  Rosati 
of  St.  Louis. 


4     Bishop   Rosati    was   a    graceful   writer   of    letters,    combining    the   weight    of 
matter  with  the  lightness  of  touch. 


l^r^&Z-  ft/*/*—  YtvtiaSrv^     **^r^5y      ^oUtm^J-    r"    S*«**l^ 


BISHOP  BRUTE  MAP  OF  WISCONSIN 


Chapter  14 
GALENA,  DUBUQUE  AND  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN 

I 

When  the  Black  Hawk  war  came  to  an  end  in  the  Fall  of  1832, 
and  opened  the  Rock  River  country,  just  south  of  Galena,  to  immigra- 
tion, the  necessity  of  providing  for  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  Catholic 
population  of  the  Fever  River  country,  became  insistent  once  more. 
The  name  of  the  region  was  sufficiently  ominous,  and  proved  to  be 
justified  by  the  early  death  of  the  two  first  resident  priests  sent  there 
by  Bishop  Rosati.  Fever  River  is  the  name  of  a  little  stream  in 
the  northwest  corner  of  Illinois.  The  region  round  about  it  and  also 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  is  rich  in  lead  mines,  and  very  early  drew  a 
considerable  number  of  Irish  settlers,  to  the  towns  of  Galena,  Gratiots 
Crove,  Irish  Grove  and  farther  north  to  Prairie  du  Chien.  Galena 
was  considered  the  best  location  for  a  church  and  priest  in  the  Fever 
River  country.  But  who  shall  undertake  the  arduous  task?  An 
Irish  priest  would  seem  to  be  best  adapted  to  meet  the  prevailing  con- 
ditions ;  there  was  but  one  available  priest  in  the  diocese,  Father  John 
McMahon,  quite  recently  ordained  at  the  Barrens. 

It  is  a  strange  pathetic  figure  that  here  breaks  into  the  light  of 
day,  one  whose  brief  career  in  the  priesthood  called  forth  a  good  deal 
of  wonderment  and  even  ungentle  criticism  Yet  Father  John  McMahon 
of  Fever  River  was  a  good  man  and  faithful  priest,  and  his  career, 
though   extraordinary,  was   perfectly   in   order. 

John  McMahon  and  his  wife  Judith  emigrated  from  Ireland  to  the 
United  States  about  the  year  1825,  but  having  no  children,  and  be- 
ing desirous  of  a  higher  life,  they  determined  on  a  separation,  he 
to  enter  the  holy  priesthood,  and  she  to  become  a  Dominican  nun  in 
Ireland.  With  the  consent  of  Bishop  Rosati,  who  was  fully  informed 
on  these  circumstances,  Mr.  McMahon  was  admitted  to  the  Seminary 
of  St.  Marys  of  the  Barrens,  whilst  Judith,  his  wife,  returned  to 
Dublin,  for  the  purpose  of  entering  a  convent  of  the  Dominican 
Sisterhood.  But,  as  Bishop  Rosati  wrote  to  Mr.  McMahon,  November 
6th,  1828,  "Mrs.  McMahon,  not  being  able  to  pay  the  sum  required 
for  admission  into  any  of  the  religious  houses  of  the  Dominican  Order 
in  Ireland,  was  intrusted  by  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin  with  the  care 
of  the  Penitent's  Asylum,  Townsend  Street,  Dublin.  She  will  make 
a  vow  of  perpetual  chastity  to  facilitate  the  dispensation  for  your  be- 
insr  promoted  to  Holy  Orders,  which  T   shall   ask   from   Rome."1     Mr. 

i  For  further  documents  of.  Rothensteiner,  "The  Northeastern  Part  of  the 
Diocese  of  St.  Louis  under  Bishop  Rosati,"  in  "Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review," 
vol.  II,  p.  175  ss. 

(537) 


538  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

McMahon  continued  his  studies  with  marked  earnestness  and  profit, 
and  taught  English  and  some  other  branches  of  learning  in  the  College 
at  the  Barrens.  Dimissorials  having  arrived  from  Dublin,  April  17, 
1829,  and  dispensation  being  granted  by  Pope  Pius  VIII,  John 
.Me. Malum  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  on  November  20th,  1831, 
in  company  with  that  indomitable  servant  of  God,  Peter  Paul  Lefevere 
After  his  ordination  Father  McMahon  was  employed  in  the  sacred 
ministry  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Seminary.  On  April  13th,  1832,  he 
obtained  permission  to  build  a  church  at  Baily's  Landing,  about 
eighteen  miles  below  St.  Mary's  on  the  Mississippi.  Of  this  first 
missionary  venture  he  writes  to  his  Bishop  with  youthful  fervor  :  ' '  The 
inhabitants  of  Baily's  have  unanimously  agreed  to  build  a  church 
immediately,  provided  it  meets  Your  approbation.  I  replied  that 
I  had  no  doubt  about  that  and  further,  that  there  was  a  probability 
that  You  would  also  subscribe  five  dollars  towards  the  undertaking. 
I  promised  two  dollars  which  will  exhaust  my  purse. 

The  Church  is  to  be  thirty  by  twenty-five  for  the  present,  the 
Catholics  being  only  few.  But  it  is  presumed  that  many  Protestants 
will  attend  each  Sunday.  I  marked  out  the  ground  for  the  erection 
of  the  Church  on  a  beautiful  mound  within  about  five  hundred  yards 
from  the  river."2  Bishop  Rosati  granted  the  desired  petition  on  con- 
dition, however,  that  the  people  set  aside  a  piece  of  land  sufficient 
for  the  purposes  of  a  parish ;  and  he  subscribed  five  dollars  towards 
the  building  fund,  as  we  learn  from  a  letter  of  April  13th,  1832. 

On  August  22nd,  1832,  Father  McMahon,  the  priest  of  less  than 
a  year's  experience  in  the  ministry,  was  appointed  pastor  of  Galena 
and  Prairie  du  Chien,  whilst  his  fellow  student,  Peter  Paul  Lefevere, 
was  sent  to  the  wilds  of  northeastern  Missouri  with  his  residence  at 
St.  Pauls,  Salt  River.  Bishop  Rosati  must,  at  an  earlier  date,  have 
intimated  to  Father  McMahon  his  destination  to  the  far  northern 
mission,  for  on  July  28th,  1832,  the  restless  priest  expresses  his  fears 
that,  if  his  journey  be  very  much  delayed,  the  river  might  become 
so  shallow  as  to  render  it  impossible  for  boats :  or,  still  later  might 
become  frozen.  In  view  of  these  possibilities  he  requests  the  Bishop's 
order  by  return  mail,  to  prepare  immediately  for  the  intended  journey. 
Besides  his  position  at  the  Seminary  had  become  so  disagreeable  and 
irksome,  that  it  appeared  impossible  for  him  to  continue  under  present 
arrangements.  The  Bishop  answered  on  August  7th,  1832:  "You 
must  come  to  St.  Louis  as  soon  as  possible  not  to  lose  the  opportunity 
of  the  steam  boats,  that  yet  go  up  to  Galena.  Take  notice  that  you 
go  alone.  When  there,  you  will  see  if  the  inhabitants  of  Prairie 
du  Chien  are  able  and  willing  to  support  a  priest."3    By  August  27th, 


2  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese,  McMahon  to  Eosati,  May  27,  1832. 

3  Archives,  Eosati  to  McMahon,  August  7,  1832. 


Galena,  Dubuque  and  Prairie  Du  Chien  539 

Father  McMahon  was  on  his  way  to  his  final  destination.  From  the 
"Foot  of  the  Kapids"  near  the  present  Keokuk,  he  sent  a  letter  to 
his  Bishop  with  a  brief  account  of  his  experiences  by  the  way.  In 
the  hurry  and  excitement  of  his  departure  from  St.  Louis  he  had 
forgotten  to  take  along  some  of  the  things  needed  for  Mass,  as  altar- 
breads  and  wax-caudles,  and  a  pair  of  large  smoothing  irons  for  baking 
hosts.  On  the  boat  he  had  met  an  "intelligent  passenger"  with  whom 
he  had  discussed  the  subject  of  the  Real  Presence.  This  discussion  he 
had  then  written  out  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue.  Would  the  Bishop 
not  be  kind  enough  to  hand  it  to  Mr.  Taylor,  the  newly  arrived  editor 
of  the  Catholic  Press.  This  paper  was  to  be  brought  from  Hartford 
to  St.  Louis,  but  the  plan  was  never  carried  out ;  Deodat  Taylor  began 
publishing  the  Shepherd  of  the  Valley. 

On  his  arrival  at  Galena,  Father  McMahon  found  himself  im- 
mersed, day  and  night,  in  ministerial  avocations.  He  found  no  time  to 
write  to  his  beloved  Bishop  until  September  27th,  1832.  He  had  already 
gained  two  converts,  and  baptized  several  children,  the  parents  of 
whom  were  Protestants,  and  "ferreted  out  some  of  the  careless  ones" 
among  the  Catholics  and  got  them  to  Confession.  He  had  validated 
several  marriages  invalidly  contracted,  one  of  them  being  "a  desperate 
case,"  the  Catholic  having  lived  with  a  Baptist  woman  for  three 
years.  Of  another  case  the  zealous  Father  writes:  "I  have  been 
about  forty  miles  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  where  I  had  to  marry 
a  couple  who  were  living  in  the  state  of  sin  for  a  long  time,  and  have 
had  children,  some  of  whom  I  baptized.  This  affair  giving  much  scandal 
in  the  neighborhood,  I  concluded  it  as  quickly  as  possible,  without  any 
requisition  relative  to  banns,  or  anything  else,  but  gave  them  some 
instructions  in  the  presence  of  a  considerable  number,  who  assembled 
upon  the  occasion,  and  departed."4  But  amid  all  his  labors  and  en- 
deavors dire  poverty  and  want  were  staring  him  in  the  face.  His 
trunk  with  books  and  clothes  had  not  arrived :  the  weather  was  turn- 
ing cold,  and  he  had  no  money  to  buy  even  firewood.  "People  are 
talking  of  building  a  church  here,"  he  wrote  consoling  himself  with 
the  bright  prospect:  "besides  they  have  employed  a  man  to  attend 
me,  so  things  may  be  better  after  some  time."5 

Conditions  at  Galena  must  have  improved  after  this :  perhaps 
Father  McMahon  learned  the  knack  of  placing  his  wants  before  the 
people,  so  that  they  could  no  longer  disregard  them.  In  his  next 
letter  of  October  4th,  1832,  he  strikes  a  more  cheerful  note.  "The 
people  have  rented  for  him  a  commodious  house  which  will  suit  for 
the  twofold  purpose,  a  Church  and  apartments  for  the  priest,  until 
they  get  able  to  build  a  new  one.     I  have  now  got  carpenters  at  work 


4  Archives,  McMahon  to  Eosati,  September  27,  1832. 

5  Idem,  ibidem. 


540  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

making  some  necessary  alterations."0  Then  lie  begs  the  Bishop  "To 
send  him  some  ornaments  for  the  altar,  particularly  a  picture,  and  also 
a  missal.  "I  am  kept  continually  going;  so  there  is  not  much  danger 
of  getting  the  gout  and  from  the  cholera,  O  Lord  deliver  us."7 

As  to  the  cholera  Father  McMahon  wrote  on  November  16th, 
1832  :  "We  have  had  no  cases  of  cholera  here  for  some  days,  I  continue 
thankful  to  my  God  for  having  spared  the  whole  of  my  congregation 
except  one,  who  it  is  believed,  died  by  her  own  want  of  timely  care 
of  herself."  But  the  ordinary  demands  of  life  were  pressing  heavily 
on  Father  McMahon 's  buoyant  spirit.  "I  called  a  meeting  last  Sunday 
to  ascertain  what  I  had  to  depend  on  for  my  support.  A  list  was 
formed  which  contains  the  amount  and  individual  names,  who  sub- 
scribed about  $360.00.  I  told  them  I  wanted  a  sum  immediately  to 
buy  my  winter's  wood  and  some  clothes,  but  none  has  as  yet  come. 
Winter  is  already  commenced  here,  and  no  wood,  nor  warm  clothes." 
Bishop  Rosati's  letter  had  informed  the  lonely  missionary  of  the  death 
of  his  wife  Judith  in  Dublin,  for  which  kind  attention  as  likewise  for 
every  other  connected  with  my  solicitude,"  he  begged  the  Bishop  "to 
accept  the  breathing  of  a  grateful  heart."8 

"Our  little  church,"  Father  McMahon  writes,  "is  crowded  every 
Sunday  with  a  few  of  all  the  town's  people.  I  look  forward  to  better 
times,  but  at  present  my  situation  is  not  to  be  envied  ....  I  have 
been  thinking  of  selling  my  books  by  auction  to  get  some  money.  If 
you  have  any  masses,  send  me  a  few."  As  to  going  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  Father  McMahon,  excused  his  failure,  first,  because  no  con- 
veyance was  offered  him  by  the  people  of  that  district,  and  second 
because  he  had  been  informed,  that  a  French  priest  had  been  there 
for  some  time  and  intended  to  stay  all  winter.  Father  McMahon  did 
not  know,  who  he  was. 

Father  McMahon  was  of  a  naturally  cheerful  disposition.  But 
Galena  was  a  lonely  place  for  a  priest  who  had  always  enjoyed  the 
company  of  cultured  people.  How  glad  he  was  when  he  heard  that 
a  certain  Mr.  Rattigan,  a  student  of  the  Barrens,  was  coming  to  share 
his  hospitality  and  to  recuperate  his  health,  that  had  been  shattered. 
But  instead  of  a  boon  this  visit  proved  to  be  a  heavy  burden  and  vexation. 

On  February  14th,  he  writes  to  his  Bishop:  "Mr.  Rattigan  has 
left  my  place  having  previously  abused  me  in  the  presence  of  a  lad 
who  stops  with  me  for  his  education."  Father  McMahon  had  opened 
a  school,  to  make  out  a  living.  Mr.  Rattigan  went  to  Pittsburg  and 
asked  admission  into  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia.  But  Father  McMahon 
was  too  busy  to  be  worried  long  by  such  incidents.     Making  converts 


6     Archives,  McMahon  to  Rosati,  October  4,  1832. 
"     Archives,  McMahon  to  Eosati,  1.  e. 
s     Letters  of  McMahon,  passim. 


Galena,  Dubuque  and  Prairie  Du  Chien  541 

to  the  Faith,  was  his  constant  endeavor.  "I  received  on  Friday,  in 
due  form,  a  lady  of  quality  into  the  Church,  and  today  I  received  a 
visit  from  one  of  the  principal  prostitutes  of  the  town,  attired  in  all 
her  grandeur.  During  her  stay,  I  gave  her  some  instructions  and 
advice,  lent  her  a  book  to  read  and  dismissed  her  until  next  Tuesday, 
when  she  promised  to  come  to  Confession.  Vice  of  all  kind  was  ram- 
pant in  the  town  filled  with  wild  adventurers;  among  them  also  the 
vice  of  gambling."  I  delivered  three  discourses  on  several  Sundays 
on  the  nefarious  practice  of  gambling,  on  which  God  has  evinced 
His  disapprobation.  For  immediately  after,  the  cards  and  card-tables 
of  the  various  houses  in  the  town  were  upset  and  committed  to  the 
fire.  If  God  grants  me  like  success  in  overturning  the  rendevous  of 
iniquity  called  "bad  houses,"  I  shall  call  my  time  well  spent,  indeed."9 

Father  McMahon,  nothing  daunted  by  the  opposition  he  met,  re- 
turned to  the  attack  again  and  again,  with  some  success,  it  seems,  in 
changing  even  stony  hearts,  as  his  letter  of  March  3rd,  would  testify : 

On  Quadragesima  Sunday  I  administered  the  Sacrament  of  Bap- 
tism to  a  young  creature,  who  has  hitherto  been  progressing  through 
the  most  vile  path  of  immorality.  In  the  course  of  my  instructions  on 
the  Sacrament,  I  called  her  the  Magdalen  of  Galena.  Two  of  her- 
former  suitors  were  present,  whose  countenances  seemed  to  speak  dis- 
approbation at  being  thus  deprived  of  a  companion  on  their  road  to 
perdition.  My  instructions  after  Mass  were  on  the  Epistle  of  the 
day,  at  the  close  of  which,  looking  steadfastly  at  these  heroes  of  in- 
iquity, I  exclaimed  in  emphatical  language:  'Let  the  night  stroller 
now  divest  himself  of  the  works  of  darkness  and  put  on  the  armor  of 
Light,  Justice,  Sobriety  and  Chastity.  Say,  ye  candidates  for  perdition, 
what  have  you  hitherto  been  doing,  what  is  your  mind  now  plotting, 
though  curiosity  detains  your  person  here?  Shall  I  answer  the  ques- 
tion for  you?  Adding  further  iniquities  to  the  black  catalogue  of 
your  crimes,  which,  like  an  accumulated  heap  of  stubble,  the  Justice 
of  an  offended  Deity  will  one  day  set  fire  to,  when  you  shall  burn,  if 
you  repent  not,  for  all  eternity.'  One  of  these  sinners  has  signified  his 
wish  to  be  instructed.  I  also  received  publicly  into  the  Church  a  few 
days  ago  a  lady  of  respectability  in  the  church,  and  have  now  more 
under  a  course  of  instruction.  One  of  the  noted  gamblers  has  also 
come  forward  and  is  about  getting  his  family  baptized.  He  has  al- 
ready put  down  his  name  as  a  subscriber  to  my  support.  The  Rosary 
I  say  every  evening  during  Lent,  after  which  I  give  an  instruction. 
The  Catechism  I  teach  every  day  to  the  children,  some  of  whom  I  am 
preparing  against  Easter  for  their  first  Communion,  and  every  Sunday, 
I  preach  to  a  crowded  audience,  thus  far,  thanks  to  God.  I  feel  my 
health   somewhat   shaken   and   have  taken   the   liberty   to   take   a    little 


9     McMahon  to  Rosati,  February  14,  1833. 


')■!-  History  of  (he  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

bread  every  morning  with  a  cup  of  coffee,  which  I  hope  will  not  dis- 
please you."10 

.Must  humbly  submissive  to  his  Bishop  and  the  rules  of  the  Holy 
Church,  Father  McMahon  would  not  brook  any  interference  with  his 
spiritual  authority  from  laymen,  however  powerful  they  might  be.  On 
.March  17th,  he  wrote  his  last  letter  to  Bishop  Rosati :  "Since  my  last 
I  have  received  one  more  of  the  unfortunate  girls  of  the  town,  who  is 
now  undergoing  the  preparatory  steps  toward  becoming  a  good  Chris- 
tian. 1  have  much  hope  of  her  continuance,  but  the  people  in  general 
are  of  a  different  opinion  and  seem  not  quite  pleased  that  she  has  been 
thus  far  countenanced,  but  I  laconically  replied  to  their  insinuations, 
that  I  am  determined  to  do  my  duty  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  and 
that  I  could  not  suffer  any  layman  to  dictate  to  me.  Ever  since  they 
are  silenced,  and  the  poor  girl  is  every  day  growing  more  fervent, 
etc.  An  Episcopalian  lady  makes  her  first  communion  today,  I  feel 
confident  she  will  make  a  good  R.  Catholic."11 

But  troubles  of  a  more  serious  kind  were  threatening  the  Church 
of  Galena:  "The  person  that  owns  the  house,  that  I  at  present  occupy 
as  a  Church,  has  given  notice  for  us  to  quit.  What  will  be  done,  I  am 
not  able  to  say :  but,  I  know  the  people  are  too  poor  this  year  to  build 
one.  I  shall  see  You,  God  willing  sometime  in  May."12  These  pathetic 
words  were  Father  McMahon 's  last  message  to  his  beloved  Bishop.  On 
June  19th,  1833,  he  died  at  Galena,  without  a  priest  to  cheer  and  com- 
fort his  last  hours.  It  was  the  cholera  that  struck  him  down  ten  months 
after  his  coming  to  Fever  River,  a  martyr  of  his  devotion  to  duty  and 
of  his  love  for  poor,  wayward  souls. 

From  a  brief  note  of  Father  Charles  Quiekenborne,  S.J.  it  appears 
that  Father  Joseph  V.  Wiseman  was  sent  to  Galena  immediately  after 
Father  McMahon 's  death  came  to  the  notice  of  Bishop  Rosati.  Father 
Wiseman  performed  the  last  rites  of  the  Church  over  Father  McMahon 's 
remains  which  were  laid  to  rest  in  the  public  cemetery  of  Galena. 


lo  McMahon  to  Eosati,  March  3,  1833.  The  Lenten  Fast,  at  that  time,  did  not 
permit  bread  in  the  morning;  but  McMahon  was  dispensed  on  account  of  impaired 
health. 

ii     McMahon  to  Eosati,  March  17,  1833. 

12     Ibidem. 


Chapter  15 
GALENA,  DUBUQUE  AND  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN 

IT 

Father  Van  Quickenborne,  S.  J.,  spent  a  few  clays  in  July  1832, 
at  Dubuque  and  Galena  in  order  to  make  arrangements  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  religious  possibilities  of  both  places.  Dubuque  as  a  village 
is  coeval  with  Galena;  as  a  trading-post,  however,  it  is  much  older, 
being  visited  and  explored  for  its  mineral  wealth  as  early  as  1786  by 
Julien  Dubuque,  who  two  years  later  obtained  from  the  Indians  a  grant 
of  140,000  acres  of  land.  Here  M.  Dubuque  built  his  trading  post 
around  which  the  city  that  bears  his  name  was  to  rise  and  flourish  and 
prosper.  Up  to  1835  only  three  visits  of  priests  at  Dubuque  are  record- 
ed, and  no  serious  move  had  been  made  to  form  a  religious  establish- 
ment. But  now,  with  the  return  of  order  and  the  opening  of  vast  tracts 
of  land  to  settlers,  the  time  seemed  propitious.1  Meetings  were  held  at 
Dubuque  and  at  Galena,  of  which  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  S.  J., 
has  given  a  full  account  in  his  Memorandum  left  with  James  Fanning 
at  Dubuque,  July  19,  1823. 

"At  an  aggregate  meeting  of  the  Roman  Catholics  living  at  the 
Dubuque  Mines  on  the  14th  of  July,  1833,  the  following  resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted. 

1.  That,  as  it  is  the  general  wish  that  a  Catholic  Church  be  built 
in  this  vicinity,  the  permit  shall  be  obtained  in  the  name  of  the  Right 
Rev.  Dr.  Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis. 

2.  That,  as  a  majority  of  four  have  declared  the  town  of  Dubuque 
or  its  vicinity  to  be  the  most  suitable  neighborhood  for  the  contemplated 
church,  the  designation  of  the  precise  spot  shall  be  left  to  the  decision  of 
the  committee  to  be  appointed,  or  a  majority  of  these. 

3.  That,  the  following  gentlemen  do  form  the  said  committee : 
Viz.,  James  Fanning,  James  McCabe,  Patrick  O'Mara,  N.  Gregoire,  and 
Thomas  Fitzpatrick.  Mr.  James  Fanning  was  unanimously  chosen 
treasurer,  into  whose  hands  the  subscriptions  and  donations  shall  be 
paid ;  of  which  moneys  received  and  expended  an  account  shall  be 
given  by  the  same  treasurer  to  the  clergyman  appointed  by  the  Bishop  to 
the  congregation. 


i  All  the  facts  contained  in  this  chapter  are  derived  from  MS.  sources  in  the 
Archives  of  the  St.  Louis  Archdiocese.  In  our  citations  from  Archives,  the  Archives 
of  the  St.  Louis  Archdiocese  are  meant.     They  are  found  in  the  Chancery  Office. 

(543) 


544 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


4.  That  the  said  committee  shall  have  power  to  nominate  a  president 
out  of  their  number,  and  he  or  two  of  its  members  to  have  power  to 
call  for  a  meeting  of  the  committee,  and  a  majority  of  them  to  be  a 
quorum  to  transact  all  the  business  relative  to  the  building  of  the  church. 

5.  The  building  to  be  raised  by  the  subscriptions  of  the  Catholics 
at  this  place  and  to  be  as  follows:  A  hewed  log  building,  25  feet  by 
'20  feet  and  10  feet  or  12  feet  high,  with  a  shingle  roof  and  plank 
floor,  with  four  windows,  each  having  28  lights  of  8  by  10  and  shutters, 
the  door  to  be  8  feet  by  5  feet. ' ' 

From  Dubuque  Father  Van  Quickenborne  crossed  over  to  Galena 
for  the  purpose  of  placing  that  congregation  on  a  solid  financial  basis. 
The  people  were  willing,  and  a  good  start  was  made,  as  the  following 
document,  signed  by  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  would  indicate : 

"A  copy  of  the  subscription  paper  for  Galena  left  with  Nicholas 
Dowling. 

The  enclosed  five  acres  of  ground  near  Galena  have  been  made  over 
by  Patrick  Gray  to  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  thereon  a  church  and  a  house  for  the  officiating- 
clergyman.  The  inhabitants  of  this  town  and  its  vicinity  are  respectfully 
requested  to  give  their  assistance  towards  the  accomplishment  of  so  es- 
timable an  object. 

The  frame  building  in  contemplation  is  to  be  25  feet  by  35  feet. 
The  moneys  to  be  collected  by  the  committee  consisting  of  five  gentle- 
men, and  they  to  give  their  accounts  to  the  clergyman  sent  by  the  Bishop 
to  the  congregation.  Therefore,  we  the  undersigned,  do  oblige  ourselves 
and  assigns  to  pay  within  six  months  from  this  date  the  sums  annexed 
to  our  respective  names. 

Galena  19th  of  July,  1833. 
Patrick  Gray,   .     .     .   Blockhouse 
Laurence  Ryan,  pd.  $20  ....  $30.00 
Alexander  Butterworth  ....    10.00 

James  Nagle 25.00 

Michael  Murphy 10.00 

John  Reilly    10.00 

Patrick  Murphy,  paid 10.00 

Claymore  Le  Page   5.00 

Thomas  Drum   20.00 

Martin  Grav 20.00 


Leopold  Massner $10.00 

Patrick  Colligan 10.00 

Laurent  Robidoux    10.00 

Kiernan  Murray 10.00 

Pat,    Sullivan    5.00 

James  Murphy, 

Dennis  Murphy  &  Pat,  S.  ...  25.00 

John  Ryan 10.00 

Dennis  O'Neil 5.00 


140.00 


85.00 
140.00 


C.   F.   Van    Quickenborne. 


225.00 


Galena,  Dubuque  and  Prairie  Du  Chit  n  545 

Other  sums  which  can  be  relied  on 200.00 


425.00  "2 
This  Memorandum  had  reference  to  the  church  itself.     In  regard 
to  the  affairs  of  Father  McMahon  we  have  from  Father  Van  Quicken- 
borne  's  hand  the  following  : 

"Memorandum  left  with  Nicholas  Dowling  and  published  in  the 
church  of  Galena. 

1.  The  Catholics  of  this  country,  to  whom  great  praise  is  due 
for  their  liberality  in  the  support  of  religion,  are  respectfully  re- 
quested by  the  underwritten  to  persevere  in  these  laudable  sentiments, 
and  to  pay  the  subscription  they  may  have  made  heretofore  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  late  Rev.  Mr.  McMahon,  some  of  which  have  not  as  yet 
been  paid.  The  proceeds  of  these  subscriptions  will  be  employed  1st, 
in  paying  the  debts  contracted  by  Mr.  McMahon  and  not  paid.  2. 
In  raising  the  building  of  the  contemplated  church,  or  for  the  support 
of  the  clergyman  who,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  sent  by  the  Bishop. 

2.  The  debt  contracted  by  Mr.  McMahon  amounted  to  $273.  It 
is  hoped  that  the  sale  of  furniture  which  is  in  his  house,  including  horse 
and  dearborn,  will  cover  this  sum.  However,  as  these  things  are  sold 
sometimes  very  cheap,  it  would  be  very  desirable  that  they  should  be 
bought  for  the  use  of  the  next  clergyman,  and  in  this  case  the  pay- 
ment of  the  sums  subscribed  for  the  support  of  Mr.  McMahon  which 
are  not  as  yet  paid  would  be  absolutely  necessary. 

3.  The  sacred  vestments  and  everything  appertaining  to  the  chapel 
will  be  kept  as  things  belonging  to  the  Bishop. 

4.  The  books  of  Mr.  McMahon  show  that  he  has  received  from 
these  subscriptions  made  for  his  support  about  $340. 

The  carpenter's  bill  or  fitting  out  the  chapel  amounts  to  $75  and 
has  been  paid  by  a  subscription.  The  house  rent  is  as  yet  to  be  paid 
and  amounts  to  $15.  The  rent  of  the  house  belonging  to  Mrs.  Farra 
and  used  as  a  church  has  been  paid  by  a  subscription. 

5.  The  proceeds  of  the  subscriptions  will  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Nicholas  Dowling,  Sr.,  subject  to  the  order  of  the  Bishop  for 
the  purposes  for  which  they  shall  have  been  paid."3 

The  erection  of  a  Church-building  was,  of  course,  the  main  pur- 
pose of  Father  Van  Quickenborne's  visit.  Four  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars  does  not  look  very  large  as  a  building  fund,  yet  in  these  early 
days  it  went  much  farther  than  it  would  at  present.    How  very  prudent 


2  Archives,  Reports  to  Bishop  Eosati. 

3  Archives,  Memorandum  of  Van  Quickenborne  in  regard  to  affairs  of  Father 
McMahon;  Galena,  July  16,  1833. 


Vol.  1—18 


546  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

and  circumspect  Father  Van  Quickenborne  was  in  his  building  opera- 
tions will  appear  from  the  following 

"Memorandum  concerning  the  church 

"The  church  is  to  be  a  frame  building,  4:!  feet  by  24  or  25  and 
12  feet  high,  the  sill  must  be  mortised  and  tenented. 

"The  side  sills  shall  receive  eight  posts  and  the  spaces  filled  with 
studding  two  feet  apart.  There  are  to  be  three  openings  on  each  side 
to  receive  24  lights  each,  8  by  10.  The  side  posts  are  to  be  braced  in 
four  places,  both  above  and  below,  and  those  of  the  front  and  rear 
shall  have  two  above  and  two  below.  The  front  and  rear  shall  have 
four  posts  each.  The  front  door  to  be  5  feet  wide  7  feet  high,  with 
a  circular  sash  above.  In  the  rear  there  shall  be  two  doors,  3  feet 
wide,  each  so  placed  as  to  leave  in  the  middle  a  place  of  8  feet  free,  the 
spaces  to  be  filled  up  as  above. 

Twenty-two  pairs  of  rafters  shall  be  put  up  of  the  proper  length 
to  be  of  scantling  6  inches  by  3,  to  have  collar  beams,  then  sheeting  and 
shingling — the  making  of  door  and  window  frames  and  casings  out- 
side and  inside — weather-boarding — the  laying  of  the  sleepers,  but  the 
three  next  to  the  rear  should  be  one  foot  higher  than  the  rest.  A  girder 
is  to  go  across  to  make  a  gallery  8  feet  high,  6  feet  wide,  and  two  girders 
more  to  receive  the  frame  of  a  steeple. 

Let  a  contract  be  entered  into  for  the  above  bill,  but  divide  it 
into  four  jobs. 

The  1st  to  consist  of  the  raising  of  the  frame  to  the  square, 
which  will  cost  say $40.00 

The  2nd  to  embrace  the  roof,  viz.,  rafters,  sheeting  and 
shingling,   cost  of  shingles   added 82.00 

The  3rd  to  include  window  frames  and  casings 25.00 

The  4th  will  be  made  out  of  the  balance,  planks,  walls  and 
labor 95.00 

$242.00 

Keserve   to  yourself   the   privilege   of   stopping   at   each   of   these 

jobs,  and  I  will  be  responsible  for  the  payment  of  each  of  them ;  but 

none    of   them    is   to   be    commenced   without    my   paying   beforehand. 

Galena,  16th  of  July,  1833, 

C.  F.  Van  Quickenborne,  S.  J."4 
These  desultory  notes  jotted  down  by  Father  Van  Quickenborne 
will,  no  doubt,  be  of  interest  as  giving  not  only  the  bright  prospects 
of  these  early  Catholic  settlements,  but  also  the  difficult  and  sometimes 
sordid  circumstances  in  which  the  ministers  of  God  were  constrained 
to  live. 

4     Archives,  Memorandum  of  Van  Quickenborne,  dated  Galena,  July  16,  1833. 


Galena,  Dubuque  and  Prairie  Du  Chien  547 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Father  McMahon  alluded  to  the  pres- 
ence of  a  French  priest  at  Prairie  du  Chien  who,  as  the  rumor  went, 
intended  to  stay  there  all  winter.  This  was  the  Dominican  Father 
Samuel  Mazzuchelli,  as  we  learn  from  a  letter  written  by  him  to 
Bishop  Rosati,  September  29,  1832.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  this  letter, 
the  first  of  a  long  series,  Father  Mazzuchelli  gives  a  sort  of  critical 
estimate  of  the  priests  that  had  preceded  him  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 
whilst  it  introduces  a  man  who  was  destined  to  accomplish  great  things 
for  religion  on  both  sides  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  we  will  insert  it  here 
as  in  its  proper  place  : 

"Praire  du  Chien,  September  29,  1832 

Right  Rev.  Bishop — the  Rev'd.  Mr.  Jean-Jean,  who  in  July  last 
visited  with  Bishop  Fenwick  the  Island  of  Mackinac,  informed  me 
that  your  Lordship  had  given  him  a  letter  for  me,  bnt  that  at  his 
return  to  St.  Louis,  he  forgot  it.  I  should  have  been  extremely  flatter- 
ed to  have  had  such  a  token  of  my  being  still  present  to  your  mind. 
A  useless  servant  as  I  am,  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord,  I  have  nothing 
in  my  missionary  labor  worthy  of  your  attention ;  if  some  good  has 
been  done  in  this'  wild  and  Indian  portion  of  the  Church,  the  Lord 
being  the  author  of  it,  nothing  remains  to  us,  His  unworthy  instruments, 
of  which  we  can  boast.  Notwithstanding,  I  cannot  contain  myself  from 
making  known  to  your  apostolical  zeal  the  graces  which  our  Divine 
Saviour  is  showering  down  on  some  parts  of  this  territory.  Our  Mis- 
sions of  Arbre  Croche  are  in  the  highest  state  of  Christian  perfection, 
without  exaggeration  (which  is  to  be  abhorred  by  a  Catholic  mission- 
ary). There  are  about  one  thousand  Indians  who  by  the  water  of 
Baptism  dissipated  the  dark  clouds  of  idolatry,  and  most  of  them,  if 
not  nearly  all  have  preserved  unspotted  the  white  garment  of  baptismal 
grace.  My  chosen  flock  of  Mackinac  is,  thanks  be  to  God,  extremely 
edifying.  The  dispersed  and  wild  sheep  of  the  Lake  Superior,  who 
repair  to  Mackinac  every  summer,  are  fast  improving.  At  the  Sault 
Ste.  Marie  I  hope  to  have  a  church  built  next  spring.  The  Presbyterians 
around  us,  whose  peculiar  character  was  foretold  by  St.  Paul  in  those 
words,  "having  an  appearance  of  piety,  but  denying  the  power  thereof"  : 
have  the  first  seats,  and  dressed  in  tracts  and  Bibles,  make  the  first  show 
in  this  world ;  we  still  remaining  here,  with  the  utmost  satisfaction,  "the 
little  flock."  Green  Bay,  inhabited  by  Canadians  and  Metis  (Half-breeds) 
of  bad  conduct,  begins  to  flourish;  drunkenness  and  indifference  were 
prevalent ;  now  an  universal  but  gradual  change  its  taking  place.  In 
two  years,  more  than  one  hundred  Indians  have  been  well  instructed 
and  baptized.  Last  year,  in  spite  of  thousands  of  difficulties,  I  began 
the  building  of  a  Gothic  church  now  handsomely  finished,  66  feet  long, 
35  feet  wide.     I  was  the  only  priest  in  the  Northwest  Territory,  till 


"'Is  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  1st  of  September  last,  when  I  arrived  at  Green  Bay  with  Mr. 
Saenderl,  the  Superior  of  three  Liguorians  from  Vienna,  who  wish  to 
establish  their  Order  in  the  United  States.  I  omitted  no  exertion  to 
convince  Mr.  Saenderl  of  the  great  necessity  in  which  this  new  territory 
stands  of  their  zeal.  He  is  now  determined  on  building  their  convent  at 
Green  Bay,  where  without  any  trouble  he  has  a  new  church.  I  am 
unable  to  express  my  gladness  at  seeing  that  portion  of  my  parish,  where 
I  labored  more,  and  to  which  I  was  so  partial,  in  possession  of  new  and 
better  pastors.  On  the  13th  of  September  I  left  Green  Bay  to  visit  a 
part  of  the  territory  and  see  what  good  can  be  done.  After  eight  days 
riding  I  arrived  here,  where  last  year  your  Lordship  sent  Mr.  Lutz 
whom  the  people  esteemed.  This  place  has  been  very  much  neglected. 
Mr.  Vincent  Badin  spent  seven  months  here,  but  his  limited  talents  and 
French  manners  were  not  satisfactory  to  most  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
in  several  instances  caused  our  holy  religion  to  be  despised  or  neglected 
in  the  opinion  of  the  public.  The  Prairie  will  become  a  considerable 
place  in  the  new  Territory ;  so  our  efforts  are  more  demanded  to  make 
a  good  congregation  while  we  can  make  it  without  opposition.  To  this 
end  I  am  about  procuring  a  house  for  next  spring  to  answer  for  tempor- 
ary chapel  and  residence  for  the  priest.  The  people  are  well  disposed  to 
help  him  in  his  wants.  Several  lots  are  offered  for  the  church.  I  will 
make  the  plan  for  it.  It  will  be  of  stone,  because  cheaper  and  stronger 
than  frame.  Next  spring,  if  nothing  prevents  me,  with  the  permission 
of  the  bishop,  I  intend  to  come  here  with  a  Liguorian  of  Green  Bay, 
and  thus  give  a  good  start  to  the  making  of  a  new  and  interesting 
parish.  The  Society  of  Vienna  promised  the  Liguorians  all  possible 
assistance.  I  said  this  about  Prairie  du  Chien,  because  it  interests  your 
zeal,  as  well  as  that  of  Bishop  Fenwick.  On  the  establishment  of  a  good 
and  edifying  congregation  here  it  depends  in  great  measure  what  the 
future  state  of  religion  in  this  Territory  will  be  and  what  success  and 
conversion  of  the  Indians  will  have.  These  poor  beings  have  been 
neglected  to  this  day,  notwithstanding  their  good  disposition.  An 
annual  appropriation  of  three  or  four  hundred  dollars  for  the  support 
of  every  priest  who  feels  disposed  to  labor  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Indians,  is  necessary.  Priests  of  such  vocation  are,  as  far  as  I  know, 
left  to  their  zeal  without  encouragement.  All  the  Indians  of  the  North 
are  willing  to  embrace  Christianity,  but  nothing  can  be  done  unless 
the  priest  lives  among  them,  which  he  cannot  do  without  human  means. 
The  Liguorians  say  that  the  Society  of  Vienna  has  for  its  object  the  con- 
version of  the  Indians.  This  makes  me  rejoice  in  expectation  of  doing 
some  good  among  the  inhabitants  on  the  confines  of  Lake  Superior.  As 
a  missionary  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  I  have  a  favor  to  ask  of  your 
Lordship.     The  age  and  infirmity  of  Bishop   Fenwick   and  his  exten- 


Galena,  Dubuque  and  Prairie  Du  Chien  549 

sive  diocese  are  things  well  known.  A  bishopric  in  the  new  State  of 
Michigan  is  now  believed  to  be  of  absolute  necessity  to  carry  on  these 
extensive  missions.  With  the  consent  of  Bishop  Fenwick  I  have  al- 
ready written  on  this  subject  to  Pope  Gregory  the  XVI,  with  whom  I  am 
well  acquainted.  Were  your  Lordship  and  other  bishops  to  recommend 
to  his  Holiness  the  necessity  of  a  new  diocese  in  Michigan  and  the  North- 
west, I  have  not  the  least  doubt  but  we  should  obtain  it.  It  is  distress- 
ing for  us,  your  missionaries,  to  think  that  only  a  small  part  of  our 
parishes  can  be  visited  by  our  pastor  and  that  we  are  so  far  from  him. 
Many  Catholics  are  deprived  of  the  gift  of  confirmation,  while  their 
faith  is  at  a  great  trial  among  heretics  of  the  worst  kind,  who  even 
among  the  natives  have  done  and  still  do  more  for  the  loss  of  souls 
than  we  are  able  to  do  for  their  salvation.  I  have  learned,  with  the 
highest  degree  of  satisfaction,  that  your  zeal  is  now  occupied  in  the 
erection  of  a  new  and  splendid  cathedral.  May  the  Almighty  give 
strength  and  grace  to  your  Lordship,  not  only  to  complete  it,  but  also 
to  sanctify  it  by  the  exercise  of  the  holy  function  of  your  sacred  and 
apostolic  dignity. 

Your  humble  servant, 
Samuel  Mazzuchelli,  O.  P. 

P.  S. — Next  week  I  shall  leave  this  place  to  visit  the  Indians  of 
Fort  Winibegoe."3 

Father  Mazzuchelli  did  not  stay  long  at  Prairie  du  Chien ;  and 
Galena,  the  religious  center  of  the  whole  region,  must  be  immediately 
provided  with  a  pastor.  But  whom  shall  Bishop  Rosati  send?  On  May 
16,  1834,  there  came  to  him,  all  unannounced,  a  priest  whose  papers 
showed  that  he  was  ordained  in  Paris,  and  had  served  in  the  Cura  at 
Nevers  in  France,  but  had  returned  to  his  native  Ireland  and  from 
there  had  sailed  for  America.  His  name  was  Charles  Francis  Fitz- 
maurice.  The  bishop  gladly  adopted  him,  and  on  May  19,  1834,  sent 
him  to  the  mission  of  Galena  and  Dubuque.  He  arrived  at  Galena  on 
May  23.  He  took  up  the  work  with  great  hopes,  as  we  see  from  his  letter 
to  Bishop  Rosati  dated,  Galena,  July  28,  1834 : 

"My  Lord — I  should  have  written  to  you  before  this  period,  were 
it  not  that  I  wished  previously  to  render  men  and  things  more  favor- 
able to  religion  than  I  had  found  them  on  my  arrival  in  this  mission ; 
an  almost  total  desuetude  in  matters  of  religious  concern  originating 
from  the  want  of  religious  instruction  since  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
McMahon,  has  rendered  a  great  many  indifferent,  not  to  say  forget- 
ful, of  the  great  work  of  their  eternal  salvation !     But  more  of  this  at 


5     Mazzuchelli   to    Eosati,    Prairie    du    Chien,    September    29,    1832.      Archives, 
Letters  of  S.  Ch.  Mazzuchelli. 


550  History   of   the   Archdiocese   of  SI.    Louis 

another  time.  I  mot  with  some  difficulties,  my  Lord,  in  the  commence- 
ment in  procuring  a  decent  place  for  the  celebration  of  the  holy  Sacri- 
fice of  the  Mass,  and  also  lodging  for  myself,  but  through  the  joint 
exertions  of  some  of  my  flock  I  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  both  about 
eight  days  ago.  Until  then  my  position  was  not  very  pleasant,  as  being 
obliged  to  lodge  with  a  man  who  kept  a  grocery  in  one  end  of  his  house, 
and  whose  habits  would  by  no  means  be  a  source  of  consolation  to  any 
ecclesiastic  happening  to  be  his  inmate. 

"I  had  made  inquiries  relative  to  the  temporal  concerns  of  the  Kev. 
Mr.  McMahon  and  was  informed  that  a  Mr.  Byrne  of  this  town  and 
lately  married  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lutz  at  St.  Louis,  had  taken  out 
letters  of  administration  immediately  after  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Mc- 
Mahon and  auctioned  off  all  his  property  together  with  his  books  of 
every  description  for  the  purpose  (it  was  said)  of  paying  his  debts.  I 
have  examined  the  chasubles  (four  in  number)  and  found  them  in 
a  very  bad  state ;  the  chalice  and  paten  were  rolled  in  a  clean  cloth  and 
kept  in  a  decent  place,  but  I  could  find  no  account  of  the  oilstocks. 
They  say  here  that  the  Cure  of  St.  Charles  must  know  something  of 
them. 

"I  have  alternated  since  my  arrival,  on  Sundays  between  this  town 
and  Dubuque  Mines.  There  are  many  sick  cases  in  both  places ;  I  am 
consequently  called  on  very  often  to  attend  the  sick.  The  mortality, 
however,  is  not  great  in  either  place.  We  have  had  only  one  case  of 
cholera  which  proved  fatal. 

I  have,  at  stated  periods,  called  meetings  of  the  congregation  in 
order  to  devise  some  means  suitable  for  the  building  of  a  Catholic  church 
in  this  town,  and  could  not  until  lately  effect  anything  like  unanimity 
among  them.  About  eight  days  ago  I  had  convened  the  last  meeting, 
when  they  came  to  the  resolution  of  getting  a  church  of  stone  built 
as  soon  as'  possible,  and  to  make  a  beginning,  seven  or  eight  of  the  most 
respectable  Catholics  of  this  town  have  subscribed  their  names  each 
for  $100,  so  that  there  is  every  appearance  of  things  getting  on  well 
at  present. 

"As  there  are  a  great  many  French  in  this  congregation,  I  give 
instructions  in  English  at  Mass,  and  in  French  at  Vespers,  every  Sunday 
that  I  say  Mass  in  town.  A  great  many  of  other  religious  denomina- 
tions assist  at  Mass  and  act  with  the  greatest  decorum.  Two  adults  have 
embraced  the  Catholic  faith  since  my  arrival  in  this  region,  the  one  a 
certain  Walker,  who  departed  this  life  a  few  days  after  being  received 
into  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  the  other  a  lady  who  was  never  baptized, 
although  she  lived  with  a  Catholic  man. 

"The  Catholic  inhabitants  of  Dubuque  Mines  have  subscribed  to 
the  amount  of  $1100  for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  Catholic  church  built, 


Galena,  Dubuque  and  Prairie  Du  Chien  551 

in  consequence  of  which  I  have  made  application  to  the  agent  and  ob- 
tained a  lot  of  land  in  your  Lordship 's  name  for  that  purpose.  We  have 
already  bought  the  lumber,  let  out  the  contract  to  a  carpenter,  and 
expect  to  have  it  finished  before  All  Saints  Day,  as  they  are  far  more 
active  and  zealous  there  on  this  occasion  than  at  Galena. 

"My  Lord,  I  hope  your  cathedral  will  very  soon  be  completed,  that 
you  may  enjoy  good  health,  as  also  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jean-Jean,  Borgna 
and  Lutz,  to  whom  I  here  present  my  most  humble  respects.  They  are 
together,  but  alas!  I  am  alone.  Still  God's  protection  extends  to  us 
all.  My  sister's  health  was  not  very  good  since  she  came  here,  having 
labored  under  a  very  severe  bilious  attack,  but  is  at  present  getting  better. 

With  ardent  prayers  for  the  preservation  of  your  Lordship 's  health, 
I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  My  Lord, 

Your  Lordship's  most  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

C.  J.  Fitzmaurice,  Pt."6 

Alas,  for  the  uncertainty  of  human  affairs,  Father  Fitzmaurice 
died  in  the  spring  of  the  year  1835,  some  say  of  the  cholera;  others,  of 
the  yellow  fever ;  the  second  Galena  priest  to  die  within  a  twelvemonth 
after  his  appointment.  It  was  a  sad  blow  to  the  struggling  parishes, 
but  the  sacrifice  was  not  in  vain.  For,  as  Father  Mazzuchelli  writes  in 
1837:  "In  the  year  1835  a  lot  was  secured  at  Galena  for  the  church,  of 
which  the  first  stone  was  laid  on  the  12th  of  August  in  the  same  year. 
The  church  of  Galena  is  dedicated  to  St.  Michael,  measures  70  feet  by 
39  feet.  It  is  all  of  stone  and  is  now  built  ten  feet  above  the  ground ; 
nearly  all  the  wooden  materials  are  purchased.  The  parish  of  Galena 
numbers  about  five  hundred  Catholics."7 

The  lot  spoken  of  in  the  report  of  Father  Mazzuchelli  was  bought 
from  Patrick  Gray,  July  19,  1833,  for  200  dollars,  paid  out  of  the 
subscriptions.  The  lot  was  "Bounded  on  the  east  by  the  road  leading  to 
Meeker's  Farm,  on  the  north  by  Martin  Gray's  claim,  on  the  west  by 
the  burial  ground,  on  the  south  by  the  public  lands  and  contained 
about  five  acres.     It  was  deeded  to  Bishop  Rosati." 

The  earthly  remains  of  Father  Fitzmaurice  were  buried  in  the  new 
Catholic  Cemetery  and  with  them  the  remains  of  Father  McMahon, 
which  were  disinterred  from  the  public  cemetery  of  Galena. 


6     Fitzmaurice  to  Rosati,   in  Archives. 
i     Mazzuchelli  to  Eosati,  in  Archives. 


Chapter  16 
FATHER  SAINT   CYR  AND  THE   CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO 


One  month  after  Father  Benedict  Roux's  designation  for  Kansas 
City,  the  westernmost  station  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  his  friend  and 
fellow-student,  John  M.  I.  Saint  Cyr  received  the  appointment  to  its 
easternmost  mission,  the  town  of  Chicago  on  Lake  Michigan.  Even 
prior  to  this  date,  April  17th,  1833,  there  existed  some. kind  of  a  spiri- 
tual bond  between  the  Metropolis  of  the  Great  Lakes  in  its  infancy  and 
the  Metropolis  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  in  its  early  prime.  Father 
Francis  Pinet  S.  J.  the  Founder  of  the  Angel  Guardian  Mission  on 
the  site  of  Chicago,  became  the  co-founder  of  the  Mission  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier  on  the  site  of  St.  Louis.  Prior  to  1805  there  were  at  least  five 
French  Catholic  families  settled  at  Chicago,  those  of  Antoine  Ouilmette, 
Louis  Pettel,  Francois  Le  Mai,  Jean  B.  Pointe  de  Saible  and  Jean  B. 
Peltier,  three  of  whom,  Peltier,  Le  Mai  and  Pointe  de  Saible,  had 
their  children  baptized  in  St.  Louis  by  the  Recollet  Father  Lusson, 
in  October  1799. x  At  the  establishment  of  Fort  Dearborn  in  1803, 
and  its  reestablishment  after  the  massacre  of  1813,  Chicago  began  to 
take  on  the  form  of  a  permanent  settlement. 

In  1815  the  number  of  French  Catholics  at  Chicago  had  increased 
to  such  an  extent  that  they  attracted  the  attention  of  Bishop  Flaget, 
who  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Holy  See:  "I  heard  during  my  excursion 
that  in  the  very  midst  of  the  Indians  were  four  French  Congregations 
belonging  to  my  diocese:  one  on  the  Upper  Mississippi  (Galena), 
another  in  a  place  usually  designated  Chicagou,  still  another  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Michigan  (probably  Green  Bay)  and  a  fourth  toward 
the  source  of  the  Illinois  River  (Peoria)  ;  but  lack  of  time  and  the 
prevalence   of  war  have   prevented   me   from   visiting  them."2 

In  September  1821,  the  little  Catholic  Congregation  at  Chicago 
received  a  visit  from  Father  Gabriel  Richard,  who  said  Mass  in  the 
house  of  a  Canadian,  probably  Jean  B.  Beaubien,  and  in  the  afternoon 
preached  to  the  garrison  of  Fort  Dearborn.  Father  Richard  had  come 
at  the  invitation  of  a  Pottawatomie  Chief  to  be  present  at  the  treaty 
which  the  Indian  tribes  were  to  make  at  Chicago  with  the  United  States 
Government.  But  contrary  winds  had  detained  the  visitor  so  long 
that  the  treaty  was  concluded  before  he  arrived.  In  October  1830, 
the  proto-priest  of  the  United  States,3  Father  Stephan  Theodore  Badin, 


1  "Illinois  Catholic,  Historical  Review, "  vol.  I,  p.  10. 

2  ' '  Catholic  Historical  Review, ' '  vol.  I,  p.  305. 

3  Proto-priest;  the  first  native-born  priest  of  the  United  States. 

(552) 


Father  Saint  Cyr  and  the  Church  in  Chicago  553 

paid  the  place  a  brief  visit  from  the  Potawatomi  Mission  of  St.  Joseph 's. 
It  was  Chief  Pokegan  that  carried  Father  Badin's  chapel  equipments 
to  Fort  Dearborn. 

At  the  close  of  1833,  Chicago  found  itself  a  legally  organized  town. 
Consequently  it  must  have  had  a  population  of  at  least  150.  About 
ninety  per  cent  of  these  inhabitants  were  Catholics,  among  them  the 
two  half-breed  Potawatomi  Chiefs,  Billy  Caldwell  and  Alexander  Rob- 
inson. Two  converts  from  Episcopalianism,  Anson  and  Augustine 
Deodat  Taylor,  were  leaders  in  the  movement  to  obtain  a  priest  for  the 
rising  town.4  A  petition  was  sent  to  Bishop  Rosati  of  St.  Louis  bearing 
date  of  April  16th,  1833 : 

"We,  the  Catholics  of  Chicago,  Cook  Co.,  111.,  lay  before  you  the 
necessity  there  exists  to  have  a  pastor  in  the  new  flourishing  city. 
There  are  here  several  families  of  French  descent,  born  and  brought 
up  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Faith,  and  others  quite  willing  to  aid  us 
in  supporting  a  pastor,  who  ought  to  be  sent  here  before  other  sects 
obtain  the  upper  hand,  which  very  likely  they  will  try  to  do.  "We 
have  heard  several  persons  say,  were  there  a  priest  here,  they  would 
join  our  religion  in  preference  to  any  other.  We  count  almost 
one  hundred  Catholics  in  this  town.  We  will  not  cease  to  pray  until 
you  have  taken  our  important  request  in  consideration."5 

Bishop  Rosati  assured  the  delegation  that  had  presented  the  petition 
that  the  wish  of  the  Chicago  Catholics  would  be  gratified  at  once. 
Though  the  place  was  not  within  the  limits  of  his  diocese,  he  held  the 
powers  of  Vicar-General  from  Bishop  Flaget,  and  would  act  as  such, 
as  he  notified  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown  on  April  17th : 

"Having  received  a  petition  of  the  Catholics  of  Chicago,  who  re- 
garded me  as  their  diocesan  bishop  and  demanded  of  me  a  priest,  show- 
ing the  dangers  of  losing  a  concession  of  two  thousand  acres  of  land 
which  the  chiefs  of  the  Potawatomi,  with  the  consent  of  the  govern- 
ment, have  made  to  the  Catholic  Church,  by  virtue  of  the  powers  of 
Vicar-General,  which  you  have  given  me,  I  will  send  Mr.  Saint  Cyr, 
but  on  condition  that,  until  the  limits  of  the  diocese  are  fixed  I  can 
recall  him."0  On  the  same  day  Bishop  Rosati  wrote  to  Father  Saint 
Cyr,  then  at  the  Barrens : 

"By  virtue  of  the  powers  of  Vicar-General  to  me  granted  by  the 
most  illustrious  and  most  Reverend  Bishop  of  Bardstown  (Ky),  I 
depute  you  to  the  mission  of  Chicago  and  the  adjoining  regions  within 
the  State  of  Illinois.  .  .  ."7 


4  Cf.   Garraghan,   G.  J.,  "The  Catholic  Church  in   Chicago,"   pp.  39  and   40, 
passim. 

5  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese,  cf.  Andreas,  "History  of  Chicago,"  vol. 
I,  p.  289. 

6  Rosati 's  Letterbook,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

7  Eosati's  Letterbook,  IX,  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


554  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Loin's 

On  April  2()tli,  1833,  the  Shepherd  of  the  Valley  announced 
the  departure  of  Father  Saint  Cyr  for  his  first  missionary  field  in 
Northeastern  Illinois.  Father  John  Mary  Irenaeus  Saint  Cyr  was  born 
in  the  Parish  of  Quincie  near  Lyons,  France,  on  November  2nd,  1803. 
He  made  his  clerical  studies  at  Lyons,  and  received  tonsure,  Minor- 
Orders  and  subdeaconship  at  the  hands  of  Archbishop  John  Paul  Gaston 
De  Pins,  Apostolic  Administrator  of  the  Diocese  of  Lyons  and  Vienna. 
In  the  beginning  of  June,  1831,  the  young  cleric,  through  the  kindness 
of  the  newly  founded  Association  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith, 
was  sent  to  the  Louisiana  Missions,  and  arrived  in  St.  Louis  in  August 
of  the  same  year.  He  continued  his  theological  studies  at  the  Sem- 
inary of  St.  Mary's  under  Father  Tornatore,  where  he  was  ordained 
to  the  priesthood  by  Bishop  Rosati,  April  6th,  1833.  The  journey 
across  the  prairies,  made  partly  on  foot,  in  company  with  Anson  Taylor, 
lasted  twelve  days.  The  day  of  arrival  at  their  destination  was  May 
1st,  1833.8 

Father  Saint  Cyr  was  received  with  every  mark  of  kindness  by 
the  people  of  Chicago.  He  was  welcomed  as  a  permanent  guest  at 
the  Sanganash  Hotel,  conducted  by  Mark  Beaubien.  A  temporary 
chapel  was  prepared  by  the  same  gentleman  in  a  log  house  just  across 
from  the  hotel.  But,  everything  being  so  very  primitive,  the  good 
Father  deeply  felt  the  pinch  of  poverty. 

"If  I  have  delayed  so  long  to  send  you  news,"  he  writes  to  Bishop 
Rosati  about  a  month  after  his  arrival,  "you  may  be  sure  that  this 
is  not  owing  to  negligence  or,  much  less,  to  any  lack  of  good  will  on 
my  part.  The  fact  is  that  as  I  have  no  acquaintance  as  yet  with  the 
people  of  Chicago  and  do  not  know  how  they  stand  as  to  the  establish- 
ment of  religion  in  their  town,  I  have  wished  to  sound  them  a  little 
to  the  end  that  I  may  be  less  uncertain  as  to  what  to  say  to  you  about 
conditions  here  in  the  matter  of  religion  .  .  .  While  the  number  of  Cath- 
olics is  large,  almost  all  of  them  are  entirely  without  knowledge  of  the 
duties  of  religion.  Still,  the  regularity  with  which  they  are  present 
at  Mass  every  Sunday  and  the  attention  and  respect  with  which  they 
assist  thereat,  give  reason  to  hope  that,  with  patience  and  some  Sunday 
instructions,  we  shall  be  able,  with  God's  help,  to  organize  a  congre- 
gation of  good  Catholics.  Many  Protestants,  even  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  Chicago,  appear  to  be  much  in  favor  of  the  Catholic 
religion,  in  particular  Mr.  Owen,  the  Indian  agent,  as  also  the  doctor 
and  several  other  respectable  families  who  come  to  Mass  every  Sunday 
and  assist  at  it  with  much  respect."9 

In  a  financial  way  some  advance  has  been  made  as  Father  Saint  Cyr 
writes :    ' '  The  people  of  Chicago  have  taken  up  a  subscription  amount- 


s     Biographical  notes  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

9     Saint  Cyr  to  Eosati,  June  4,  1833,  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Father  'Saint  Cyr  and  the  Church  in  Chicago  oo.j 

ing  to  261  dollars,  and  they  hope  to  go  even  somewhat  beyond  that. 
Mr.  (Jean)  Baptiste  Beubien  gives  the  site  on  which  to  build  the 
church.  However,  despite  all  the  fair  prospects  held  out  in  every  way 
by  this  town  of  Chicago,  despite  the  fine  promises  made  to  provide 
the  priest  with  everything  necessary  for  his  support,  despite  all  the 
honor  and  courtesy  and  marks  of  respect  which  they  continue  to  show 
me  daily  to  the  chagrin  of  the  Protestant  ministers,  I  should  have 
reason  to  complain,  Monseigneur,  were  you  not  to  send  me  some  as- 
sistance at  the  start  to  relieve  my  needs;  for  I  should  not  have  money 
enough  even  to  pay  postage  on  a  letter  were  I  to  receive  one,  nor  do  I 
know  how  I  am  going  to  pay  the  transportation  charges  on  my  trunk, 
when  it  comes,  unless  I  have  some  help  from  you  beforehand.  I  cannot 
say  Mass  every  day,  as  I  should  like  to,  for  I  cannot  always  obtain 
the  wine  and  candles.  I  am  eager  to  go  to  St.  Joseph,  as  soon  as  (Rev.) 
Mr.  Badin  shall  have  returned  from  Kentucky,  but,  it  is  true,  as  you  will 
tell  me,  that  the  Catholics  have  promised  to  furnish  everything  neces- 
sary for  the  support  of  the  priest.  Yes,  Monseigneur,  but  they  are 
going  to  start  to  build  a  little  chapel  and  a  presbytery  with  money 
contributed  by  them  for  the  purpose.  Therefore,  if  the  money  con- 
tributed falls  short  of  the  cost  of  the  buildings  I  shall  be  constantly 
in  want."  Yet,  amid  all  the  troubles  and  restraints  of  his  position 
Father  Saint  Cyr  is  comforted  by  the  thought  of  future  great  spiri- 
tual conquests. 

"The  eagerness  shown  by  the  people  of  Chicago,  the  Protestants 
even,  to  have  a  Catholic  church,  allows  us  to  place  great  hopes  in  the 
future.  Every  Sunday  so  far,  I  have  given  an  instruction  alternately 
in  English  and  French.  I  am  particularly  anxious  to  remove  prejudices 
by  showing  as  clearly  as  possible  in  what  the  teaching  of  the  church  con- 
sists. In  my  first  instruction  I  explained  the  meaning  of  the  invoca- 
tion of  the  saints,  the  difference  there  is  between  praying  to  God  and 
the  praying  to  the  saints,  the  meaning  of  the  veneration  paid  to  images 
and  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  church  regarding  Purgatory.  The 
second  Sunday  I  preached  in  English  on  the  unity  of  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ.  I  showed  its  necessity,  bringing  out  also  how  this  unity 
is  found  in  the  Catholic  Church.  On  Ascension  day,  I  preached  in 
French  on  the  Real  Presence  and  afterwards  explained  in  English  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Mass.  Pentecost-day,  I  set  forth  the  rapid  progress 
of  the  gospel  throughout  the  world  and  the  great  results  it  accomplished 
in  reforming  morals  (this  in  English).  On  Trinity  day,  I  explained 
in  French  the  symbol  of  St.  Ambrose  on  the  Holy  Trinity  and  then 
the  Apostles'  Creed,  as  also  what  we  must  absolutely  know  and  believe 
to  be  saved.  I  tell  you  all  this,  Monseigneur,  not  to  show  you  what 
I  have  done,  but  that  you  may  see  whether  what  I  have  done  is  right 
or  wrong  and  that  I  may  learn  how  to  proceed  in  the  future.  A  number 
of    persons    have    approached    the    tribunal    of    penance.      T    presume 


•")")()  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Monseigneur,    thai    yon    pu1    seine   l ks   in    m\    imnk.   as  ymi   gave   me 

to  understand  at  ray  departure.  Up  to  the  present  I  have  been  left 
to  my  own  resources.  1  should  like  exceedingly  to  have  some  instruc- 
tions in  English,  French,  some  French  catechisms  and  two  or  three 
mission  hymns. 

"To  give  you  some  idea  of  Chicago,  I  will  tell  you  that  since  my 
arrival  more  than  twenty  houses  have  been  built,  while  materials  for 
new  ones  may  be  seen  coming  in  on  all  sides.  The  situation  of  Chicago 
is  (he  finest  I  have  ever  seen.  Work  is  now  proceeding  on  a  harbor 
which  will  enable  lake-vessels  to  enter  the  town.  Three  arrived  lately 
crowded  with  passengers  who  came  to  visit  these  parts  and,  in  most 
cases  to  settle  down  here.  Everything  proclaims  that  Chicago  will  one 
day  become  a  great  town  and  one  of  commercial  importance."10 

It  is  remarkable  how  this  simple  priest  divines  the  coming  great- 
ness and  importance  of  this  struggling  poverty-stricken  village.  His 
estimate  made  under  most  adverse  circumstances,  came  as  near  to  the 
full  truth  as  that  of  anyone  else,  capable  of  making  an  estimate. 

At  the  end  of  June  1833,  Father  Saint  Cyr  at  last  received  his  trunk, 
with  a  number  of  necessary  things,  among  them  a  Missal.  In  order 
to  pay  for  its  transportation  he  was  obliged  to  get  a  loan  of  two  dollars 
and  a  half  from  Mr.  Beaubien,  for  which  kindness  he  is  duly  grateful. 

"I  am  well  aware,"  writes  Father  Saint  Cyr  to  his  Bishop,  "that 
the  people  should  provide  for  all  my  needs;  they  have  promised  to  do 
so.  If  I  can  have  from  them  the  wherewithal  to  build  a  little  chapel,  I 
shall  consider  myself  very  fortunate,  and  I  hope  that,  with  the  grace 
of  God  and  the  assistance  of  charitable  souls,  our  Divine  Saviour  will 
have  a  temple  in  Chicago,  where  he  will  dwell  continually  in  the  midst 
of  us  by  his  Real  Presence  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  of  the.  Altar. 

' '  Our  Subscription  for  the  church  amounts  now  to  332  dollars ; 
but,  according  to  the  building  plans  agreed  on,  we  shall  need  five  hun- 
dred dollars.  It  will  be  thirty-six  feet  long,  24  wide,  and  12 
high.  As  to  the  land  which  the  Indian  chiefs  are  reported  to  have 
promised,  we  cannot  count  on  it,  seeing  that  (Rev.)  Mr.  Badin,  to 
whom  the  Indians  made  the  promise,  did  not  fulfil  the  conditions  of  the 
contract  in  virtue  of  which  the  Indians  offered  to  give  a  certain  amount 
of  land  towards  the  building  of  a  Catholic  Church,  for  their  own  use, 
however. 

' '  Another  thing  which  causes  me  much  pain :  I  cannot  say  Mass 
during  the  week,  or  rarely  so,  for  lack  of  the  necessary  articles,  mass- 
wine  and  candles.  But,  Monseigneur,  I  must  tell  you  in  all  sincerity 
that  this  mission  holds  out  the  fairest  hopes  for  the  future,  and  that 
to  abandon  it  for  the  lack  of  some  little  assistance,  or  some  small  sac- 
rifices, would  be  a  great  loss  for  religion,  a  loss  all  the  greater  and  the 


io     From  the  letter  of  June  4,  1833. 


Father  Saint  Cyr  and  the  Church  in  Chicago  557 

more  certain  now  that  a  Presbyterian  minister  arrived  in  Chicago 
from  some  other  place  a  few  days  ago.  Many  Protestants,  even  of  the 
most  respectable  families  of  Chicago,  would  return  to  their  first  religion, 
or  rather,  would  remain  in  their  errors,  as  being  without  any  means 
of  embracing  the  Catholic  religion."11 

"I  have  performed  eight  baptisms  in  Chicago  and  must  go  to  the 
Fox  River  to  perform  some  more. 

"You  cannot  imagine,  Monseigneur,  how  much  good  could  be 
done  for  religion  in  these  vast  prairies,  were  a  priest  to  visit,  from  time 
to  time,  the  families  who  are  scattered  here  and  there,  abandoned  to 
themselves  in  everything  that  concerns  their  eternal  salvation.  "Even 
the  Indians,  the  poor  Indians,  are  not  indifferent  towards  our  holy 
faith ;  they  earnestly  wish  to  have  a  black-robe,  I  have  made  the  ac- 
quaintance  of  three  of  the  principal  chiefs,  all  three  Catholics.  Two 
of  them  in  particular,  who  remained  some  days  in  Chicago,  edified 
me  by  their  great  faith.  Before  sitting  down  at  table,  whether  others 
were  present  or  not,  they  prayed  for  a  space  of  almost  five  minutes,  and 
three  times  every  day  they  came  to  my  room  to  say  their  prayers  which 
consisted  of  a  Pater  and  an  Ave,  to  thank  God  for  having  given  them 
life'  and  the  means  to  support  life  and  to  pray  for  their  benefactors. 
I  showed  them  a  large  crucifix,  and  explained  to  them  with  the  aid 
of  an  interpreter  what  our  Lord  had  done  and  suffered  for  us  to  save 
us  from  hell  and  give  us  heaven.  They  remained  motionless  for  a 
while,  with  their  eyes  fixed  on  the  crucifix,  and  looking  at  it  with  an 
air  of  piety  and  compassion,  which  showed  they  had  a  lively  realiza- 
tion of  what  they  saw.  Then  they  broke  the  silence  by  prayers  which 
they  recited  at  the  foot  of  the  crucifix,  shedding,  at  the  same  time, 
torrents  of  tears.  Non  vidi  tantam  fidem  in  Israel.  I  could  not  re- 
frain from  weeping  with  them.  They  told  us  that  they  prayed  to 
God  three  times  every  day,  whether  journeying  or  at  home,  and  that 
they  spent  every  Sunday  singing  praises  of  Him  who  died  for  the 
whites  and  poor  Indians  alike.  What  a  beautiful  harvest,  Monseig- 
neur."12 

The  close  of  September  1833,  brought  stirring  events  to  the  rude 
frontier-town.  The  Potawatomi  Indians,  or  as  they  were  officially 
styled,  "the  United  Nation  of  the  Chippewas,  Ottawas  and  Pota- 
watomi," together  with  a  number  of  other  Indians  assembled  at 
Chicago  under  the  protection  of  Fort  Dearborn  to  conclude  a  treaty 
with  the  United  States  commissioners  for  the  purpose  of  selling  to 
the  Government  their  lands  in  Michigan,  Indiana  and  Illinois.  The 
treaty  stipulated  that  the  land  should  be  relinquished  for  a  considera- 
tion of  one  dollar  per  acre,  and  a  grant  of  five  million  acres  of  land 


11  Saint  Cyr  to  Eosati,  June  1833. 

12  From  the  same  letter. 


558  History  of  llx   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

on  the  left  bank  of  the  Missouri  River.  The  Indians  agreed  to  leave 
for  their  new  homes  immediately  after  the  ratification  of  the  treaty. 
Father  Saint  Cyr  held  divine  service  repeatedly  for  the  assembled 
Catholic  Indians.13  "Mine  than  1000  Indians  are  gathered  here  for 
the  payment.  Yesterday,  September  15th,  I  said  Holy  Mass  four  miles 
from  Chicago  before  a  large  congregation  of  converted  Indians  rec- 
ommended to  me  by  their  pastor  (Rev.)  Mr.  Deseille,  who  could  not 
accompany  them  to  the  treaty,  as  he  is  the  only  priest  at  St.  Joseph. 
Their  modesty,  their  tzood  behavior  during  the  most  Holy  Sacrifice 
and  their  respect  for  priests  touched  and  edified  me  exceedingly.  The 
Catholics  of  Chicago,  together  with  those  from  St.  Joseph  Avho  came 
to  attend  the  treaty,  gathered  there  in  great  numbers  to  hear  Mass. 
The  Catholics  sang  French  hymns  at  the  beginning  of  Mass.  Then 
the  Indians  sang  the  Credo  in  their  own  language  but  to  the  same  air 
to  which  we  sang  it,  and  they  sang  besides,  a  number  of  beautiful 
hymns."14 

Meanwhile  Bishop  Rosati  had  sent  a  request  to  the  Indian  agent, 
Robert  Stuart  to  pay  Father  Saint  Cyr  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars,  to 
supply  his  present  Avants.  As  to  the  lands  which  the  Indian  chiefs  had 
promised  to  give  towards  the  support  of  religion,  nothing  seems  to  have 
been  done. 

With  renewed  energy  Father  Saint  Cyr  pursued  his  laborious 
course.  As  to  the  progress  recently  made  he  has  this  to  say  in  his 
letter  of  September  16th:  "The  carpenters  are  working  at  present  on 
my  little  chapel.  I  hope  it  will  be  finished  by  Sunday  or  at  least  dur- 
ing the  course  of  the  following  week  ....  "Monseigneur  Reze  spent 
a  little  while  here  on  his  return  from  Green  Bay.  He  gave  me  ten 
dollars  for  my  church  and  ten  dollars  for  myself.  His  visit  was  ex- 
tremely short,  as  the  steamboat  left  the  same  day  it  arrived."15 

The  chapel  was  now  nearing  completion.  The  lumber  had  been 
brought  from  St.  Joseph's  across  the  lake.  Mr.  Augustine  Deodat 
Taylor  had  the  contract.  Hardly  had  he  finished  his  work,  when  the 
Indians  came  to  clean  up  the  place  to  make  it  fit  for  divine  worship. 
Father  Saint  Cyr  said  the  first  Mass  in  the  new  Church  in  October 
1833,  for  the  Catholic  Potawatomi  from  South  Bend,  about  300  in 
number  who  had  come  to  Chicago  for  their  annuities.  But  the  walls 
and  ceiling  of  the  new  edifice  were  still  unplastered,  the  outside  walls 
unpainted:  the  inside  but  poorly  furnished  with  rough  benches  for 
pews  and  the  simplest  of  tables  for  altar  and  pulpit.  There  was  no 
steeple  nor  bell.     The  total  cost  was  $400,  and  the  funds  collected  were 


13  Cf.  Garraghan,  op.   cit.,  pp.  56  and  57.     For  text   of  Treaty,   see  Kappler, 
"Indian  Affairs  and  Treaties,"  vol.  II,  p.  402. 

14  Saint  Cyr  to  Eosati,  September  16,  1833,  Archives, 
is     Idem,  ibidem. 


Father  Saint  Cyr  and  the  Church  in  Chicago  559 

exhausted,  and  the  willingness  to  give  was  gone:  so  Father  Saint  Cyr 
determined  to  do  what  many  a  priest  before  him  had  done,  to  go 
through  northern  Illinois  and  to  St.  Louis  on  a  so-called  collecting 
tour.  The  troubled  soul  of  Father  Saint  Cyr  did  not  think  of  asking 
his  Bishop's  permission,  but  simply  presumed  is  could  not  be  refused. 
On  November  23rd,  he  informs  Bishop  Rosati  of  his  plan  and  the  reason 
for  adopting  it : 

"For  over  a  month  my  little  chapel  has  been  finished  in  a  manner 
decent  enough  to  enable  us  to  say  Mass  without  inconvenience  every 
Sunday  and  week  day  up  to  the  present.  But  the  cold  which  is  now 
beginning  to  make  itself  felt  more  keenly  over  these  vast  prairies 
makes  the  chapel  almost  uninhabitable,  for  it  is  still  unplastered.  The 
impossibility  of  saying  Mass  in  it  during  the  winter,  as  also  the  im- 
possibility of  having  it  plastered  owing  to  the  slender  means  at  present 
at  our  disposal,  make  it  necessary  for  me  to  go  down  to  St.  Louis  to 
do  a  little  begging.  Thus,  together  with  what  the  people  here  have 
promised  still  to  give,  (though  I  scarce  put  any  trust  in  their  pledges), 
I  shall  have  quite  a  pleasant  chapel,  small  though  it  be.  Another 
motive  which  induces  me  to  make  a  trip  to  St.  Louis  is  that  Thursday 
next  we  are  going  to  open  a  school  in  which  three  languages,  French, 
English  and  Latin  will  be  taught.  Mr.  Kimber  who  is  40  years 
old  will  be  in  charge;  he  is  a  good  singer  and  speaks  English,  French, 
and  Latin  very  well;  but  as  we  cannot  find  here  the  books  needed 
by  the  children,  I  will  take  advantage  of  the  journey  to  secure  them."16 

As  a  kind  of  captatio  oenevolentiae  the  self-sacrificing  pastor  adds : 
"Up  to  the  present,  we  have  had  Mass  and  Vespers  sung  every  Sunday 
with  all  the  solemnity  possible  under  the  circumstances.  People  enter 
into  these  services  with  great  earnestness.  I  have  hopes  that,  with  the 
grace  of  God  and  the  charity  of'  the  faithful  and  in  spite  of  all  diffi- 
culties and  miseries  it  will  be  possible  to  organize  a  congregation  of 
good  Catholics  here  in  Chicago."17 

What  success  Father  Saint  Cyr  had  in  St.  Louis  we  have  no  way 
of  learning:  but  that  the  time  he  spent  on  his  journey  to  and  fro  was 
not  wasted,  is  shown  by  the  letter  he  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati,  on  June 
11th,  1834:  "I  arrived  in  Chicago,  the  fifth  of  this  month,  (June 
1834)  to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  people,  who  thought  I  was  never 
going  to  return.  They  were  pleased  to  see  me  again.  Last  Sunday 
we  had  High  Mass,  the  church  being  full  of  people  despite  the  bad 
weather,  and  in  the  afternoon  we  sang  Vespers.  A  great  many  Ameri- 
cans assisted  at  the  services. 

"I  cannot  give  you  the  population  of  Chicago  exactly.  The  com- 
mon  opinion   is   that  there   are  2000   inhabitants  in   town,   and   every 


16  Saint  Cyr  to  Eosati,  November  23,  1833,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

17  Idem,  ibidem. 


560  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

day  you  may  see  vessels  and  steamboats  put  in  here  from  the  lake 
crowded  with  families  who  come  to  settle  in  Chicago,  Surgunt  Moenia 
Trojae."1* 

"In  the  course  of  my  journey  I  saw  or  visited  nearly  all  the 
Catholics  of  Illinois,  I  performed  thirteen  baptisms  and  four  marriages 
and  gave  the  Catholics  of  Sugar  Creek,  Bear  Creek,  and  South  Fork 
and  Springfield  an  opportunity  to  make  their  Easter  duties.  Eighteen 
miles  above  Peoria  I  found  several  Catholic  families  who  so  far  have 
not  been  visited.  I  could  not  stop  there,  but  I  promised  to  visit  them 
when  I  should  return  from  Chicago."19 

Bishop  Rosati,  at  this  time,  seems  to  have  been  thinking  of  with- 
drawing Father  Saint  Cyr  from  Chicago,  and  placing  it  under  the 
care  of  Father  Fitzmaurice  of  Galena,  as  an  out-mission.  The  Cath- 
olics of  Chicago,  however  full  of  high  hopes  as  beseemed  Chicago 
people,  were  anxious  to  know  when  a  Bishop  would  be  appointed  for 
their  district. 

"They  would  like  to  have  him  in  Chicago,"  wrote  Father  Saint 
Cyr.  The  good  pastor  of  Chicago,  on  his  part,  was  very  glad  to  hear, 
that  he  was  dispensed  from  visiting  Galena,  as  he  had  abundance  of 
work  within  the  section  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the 
west  and  south.  Bishop  Rosati  knew  that  there  were  many  Catholic 
families  scattered  throughout  the  country  between  St.  Louis  and  Chicago. 
Father  Van  Quickenborne  had  preceded  Father  Saint  Cyr  in  his  min- 
istry to  the  Catholic  immigrants  along  the  Illinois  River  and  its  south- 
ern tributaries,  especially  in  Sangamon  County.  He  had  imparted  the 
information  he  had  gathered  to  Bishop  Rosati,  who  now,  in  turn,  con- 
veyed it  to  Father  Saint  Cyr,  with  the  request  that  he  visit  the 
scattered  sheep  of  the  flock.     Father  Saint  Cyr  answered : 

"As  to  the  Catholics,  whom  you  tell  me  about  in  your  letter,  Mon- 
seigneur,  I  am  acquainted  with  them,  have  met  them,  and  know  where 
they  live.  Despite  all  this,  I  cannot  visit  them  so  long  as  I  remain  in 
Chicago,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  they  are  150  miles  from  where  I  am 
stationed  and  that  I  cannot  meet  the  expenses,  I  am  obliged  to  make 
in  running  from  place  to  place.  What  is  more,  my  health  would  allow 
it  less  at  the  present  time  than  ever. 

"As  to  the  most  centrally  located  place  from  which  to  visit  all 
the  Catholics  of  Illinois,  it  is  my  opinion,  Springfield,  100  miles  from 
St.  Louis  and  a  little  over  200  miles  from  Chicago.  Here  is  the  place  I 
should  pick  out  for  head-quarters,  as  being  the  most  suitable  for  the 
purpose.  But  you  see,  at  the  same  time  that  I  cannot  visit  the  Cath- 
olics of  Illinois  on  account  of  the  great  distance  intervening  between 
the  settlements  and  the  difficulties  to  be  met  in  travelling  over  the 
prairies.     Hence,   either  Chicago  or  the   Catholics  of  Illinois  are  to  be 


is     Saint  Cyr  to  Eosati,  June  11,  1834,  Archives, 
is     Saint  Cyr  to  Rosati,  June  11,  1834. 


Father  Saint  Cyr  and  the  Church  in  Chicago  561 

neglected,  or  else  some  other  measure  must  be  taken.  Now,  Monseigneur, 
it  is  for  you  to  decide  as  you  judge  best.  Only  this :  whether  you 
judge  it  proper  that  I  remain  in  Chicago  or  leave  it,  kindly  let  me 
know  as  soon  as  possible,  because  if  I  am  to  remain  here  at  least  some 
time  longer,  the  people  are  prepared  to  enlarge  the  church  by  24  feet 
and  build  a  presbytery.  It  would  disappoint  and  even  discourage 
them,  were  we  now  to  abandon  them  after  having  put  them  to  such 
expense."20 

The  winter  of  1834-1835  was  considered  a  mild  one,  and,  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Canadians  inured  to  cold  "no  winter  at  all:"  yet  the 
slight  frame  of  Father  Saint  Cyr  felt  it  keenly. 

"Labor  improbus  omnia  vincit,"  he  writes  "Our  little  chapel  is 
finished  at  last,  but  not  without  many  difficulties  and  annoyances  oc- 
casioned by  the  mild  winter  of  the  Canadians.  We  have  been  obliged 
to  keep  up  a  fire  constantly  day  and  night  to  prevent  the  plastering 
from  freezing  and  this  for  more  than  three  weeks.  Only  at  the  end 
of  this  time  were  we  able  to  say  Mass,  but  since  then  we  have  had  Mass 
and  Vespers  sung  every  Sunday,  sometimes  to  music,  though  this  is 
not  always  harmonious.  However,  they  do  not  fail  to  make  a  noise, 
and  this  is  what  is  looked  for  here.  But  it  must  be  observed  that,  if 
there  is  discord  in  our  music,  it  is  owing  not  precisely  to  any  fault  or 
bad  will  on  the  part  of  the  musicians,  but  to  our  want  of  instruments. 

"I  will  also  state  that  though  I  speak  English  very  poorly,  the 
Americans  do  not  fail  to  come  in  crowds  to  our  church  every  Sunday, 
and  if  it  is  finished,  it  is  partly  to  their  generosity,  that  I  owe  it. '  '21 

It  was  towards  the  end  of  1835,  that  the  Potawatomi  band  of 
Indians  made  their  exodus  from  their  old  hunting  grounds  to  the  far 
west.  Before  their  departure  they  gave  the  citizens  of  Chicago  one  last 
exhibition  of  their  Avild  prowess,  though  a  bloodless  one.  Almost  naked, 
their  bodies  painted,  uttering  fierce  war-whoops  and  dancing  savagely 
they  paraded  along  Lake  Street  and  thence  to  the  North  Side,  whilst 
the  pale-faces  looked  on  from  their  places  of  vantage,  with  mingled 
feelings  of  fascination  and  alarm.  The  march  for  the  west  started  in 
September:  it  took  a  southwesterly  direction  through  Illinois  and  Iowa. 

A  number  of  Father  Saint  Cyr's  parishioners  the  Laframboises, 
Ouilmettes  and  Chevaliers,  being  half-breeds,  were  thus  lost  to  the 
Church  of  Chicago,  we  shall  meet  them  again  in  their  new  homes  at 
Council  Bluffs  under  the  care  of  Jesuit  Fathers. 

In  1834  the  see  of  Vincennes  was  erected  with  Bishop  Simon 
Brute  as  its  first  incumbent.22     The  new  diocese  included  the  state  of 


20  Saint  Cyr  to  Eosati,  July  2,  1834. 

21  Saint  Cyr  to  Eosati,  January  12,  1835. 

22  The  Bull  of  1832,  "Maximas  Inter,"  of  Pope  Gregory  XVI,  made  Bishop 
Eosati 's  jurisdiction  over  the  western  half  of  Illinois  final  and  complete.  Kaskaskia, 
Cahokia  and  Prairie  du  Eoeher  became  part  and  parcel  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis. 
But  Chicago  was  now  under  the  diocese  of  Vincennes. 


562  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Indiana  and  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  of  Illinois,  the  western  part 
having  been  definitely  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  St. 
Louis.  Chicago  was  now  in  the  diocese  of  Vincennes,  and  the  question 
arose,  shall  Father  Cyr,  its  founder  and  pastor  become  a  member  of 
Bishop  Brute's  clergy.  Neither  Bishop  Eosati  nor  Father  Saint  Cyr 
would  acquiesce.  At  Bishop  Brute's  consecration  in  the  new  St.  Louis 
Cathedral,  October  28th,  1834,  it  was  arranged  that  Father  Saint  Cyr 
should  remain  one  year  longer  in  Chicago,  and  then  return  to  St.  Louis. 
As  Father  Saint  Cyr  was  not  fully  informed  on  the  matter,  and  as 
Bishop  Brute  seemed  to  be  under  the  impression  that  Father  Saint 
Cyr  was  definitely  attached  to  his  diocese,  Bishop  Rosati  was  requested 
to  give  his  decision :  Father  Saint  Cyr  was  still  a  member  of  St.  Louis 
diocese  and  would  be  recalled  on  Bishop  Brute's  return  from  France. 
Towards  the  end  of  1835,  Father  Saint  Cyr  renewed  his  request  to  be 
recalled : 

"I  have  learned  that  Monseigneur  Brute  has  at  length  arrived 
at  Vincennes  with  a  large  number  of  priests.  I  hope  he  will  find  some 
one  among  them  to  replace  me.  Kindly  call  Monseigneur  Brute's  atten- 
tion to  the  matter  and  recall  me  to  your  diocese.  This  is  my  only  de- 
sire. However,  should  you  think  Divine  Providence  has  other  designs 
in  view,  see  and  judge  for  yourself.  I  leave  everything  to  your  good 
pleasure,  and  am  ready  to  submit  to  it  most  willing,  in  the  firm  con- 
viction that  nihil  mihi  deerit  in  loco  ubi  mt  collocavit."23 

Another  year  was  to  pass  by  for  Father  Saint  Cyr  in  Chicago. 
But  in  September  1836,  Father  Bernard  Schaeffer,  a  native  of  Strass- 
burg,  was  sent  by  Bishop  Brute  to  take  charge  of  the  German  Catholics 
of  the  city.  Father  Schaeffer  was  an  excellent  priest,  but  a  poor  Eng- 
lish scholar.  Among  the  Germans  he  was  well  liked,  but  among  the 
French,  Irish  and  American  Catholics  he  was  respected  as  a  priest  but 
disliked  as  the  prospective  pastor.  Father  Saint  Cyr  was  about  to 
depart  at  the  call  of  his  Bishop. 

It  was  on  March  4th,  1837,  four  years  after  his  first  arrival  in 
Chicago,  that  he  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati:  "I  received  your  letter  of 
February  23rd,  today,  I  hasten  to  answer  it  and  in  order  to  let  you  know 
that  I  shall  do  everything  in  my  power  to  follow  out  your  orders  despite 
great  difficulties  in  the  way.  If  I  cannot  go  on  to  St.  Louis  before 
Holy  Week  as  you  desire  me  to  do,  it  will  not  be  through  any  lack 
of  good  will  on  my  part,  but  because  circumstances  will  not  allow  it. 
"It  is  with  considerable  pain,  Monseigneur,  that  I  see  myself  forced 
to  sell  a  portion  of  my  books  to  pay  part  of  my  traveling  expenses, 


23     Saint  Cyr  to  Rosati,  September  5,  183G,  Archives. 


Father  Saint  Cyr  and  the  Church  in  Chicago  563 

and  even  so,  I  shall  be  obliged  to  borrow  money,  but  from  Avhom  I  do 
not  know. 

' '  When  I  went  to  Yincennes,  I  did  everything  in  my  power  to  get  a 
chalice  and  a  missal  for  (Rev.)  Mr.  Schaeffer.  But  all  my  efforts  were 
in  vain,  so  that  you  will  not  take  it  amiss,  Monseigneur,  if  I  leave  the 
chalice  and  missal  with  (Rev.)  Mr.  Schaeffer.  He  will  return  them 
as  soon  as  he  can  procure  others  in  their  place.  Sacrifice  on  sacri- 
fice."24 

It  would  seem  strange  that  the  rising  town  of  Chicago  should  be 
very  anxious  to  retain  the  services  of  Father  Saint  Cyr,  and  so  very 
derelict  in  giving  a  proper  support  for  his  person :  yet  so  it  was.  If  it 
had  been  different,  the  following  petition  to  the  Right  Reverend  Bishop 
Rosati,  of  St.  Louis  might  have  elicited  a  more  favorable  answer : 

"The  undersigned  Roman  Catholic  inhabitants  of  the  toAvn  of 
Chicago  have  heard  with  the  deepest  regret,  that  you  have  recalled  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Saint  Cyr  from  this  mission  and,  as  such  an  event  would,  in 
their  opinion,  be  productive  of  injurious  consequences  to  the  cause  of 
Catholic  truth  in  this  place,  they  humbly  beg  leave  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  actual  situation  of  our  people  in  this  mission  and  request  that  you 
will  carefully  consider  all  the  circumstances  previous  to  such  removal. 

They  would  in  the  first  place  inform  your  Grace,  that  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Saint  Cyr,  by  his  exemplary  conduct,  great  zeal  in  the  cause  of 
religion  and  incessant  perseverance,  has  endeared  himself  to  every  mem- 
ber of  our  congregation  and  is  highly  esteemed  by  the  members  of  other 
denominations,  and  having  acquired  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  Eng- 
lish language  to  enable  him  to  preach  and  instruct  with  fluency  and 
elegance,  they  conceive  that  his  removal  would  be  a  subject  of  bereave- 
ment of  the  whole  congregation. 

That  his  associate  Rev.  Mr.  Schaeffer,  although  equally  distinguished 
for  piety  and  zeal  has  but  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  English  lan- 
guage and  is  consequently  unfitted  for  discharging  the  spiritual  duties 
of  a  pastor  among  an  English  population. 

That  we  have  in  this  town  two  thousand  and  perhaps  more  Cath- 
olics, as  there  are  a  large  number  of  Catholic  families  in  the  adjacent 
country,  particularly  on  the  line  of  the  Chicago  and  Illinois  canal,  the 
great  body  of  laborers  on  which  are  Catholics,  to  all  of  whom  the  clergy 
here  must  render  spiritual  assistance.  The  attention,  therefore,  of  a 
clergyman  speaking  the  English  language  will  be  indispensably  neces- 
sary and  they  would  humbly  represent,  that  nothing  but  the  most  ur- 
gent necessity  should  induce  the  removal  of  a  man  from  such  a  vast 
field  of  labor  who  is- so  beloved  and  revered  by  his  congregation. 

That  as  our  church  is  totally  inadequate  to  contain  the  fourth  part 
of  the   attending  congregation,   we   have   taken   the   preliminary   steps 


24     Saint  Cyr  to  Rosati,  Archives. 


564  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

to  erect  a  new  chapel  capable  of  accomodating  our  large  and  increasing 
society.  The  removal  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Saint  Cyr  will  operate  to  retard 
and  delay  the  work  so  much  desired,  not  only  by  Catholics  but  by  var- 
ious members  of  other  denominations.  That  as  this  is  the  most  im- 
portant place  in  the  state,  as  the  population  is  so  rapidly  increasing, 
that  we  can  in  a  few  years  justly  expect  a  Catholic  population  of  several 
thousand,  and  as  one  clergyman  cannot  possibly  discharge  the  duties 
annexed  to  it,  good  policy  as  well  as  duty  require,  that  we  should  have 
clergymen  stationed  here  capable,  by  their  example  of  inspiring  respect, 
by  their  talents  of  dissipating  ignorance  and  prejudice  and  by  their  zeal 
and  perseverance  of  building  up  in  this  new  region  the  imperishable 
monuments  of  our  holy  religion. 

"We  therefore  humbly  entreat  your  Grace  not  to  deprive  us  of  a 
dearly  beloved  pastor  at  the  commencement  of  his  usefulness,  but  to 
leave  him  where  his  zeal  and  virtues  are  so  well  appreciated  and  so 
likely  to  respond  to  the  best  interests  to  the  Church."-"' 

What  Bishop  Rosati  answered  his  petitioners  does  not  appear:  but 
Father  Saint  Cyr  left  Chicago  for  St.  Louis  in  the  latter  part  of  March 
1837,  and  in  June  was  appointed  to  the  mission  of  Quincy,  Illinois, 
and  the  neighboring  counties. 

Father  Schaeffer,  thus  left  alone  in  Chicago,  struggled  on  until  the 
end  of  June,  when  Father  Bernard  O'Meara  came  to  assist  him  in  his 
last  illness,  of  which  he  died  on  the  Feast  of  the  Guardian  Angel,  Oc- 
tober 2nd,  1837,  Father  O'Meara  became  his  successor  as  pastor  of 
St.  Marys. 

In  August  1838,  Bishop  Brute  made  his  first  episcopal  visitation 
of  the  Church  of  Chicago.  "With  Father  Saint  Cyr's  departure  the 
golden  link  between  St.  Louis  and  the  Church  of  Chicago,  was  broken. 
The  small  mustard  seed  grew  and  gathered  strength,  and  in  1844 
became  the  episcopal  see  of  all  Illinois,  then  an  arch-diocese  and  now 
the  home  of  one  of  the  Princes  of  the  Church  Universal.  It  is  Father 
Saint  Cyr's  distinction  that  he  planted  in  tears  where  others  now  reap 
in  joy.26 


25  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese,  Petitions. 

26  There  is  nothing  better  written  on  the  early  days  of  the  Church  in  Chicago 
than  the  Rev.  Father  Garraghan 's  book,  quoted  above.  It  contains  every  letter  and 
every  scrap  of  information  on  Father  Saint  Cyr  available  at  this  time. 


Chapter  17 
PETER  PAUL  LEFEVERE  OF  SALT  RIVER 


We  have  seen  in  a  former  chapter,  how  the  Jesuit  Fathers  from 
their  Florissant  Novitiate  penetrated  into  the  wilds  of  Northeastern 
Missouri,  that  were  then  just  opening  to  Catholic  immigration,  and  how 
they  groped  their  way  from  farm  house  to  farm  house  to  seek  the 
scattered  sheep  of  the  fold  of  Christ  and  to  break  to  them  the  bread 
of  life.  But  a  priest  was  needed  who  should  devote  all  his  time  and 
energy  to  consolidate  the  scattered  membership  into  regular  missions 
and  parishes.  The  hero  of  this  religious  movement  was  the  man  of 
untiring  zeal  and  energy,  Father  Peter  Paul  Lefevere,  the  future  Bishop 
of  Zela  and  Administrator  of  Detroit. 

Nominally  pastor  of  St.  Paul's  on  Salt  River  in  Ralls  County, 
Missouri,  Father  Lefevere  extended  his  influence  far  and  wide,  in  Miss- 
ouri, Illinois  and  Iowa.  With  the  deep  lively  faith  of  St.  Peter,  Father 
Lefevere  combined  the  courage  and  straightforwardness  of  St.  Paul, 
which  led  him,  at  least  on  one  occasion,  to  resist  his  beloved  bishop  and 
tell  him  to  his  face  what  he  thought  of  his  "extravagance."  But  no 
harm  was  done,  no  ill-will  produced,  and  Bishop  Rosati  continued  to 
hold  the  great  and  good  man  in  the  highest  esteem. 

Peter  Paul  Lefevere  was  born  in  Roulers,  in  the  diocese  of  Bruges, 
April  30th,  1804.  After  a  classical  course  in  his  Belgian  home,  he 
studied  theology  at  Paris  and,  coming  to  Missouri,  was  ordained  by 
Bishop  Rosati  at  St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens,  November  20th,  1831.  On 
the  27th  of  April  1832,  the  Bishop  appointed  the  Rev.  Victor  Paillasson 
pastor  of  New  Madrid  and  of  all  the  surrounding  country,  with  facul- 
ties in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  gave  him  as  his  assistant  Rev. 
Peter  Paul  Lefevere.  It  was  the  intention  of  the  authorities  to  found 
a  school  of  higher  education  in  New  Madrid.  The  erection  of  a  proper 
building  was  immediately  begun.  Great  hopes  were  entertained  in 
regard  to  the  project,  especially  by  the  people  of  New  Madrid,  but  it  all 
met  with  sudden  disaster.  A  fire  of  unknown  origin  laid  low  all  the 
cherished  hopes  of  the  young  priest. 

In  a  very  touching  letter  of  June  24th,  1832,  he  opened  his  heart 
to  his  Father  and  friend,  Bishop  Rosati,  and  asked  to  be  assigned  to 
some  place  where  by  means  of  a  frugal  sustenance,  he  could  work  with 
more  fruit  for  the  salvation  of  others  and  that  of  himself,  which  he 
declared  was  the  only  motive  that  brought  him  to  America.1 


i     Cf.  Lefevere  to  Eosati,  June  24,  1832.     Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

(565) 


566  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Bishop  Rosati's  answer  of  the  18th  of  July  1832,  announces  to 
Father  Lefevere  his  appointment  to  the  mission  of  Salt  River,  but  the 
2nd  day  of  August  the  Bishop  suspends  this  order,  saying  that,  as  Father 
Paillasson  was  sent  on  a  special  mission  to  Arkansas,  he  should  remain 
at  New  Madrid  until  the  pastor's  return.  Father  Lefevere  might  also 
join  Father  Beauprez  in  the  Arkansas  mission.  Father  Lefevere  left 
the  choice  of  his  future  field  to  his  Superior,  as  was  proper,  and  ex- 
plained the  reasons  for  his  reluctance  to  accept  the  Arkansas  mission: 
"I  greatly  apprehend  to  have  no  better  success  than  M.  Saulnier,  who 
is  an  old  and  experienced  missionary,  and  my  apprehension  has  also 
been  increased  by  the  dreadful  portrait  men  of  good  information  here 
have   drawn   of  the  immorality   and   all  the   vices  of  the   inhabitants 

of  Arkansas As  for  the  rest,  I  resign  and  conform  myself 

entirely  to  your  will,  because  this  is  a  duty  incumbent  on  me,  and  I  am 
confident  that  you  act  and  ever  will  act  as  a  father  in  my  regard.  I 
am  much  embarrased  and  in  a  state  of  dejection.  When  I  left  the 
Seminary  I  was  without  money  and  had  but  a  scanty  provision  of 
clothes,  which  are  now  almost  worn  out  by  continual  work  at  the  es- 
tablishment, and  since  my  arrival  here  I  have  not  yet  received  so  much 
as  one  cent.  So  that  for  want  of  means  I  could  not  stay  long  in  this 
place,  and  I  am  also  unable  to  pay  the  passage  to  the  place  you  would 
send  me  ...  It  would  be  a  great  favor  to  me  and  a  great  relief,  if 
you  would  pay  my  passage,  and  send  me  something,  either  by  inten- 
tions or  otherwise,  to  place  myself  in  a  somewhat  better  condition  than 
I  am  at  present. '  '2 

This  plaintive  though  not  unmanly,  letter  brought  the  decision 
which  determined  Father  Lefevere 's  future  life.  It  is  the  brief  order 
of  August  29th :  "In  the  letter  which  will  be  brought  to  you  by  Mr. 
Larochia  you  will  find  a  banknote  to  pay  your  passage  from  New  Madrid 
to  St.  Louis,  from  where  you  will  go  to  Salt  River."  And  to  Salt 
River  Father  Lefevere  went,  December  3rd,  to  do  valiant  battle  in  the 
cause  of  Holy  Church,  until  his  appointment  as  Bishop  of  Zela,  and 
Coadjutor  and  Administrator  of  Detroit,  November  22,  1841,  almost  eight 
years  of  ceaseless  trouble  and  toil. 

Concerning  this  period  of  Father  Lefevere 's  activities  we  have 
a  beautiful  monument  in  the  letters  he  wrote  from  time  to  time  to 
Bishop  Rosati,  letters  that  owe  more  to  the  grace  of  Christ  that  animated 
the  writer,  than  to  the  graces  of  the  English  language.  Yet,  the  English 
is  clear  and  always  to  the  point ;  and  the  matter  these  letters  embody,  is 
a  most  important  contribution  to  the  history  of  the  beginnings  of  the 
Church  in  northeastern  Missouri  and  Iowa  and  the  adjoining  parts  of 


2     Lefevere  to  Kosati,  August  17,  1832.       Archives  of  the  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Peter  Paul  Lefevere  of  Salt  River  567 

Illinois  and  Wisconsin.  In  their  native  ruggedness  they  form  the  best 
illustration  of  Father  Lefevere 's  character,  as  well  as  of  the  extent  and 
difficult  nature  of  his  missionary  labors. 

Arriving  in  St.  Louis  from  New  Madrid  the  young  missionary  called 
on  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  but  found  him  rather  taciturn3  in  regard  to 
the  dispositions  he  had  made  at  Salt  River.  Bishop  Rosati  was  at  the 
Seminary  and  could  not  be  consulted :  No  one  else  seemed  to  know  any- 
thing about  Northern  Missouri.  Father  Lefevere  felt  greatly  discouraged 
and  downhearted :  As  he  was  without  means,  he  gladly  accepted  the 
offer  of  twenty-five  dollars  made  by  Father  Lutz  and  requested  the 
Bishop  to  repay  the  loan.  On  January  23rd,  1833  he  writes  from  Salt 
River  to  Bishop  Rosati : 

"As  for  what  regards  the  religion  here,  I  have  every  reason  to 
feel  satisfied,  seeing  the  fervor  and  the  zeal  of  a  great  many  of  these 
Catholics ;  and  if  I  may  judge  by  what  I  have  already  seen,  the  congrega- 
tion in  general  is  well  disposed  and  feels  deeply  interested  in  having  a 
stationary  clergyman  among  them.  But  they  are  widely  scattered.  I 
have  held  church  already  in  two  different  homes  and  promised  to  hold 
it  next  time  in  another  place :  and  I  think  it  will  be  necessary  to  go, 
from  time  to  time,  to  two  other  homes.  This  is  somewhat  embarrassing 
to  me :  for  it  seems  there  is  a  kind  of  emulation  among  the  people  to 
have  Mass  said  on  Sundays  at  their  house.  On  this  side  of  the  river 
(Salt  River)  they  seem  to  desire  that  the  priest  should  stay  among 
them  and  spend  the  greater  part  of  his  time  in  their  congregation, 
because  they  are  more  numerous  and  have  built  a  church,  which  is 
already  far  advanced ;  on  the  other  side  they  show  great  disposition 
to  build  a  clntrch,  and  therefore  seem  to  desire  that  the  priest  should 
go  often  amongst  them.  As  for  me,  I  board  with  Mr.  Raphy  Leake, 
who  receives  me  with  all  possible  kindness  and  affection ;  and  so  does 
his  lady  and  all  his  family  towards  me.  But  he  has  many  children, 
and  his  house  is  not  over-large,  and  therefore  I  think  he  does  more  than 
he  is  able.  You  know  that  this  must  be  inconvenient  to  me  and  to  the 
people.  As  for  finishing  the  church,  building  a  house,  and  getting  a 
salary  I  dare  not  undertake  anything  without  your  directions  for  fear 
of  contradicting  the  measures  which  have  been  already  taken  here  by 
Father  De  Theux  and  Mr.  Van  Quickenborne  and  thus  wearing  out 
the  patience  of  the  people.  For,  as  I  hear,  regulations  have  been  made 
for  a  house  and  a  farm  appertaining  to  the  church,  and  also  for  the 
establishment  of  a  male  and  female  school;  of  all  these  things  Mr.  A7an 
Quickenborne  would  communicate  nothing,  not  even  things  that  regard 


3  It  was  quite  natural  for  Father  Van  Quickenborne  to  be  rather  careful  in 
what  he  said  to  the  young  secular  priest,  as  his  destination  lav  in  the  territory  as- 
signed by  the  Concordat  to  the  Society  of  Jesus. 


5G8  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  ministry,  the  knowledge  of  which  would  have  been  necessary  or  at 
least  very  useful  to  me ;  he  seemed  to  know  everything  under  secrecy. 
But  if  you  think  proper,  that  I  should  not  have  knowledge  of  these 
things,  or  not  meddle  with  them,  I  humbly  entreat  you  to  give  me,  at 
least,  some  directions  how  I  should  act,  and  what  I  should  do  for  the 
ministry  as  well  as  for  my  sustenance."4 

As  early  as  January  1831,  the  people  living  along  both  sides  of 
Halt  River  in  Kails  County,  Missouri,  had  received  the  promise  of  a 
resident  priest.  The  congregation  was  called  St.  Paul's.  The  people 
were  immigrants  from  Kentucky  and  Maryland.  Almost  all  the  Cath- 
olics of  the  neighborhood  were,  as  Father  Lefevere  states  in  1834,  one 
continuous  series  of  relations  and  connexions.  And  they  were  constantly 
intermarrying,  because  they,  knowing  the  fatal  effects  of  mixed  marriages, 
had  scarcely  any  suitable  opportunity  of  marriage  except  among  mem- 
bers of  their  relationship.  The  first  settlers  of  St.  Paul's  congregation 
were  James  Leak,  Raphael  Leak  and  John  Elliot  in  1829.  Mass  was 
usually  said  in  the  houses  of  James  Leak,  Raphael  Leak  and  James 
Elliot,  first  by  Father  John  A.  Elet,  S.  J.,  then  by  Father  Charles  Van 
Quiekenborne,  S.  J.  Eighty  acres  of  land  were  set  apart  for  the  use 
of  the  congregation.  There  were  forty-five  families  in  the  Salt  River 
country  when  Father  Lefevere  arrived.  Mr.  James  Leake  offered  to 
board  the  pastor  gratis  and  to  take  care  of  his  horse.  He  promised  to 
make  him  as  comfortable  as  he  could,  and  it  should  not  cost  him  a 
cent. 

The  houses  in  which  the  missionary  was  obliged  to  say  Mass  in 
St.  Paul's,  as  well  as  in  the  numerous  places  he  was  about  to  visit 
on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  were  probably  all  built  on  the  same 
simple  plan :  so  let  me  give  the  description  of  one  as  written  down  in 
1831: 

"There  were  two  rooms,  both  on  the  ground  floor,  separated  from 
each  other  with  boards  so  badly  joined,  that  crevices  were  observable 
in  many  places.  The  rooms  were  nearly  square,  and  might  contain 
from  thirty  to  forty  square  yards  each.  Beneath  one  of  the  rooms 
was  a  cellar,  the  floor  and  sides  of  which  were  clay,  as  left  when  first 
dug  out ;  the  walls  of  the  house  consisted  of  layers  of  strong  blocks  of 
timber,  roughly  squared  and  notched  into  each  other  at  the  corners; 
the  joints  filled  up  with  clay.  The  house  had  two  doors,  one  of 
which  is  always  closed  in  winter,  and  open  in  summer  to  cause  a 
draught.  The  fire  was  on  the  floor  at  end  of  the  building,  where  a 
very  grotesque  chimney  had  been  constructed  of  stones  gathered  out  of 
the  land,  and  walled  together  with  clay  and  mud  instead  of  cement. 


4     Lefevere  to  Rosati,  dated  Salt  River,  January  23,  1833. 


Peter  Paul  Lefevere  of  Salt  River  569 

It  was  necessarily  of  great  width,  to  prevent  the  fire  from  communicating 
with  the  building.  The  house  was  covered  with  oak  shingles;  that  is 
to  say,  thin  riven  boards  nailed  upon  each  other,  so  as  just  to  over- 
reach. The  floors  of  the  house  were  covered  with  the  same  material, 
except  a  large  space  near  the  fire,  which  was  paved  with  small  stones, 
also  gathered  from  the  land.  The  windows  were  few  and  rather  small. 
It  is  in  reality  true,  that  the  want  of  light  is  felt  very  little  in  a  loghouse ; 
in  winter  they  are  obliged  to  keep  fine  blazing  fires  which,  in  addition 
to  the  light  obtained  from  their  low  wide  chimneys,  enables  the  inmates 
to  perform  any  business  that  is  requisite. 

It  is,  however,  by  no  means  to  be  understood  that  an  American 
log-house  equals  in  comfort  and  convenience  a  snug  English  cottage. 
It  is  quite  common  to  see  at  least  one  bed  in  the  same  room,  as  that 
in  which  the  fire  is  kept ;  a  practice  which  invariably  gives  both  the 
bed  and  house  a  filthy  appearance.  There  was  no  chamber,  only  a 
sort  of  loft,  constructed,  rather  with  a  view  to  make  the  house  warmer 
than  to  afford  additional  room.  Adjoining  one  side  were  a  few  boards 
nailed  together  in  the  form  of  a  table,  and  supported  principally  by 
the  timber  in  the  wall.  This  was  dignified  with  the  name  "sideboard." 
In  the  center  of  this  room  stood  another  small  table,  covered  with  a  piece 
of  coarse  brown  calico;  this  was  the  dining  table.  The  chairs,  four  in 
number,  were  the  most  respectable  furniture  in  the  house,  having  bark 
of  hickory  plaited  for  bottoms.  Besides  these,  there  were  two  stools 
and  a  bench  for  common  use, — a  candlestick  made  from  an  ear  of 
Indian  corn,  two  or  three  trenchers  and  a  few  drinking  vessels.  One 
corner  of  the  house  was  occupied  with  agricultural  implements,  con- 
sisting of  large  hoes,  axes,  etc.,  for  stubbing,  called  in  America,  grubbing, 
flails,  wooden  forks,  all  exhibiting  specimens  of  workmanship  rather 
homely.  Various  herbs  were  suspended  from  the  roof  with  a  view  of 
being  medicinally  serviceable,  also  two  guns,  one  of  them  a  rifle.  There 
were  also  several  hams  and  sides  of  bacon,  smoked  until  they  were 
almost  black ;  two  or  three  pieces  of  beef,  etc.  The  furniture  in  the 
other  room  consisted  of  two  beds  and  a  handloom,  with  which  the 
family  wove  the  greater  part  of  their  own  clothes.  In  the  cellar  I 
observed  two  or  three  large  hewn  tubs,  full  of  lard,  and  a  lump  of 
tobacco,  the  produce  of  their  own  land,  in  appearance  sufficient  to  serve 
an  ordinary  smoker  his  life."5 

In  these  straitened  circumstances  of  a  country  just  emerging 
from  the  native  condition  of  wild  Avood  and  prairie,  Father  Lefevere 
began  his  missionary  career.    Add  to  this  the  frequent  contradictions  from 


5  Extract  from  a  rare  pamphlet  published  in  London  in  1848,  by  S.  Berger, 
entitled,  ' '  A  True  Picture  of  Emigration,  or  Fourteen  Years  in  The  Interior  of 
North  America."    It  relates  to  the  period  from  1831  to  1845. 


570  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  wicked  and  wayward,  and  the  indifference,  seeming  or  real,  of  those 
for  whom  he  was  sacrificing  his  young  life,  and  we  may  well  understand 
that  his  condition  at  times  must  have  appeared  to  him  as  a  dreary 
exile.  But,  labor  omnia  vincit;  labor  in  the  cause  of  God,  conquered 
all  feelings  of  despondency,  all  desire  for  a  change;  where  there  is  so 
much  to  do,  and  lie  alone  to  do  it,  he  will  not  shrink  from  any  work,  but 
casting  his  care  upon  the  Lord,  he  will  leave  it  to  Him  to  bless  his 
labors.  The  following  letter  will  give  us  an  illustration  of  this.  It  is 
dated  Salt  River  Township,  July  12,  1833  : 

.  .  .  "In  my  last  trip  I  said  Mass  at  a  Catholic  house  on  the 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  just  opposite  Quincy,  and  hearing  that  Mr. 
O'Neil,  who  has  been  a  Brother  in  the  Seminary,  was  living  in  that  town, 
I  sent  over  to  him  to  come  to  Mass.  He  came  over  with  another  Cath- 
olic, and  both  went  to  their  duties.  They  told  me  that  there  were  several 
Catholics  living  in  Quincy,  who  were  greatly  desirous  of  having  a  church. 
As  this  town  is  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  I  do  not  know  whether  it  would 
be  licit  for  me  to  go  there,  but  if  you  give  me  leave,  I  shall  go  there 
the  next  time,  as  it  is  not  out  of  the  way  I  have  to  go. 

"The  cholera  has  been  more  fatal  in  Palmyra  than  in  any  other 
place  I  have  ever  heard  of.  Out  of  a  population  of  six  hundred  and 
odd  souls  109  persons  have  fallen  victims  to  that  disease.  It  has  also 
been  in  New  London  and  throughout  the  country  round  about.  Several 
persons  have  been  swept  away;  and  I  attribute  it  to  a  special  favor  of 
God  that  I  have  escaped  the  disease ;  for  during  eighteen  days  I  have 
been  continually  exposed  to  all  that  wet  spell  of  weather,  which  caused 
every  creek  and  water-course  to  be  past  fording,  being  wet  to  the  skin 
every  day  by  a  hard  beating  rain,  or  by  swimming  or  high  fording.  All 
this,  however,  has  brought  on  a  daily  fever  and  ague  for  these  three 
weeks,  whose  severity,  together  with  the  repeated  doses  of  calomel,  tartar 
emetic  and  other  medicines,  has  weakened  and  exhausted  me  so  much  that 
1  was  not  able  to  walk  around  the  house.  The  fever  now  begins  to  abate, 
so  that  I  have  been  able  to  say  Mass  today  for  the  first  time,  not,  how- 
ever, without  great  difficulty  and  fatigue  and  I  hope  now,  that  little  by 
little  I  shall  gather  my  strength  so  as  to  be  able  after  a  few  days,  to 
attend  to  my  former  duties. '  '6 

As  Bishop  Rosati  had  received  from  Bishop  Flaget  the  power  of 
Vicar-General  for  Illinois,  he  cheerfully  granted  Father  Lefevere  the 
faculties  for  any  and  all  places  there  to  which  he  might  be  called. 

As  Father  Lefevere  here  for  the  first  time  makes  mention  of  Quincy, 
we  will  accompany  him  on  his  trip  across  the  river.  Quincy  has  the 
distinction  of  being  the  earliest  purely  German  parish  along  the  whole 


6     Lefevere  to  Rosati,  Archives. 


Peter  Paul  Lefevere  of  Salt  River  571 

course  of  the  Mississippi  River  above  the  German  Coast.  The  pioneer 
settler  was  the  John  Wood,  a  veteran  of  the  War  of  1812,  who  in  1821 
took  possession  of  his  Congressional  grant  and  built  his  home  on  it.  The 
town  was  named  for  President  John  Quincy  Adams,  the  county  being 
called  Adams.  The  first  German  settler  was  Michael  Mass,  a  Catholic 
from  Baden,  who  had  left  his  native  city,  Forchheim  in  Breisgau  in 
1816,  made  a  fortune  in  Mexico  and  established  his  home  in  Quincy  in 
the  year  1829.  Father  Lefevere  met  some  of  the  Catholic  people  of 
Quincy,  who  came  over  to  the  Missouri  side  of  the  river  to  attend  divine 
service,  as  his  letter  states,  and  were  by  him  encouraged  to  send  a  peti- 
tion to  Bishop  Rosati  for  a  resident  priest.  As  the  Bishop  had  no  one 
to  send,  Father  Lefevere  offered  to  visit  the  people  of  Quincy  and  sur- 
rounding country,  in  addition  to  his  own  numerous  and  difficult  sta- 
tions, as  we  learn  from  his  next  letter,  dated  St.  Paul's  July  3,  1834: 

' '  My  Lord — When  I  had  the  pleasure  of  conversing  with  your  Lord- 
ship last  winter,  I  nourished  the  greatest  hopes  of  seeing  the  church  on 
Salt  River  completed  on  my  return.  But  to  my  sad  astonishment,  I 
saw  that,  during  all  my  absence,  not  a  single  stroke  had  been  given  to  it, 
and  that  the  prospect  of  having  it  finished  before  long  were  very  dim. 
Therefore  I  tarried  here  these  four  weeks,  visiting  the  little  congrega- 
tions round  about  in  order  to  give  them  all  the  opportunity  of  celebrating 
their  Easter.  During  that  time,  I  made  them  sensible  of  their  sluggish- 
ness and  little  zeal  in  the  service  of  God,  and  their  backwardness  in  con- 
tributing to  the  attainment  of  the  necessary  nourishment  of  their  souls. 
Finally  I  told  them  in  positive  terms,  that  in  the  manner  I  had  been 
until  then  living  among  them,  without  any  return  of  support,  a  clergy- 
man could  not  or  ought  not  stay  amongst  them ;  that  now  I  was  going 
to  visit  the  scattered  Catholics  on  the  side  of  Illinois  and  beyond  the 
state  of  Missouri,  that  it  was  now  left  at  their  choice  either  to  have  a 
stationary  clergyman  amongst  them  or  not.  For  should  the  church 
at  my  return  not  be  completed,  and  some  arrangement  for  a  reason- 
able support  be  made  up,  I  was  fully  determined  to  leave  them,  with- 
out giving  them  any  hopes  of  ever  obtaining  another  priest  for  the 
present.  This  (missionary)  visit  took  me  about  three  months,  during 
which  I  never  could  pass  more  than  three  nights  in  the  same  place.  I 
went  from  Atlas  to  the  head  of  the  Rapids,  forty  or  fifty  miles  back- 
ward and  forward  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  continually  hunting 
after  some  Catholics  that  were  newly  come  to  this  section. 

"Then  I  returned  on  this  side  of  the  Mississippi  among  the  Half 
Indians  and  in  the  New  Purchase  where  the  Catholics  are  increasing 
very  fast.  The  difficulties  and  the  hardships  I  had  to  struggle  with  were 
great ;  but  in  all  this  I  had  the  consolation  of  baptizing  several  adult 
persons,  and  of  seeing  many  Catholics,  who  until  then  had  been  cold 


572  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

and  indifferent  and  had  never  made  any  use  of  the  Church  for  many 
years,  take  a  new  start,  as  it  were,  in  the  way  of  their  salvation  and 
devoutly  approach  the  sacraments.  In  and  about  Quincy  the  Catholics 
are  coming  in  considerably  faster,  and  are  very  anxious  to  have  a  Cath- 
olic church  built  there.  Even  people  of  other  (religious)  professions 
are  very  eager  in  the  cause,  and  have  offered  a  lot  or  two,  and  other  aids 
towards  the  building  of  a  chapel.  They  had  also  written  a  petition  in 
order  to  entreat  Your  Lordship  to  station  a  clergyman  amongst  them. 
Before  sending  it  they  asked  my  advice  about  it,  I  told  them  there  was 
now  a  great  scarcity  of  priests  in  the  Diocese,  that  I  thought  it  would  be 
impossible  to  have  a  stationary  one  at  present.  Nevertheless  I  encouraged 
them  to  send  it  on  and  proceed  in  their  good  undertaking,  saying  that, 
if  they  had  a  church,  the  place  would  at  least  be  regularly  visited,  until 
there  should  be  a  priest  stationed  there.  At  the  Head  of  the  Kapids, 
about  fifty  miles  above  Quincy,  there  is  a  still  greater  prospect  for  a 
church,  because  the  Catholics  there  are  more  numerous  and  very  zealous 
toward  the  building  of  a  church.  Several  other  families,  too  are  going 
to  settle  there  next  fall.  I  saw  some  time  ago  in  the  Shepherd,1  if  I 
recollect  well,  that  Mr.  St.  Cyr  was  destined  for  the  mission  in  the 
northern  part  of  Illinois.  I  presumed  it  was  for  Sangamon  County. 
But  except  for  Galena,  where  as  I  have  seen,  a  priest  is  already  sta- 
tioned, I  do  not  think  that  in  the  whole  northern  district  of  Illinois, 
there  is  a  more  interesting  and  promising  mission  than  at  the  Rapids 
and  at  Quincy.  The  Catholics  are  more  numerous,  the  land  fertile,  well 
watered  and  considerably  well  timbered,  and  close  to  the  main  naviga- 
tion. People  also  seem  to  move  to  it  from  every  part  of  the  Union.  As 
for  Sangamon  county,  a  great  many  of  the  Catholics  who  used  to  live 
there,  have  moved  already  to  the  state  of  Missouri,  and  the  greater  part 
of  the  remainder  of  them  intend  to  move  out  shortly.  And  indeed  I 
see  no  inducement  for  them  to  stay  there.  The  land,  it  is  true,  is  richer 
than  common,  but  it  is  extremely  sickly.  They  live  toward  the  head  of 
the  Sangamon  River,  far  from  navigation,  far  from  market,  where  no 
business  is  stirring,  and  no  money  circulating.  And  it  is  but  too  often 
the  case,  that  Catholics  settle  in  the  poorest  or  most  sickly  places,  and 
are  induced  to  move  or  stay  there  on  account  of  prospects  for  a  church ; 
and  this  is  the  great  reason  that  Catholics  are  generally  poor  and  kept 
under  by  other  denominations.  If  Mr.  St,  Cyr,  or  any  other  priest 
were  stationed  at  Quincy  or  at  the  Head  of  the  Rapids,  he  would  find 
there  a  wide  extensive  field  for  his  zeal  in  the  cause  of  God.  Besides 
many  other  Catholics  scattered  through  the  country,  he  would  find  four 


7     "The  Shepherd  of  the  Valley,"   the  first   Catholic  paper  published  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River. 


Peter  Paul  Lefevere  of  Salt  River  573 

little  congregations  in  a  circuit,  as  it  were  of  forty  or  fifty  miles  at 
most.  These  congregations  are  as  yet,  small,  indeed,  but  very  promising, 
and  increasing  daily.  There  is  one  at  Quincy,  one  at  the  Head  of  the 
Rapids,  another  on  the  Fork  of  Crooked  Creek,  and  a  fourth  one  at  the 
foot  of  the  Rapids  among  the  Half  Indians,  where  there  are  several 
French  and  American  families  living.  From  there  he  could  even  go 
sometimes  to  Sangamon  County.  On  the  other  hand  it  would  be  very 
consoling  for  the  missionary.  It  would  be  placing  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  comforts  within  the  reach  of  us  both,  and  also  that  of  the 
priest  stationed  at  Galena.  Then  at  least  we  could  sometimes  see  one 
another.  "We  could  ask  for  consolation  in  affliction,  counsel  in  doubt, 
and  help  in  distress,  without  being  exposed  so  much  to  die  without  the 
consolation  of  receiving  the  last  Sacraments,  as  Mr.  McMahon  of  afflict- 
ing memory.  As  for  my  part,  if  I  stay  on  Salt  River,  I  absolutely 
could  not  visit  those  places  any  longer.  It  would  be  absenting  myself 
too  long  from  these  congregations  here  and,  the  distance  being  so 
great,  I  could  not  stand  it  a  long  time  being  dragged  continually  through 
rivers  and  swamps  to  visit  these  places. 

"At  my  return  to  Salt  River  the  people  had  just  completed  the 
church,  the  best  way  they  could  and  seemed  to  have  a  great  desire  to 
have  Divine  Service  performed  in  it.  We  had  then,  the  two  last  Sundays, 
for  the  first  time,  high  Mass  in  it ;  a  band  of  singers  of  the  congregation 
forming  a  delightful  and  harmonious  choir.  The  church  was  crowded 
with  people  from  every  quarter  of  the  County,  who  seemed  to  be  very 
much  delighted  and  edified  with  the  Divine  Service  that  was  performed. 
I  have  said  and  do  say  Mass  in  it  until  now,  as  if  it  were  a  private 
house ;  because  I  think  that,  without  further  necesssary  ornaments 
and  decorations,  this  building  is  not  fit  to  be  blessed  and  dedicated  to 
the  service  of  the  Almighty.  Still  in  case  of  sickness  and  out  of  neces- 
sity, I  keep  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  the  tabernacle,  which  I  have 
rendered  as  neat  and  decorous  as  my  slender  means  would  permit.  The 
altar  and  the  celebrant  are  entirely  destitute  of  all  necessary  deckings 
and  vestments  for  the  august  Sacrifice  of  Mass.  There  is  no  becoming 
chasuble  or  albe.  When  I  came  to  Salt  River  I  had  but  one,  which  was 
yet  indifferent,  and  by  carrying  it  now  for  the  space  of  almost  two 
years  in  the  saddlebags,  it  has  become  unfit  for  use.  There  are  no 
candlesticks,  no  linens  for  the  altar,  no  canopy,  no  antipendium,  no 
carpet,  no  decent  pictures  or  crucifix,  the  church  in  a  word  is  unfit  for 
the  performance  of  Divine  Services :  and  it  is  but  necessity  that  urges 
me  to  say  Mass  within  its  walls.  I  hope  then  that  Your  Lordship  will 
open  his  benevolent  eyes  to  the  pressing  wants  of  this  church  and  supply 
what  the  congregation,  with  its  utmost  endeavors,  cannot  effect.  For 
as  the  child  goes  to  the  Father  for  the  wants  of  nature,  so  does  an 


.~>74  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

humble  priest  in  the  name  of  his  entrusted  congregation,  address  him- 
self, without  fear  of  refusal,  to  his  beloved  Bishop,  for  the  almost 
indispensible  means  of  performing  his  office  with  decency,  proficiency 
and  edification. 

"The  Catholics  here  are  very  eager  and  desirous  to  obtain  your 
humble  servant  for  their  parish  priest,  and  for  my  support  they  have  made 
up  a  subscription  of  fifty  dollars  on  this  side,  and  forty  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river  (Salt  River).  It  is  little,  but  it  is  all  that  their  slender 
abilities  can  afford,  and  I  fear,  that  for  want  of  means,  a  great  part  of 
what  is  subscribed  will  never  be  paid.  The  settlers  here  are  poor  and 
have  large  families.  They  are  generally  people  who  could  not  find 
subsistence  in  the  state  from  which  they  moved,  or  who  met  with  some 
great  loss  or  misfortune ;  and  the  little  money  they  had  on  coming  to 
this  state  they  have  laid  out  to  enter  their  land.  So  that  now  they 
live  poorly,  work  hard,  and  scarcely  raise  enough  to  support  their 
own  family.  But,  at  all  events,  I  should  loathe  the  idea  of  abandoning 
this  mission,  considering  the  importance  of  it  and  the  immense  good 
that  can  be  done  here.  It  is  true,  a  great  many  of  the  Catholics  here 
are  cold  and  indifferent  in  the  ways  of  God;  but  it  seems  to  me,  that 
this  is  the  very  reason  why  greater  efforts  should  be  made  in  order 
to  warm  that  coldness  and  inspire  the  rising  generation  with  that 
ardor  and  zeal,  which  one  day  will  constitute  them  good  members  of 
the  Church  and  a  shining  light  to  other  (religious)  professions.  I  feel 
very  sorry,  My  Lord,  that  you  are  not  better  acquainted  Avith  these 
northern  parts  of  the  state  of  Missouri.  Because,  I  am  confident  that, 
were  you  thoroughly  acquainted  with  them  by  self -information  and 
experience,  you  would  be  convinced  that  they  require  more  of  your 
episcopal  attention  than  any  of  the  southern  parts.  Because  the  land 
here  is  so  beautiful,  healthy  and  productive  of  almost  every  kind  of 
vegetable,  and  the  people  are  moving  to  it  so  rapidly,  that  it  surpasses 
anything  your  Lordship  has  ever  seen  until  now.  Catholics  too,  are 
daily  increasing  and  scattering  through  the  country.  There  are  here, 
as  it  were,  seven  small  congregations  in  a  circuit  of  about  a  hundred 
and  twenty  miles,  and  if  in  some  of  these  places  a  little  chapel  were 
erected,  it  would  be  the  means  of  collecting  the  Catholics  together 
and  making  many  conversions,  and  also  of  establishing  the  Church 
permanently  in  these  parts.  Without  such  effectual  means,  I  fear  greatly 
that  the  various  sects  of  Protestants  will  take  the  upper  hand,  since  they 
are  also  increasing  rapidly  and  seem  to  bend  every  effort  toward 
establishing  their  own  sect  in  every  neighborhood.  I  say  these  things, 
not  that  I  would  dictate  to  your  Lordship,  for  I  hope  that  such  a 
suspicion  will  never  arise  in  your  truly  episcopal  heart.  But  it  is  merely 
a  sense  of  duty  that  urges  me  to  write  this  in  order  toicall  your  partic- 


Peter  Paid  Lefevere  of  Salt  River  575 

ular  attention  to  this  interesting  and  noble  portion  of  your  spiritual 
realm. 

"I  have  a  great  desire  of  enjoying  your  Lordship's  presence,  but 
I  cannot  start  on  account  of  the  prairie  flies,  which  are  now  so  bad  that 
it  is  impossible  to  travel ;  and  after  they  begin  to  subside,  which  will 
be  towards  the  middle  of  August,  before  I  come,  I  must  absolutely  make 
another  trip,  in  order  to  visit  some  Catholics  whom  I  left  last  time, 
halfway,  as  it  were,  on  their  return  to  the  pale  of  the  Church."8 

Father  Lefevere  animadverts  with  some  natural  warmth  on  the 
seeming  predilection  of  Bishop  Rosati  for  the  missions  in  the  southern 
parts  of  his  spiritual  realm,  the  old  French  settlements  in  Southern 
Missouri,  Illinois,  and  in  the  state  of  Louisiana.  That  the  North  had 
the  promise  of  a  glorious  future  far  surpassing  that  of  the  South,  may 
have  dawned  on  the  mind  of  the  far-seeing  bishop  ;  yet.  it  was  the  South 
that  then  possessed  the  strong,  well-established  parishes,  and  almost 
all  the  cultured  elements  of  his  diocese.  Father  Lefevere  knew  but  little 
of  the  South,  and  what  he  knew  by  experience  of  its  religious  and 
social  conditions  was  not  favorable.  Yet  his  fine  judgment  as  to  the 
brilliant  prospects  of  the  North,  at  a  time  when  its  energies  were  just 
beginning  to  make  themselves  felt,  deserve  our  grateful  recognition. 
The  wide  fields  were  ready  for  the  hands  of  the  sowers,  and  other 
fields  were  waiting  for  the  laborers  that  should  clear  and  till  the  soil; 
yet  the  laborers  were  all  too  few.  Between  St.  Paul's  on  Salt  River  and 
the  eastern  extremity  of  Illinois  at  Chicago ;  between  Dubuque  and 
Galena  in  the  North,  and  Cahokia  and  St.  Louis  to  the  South  there  was 
not  a  single  priest.  Of  Father  Fitzmaurice  we  have  already  spoken, 
and  to  his  successor  in  Galena  Ave  shall  return  in  the  course  of  our 
wanderings.  Of  Father  Saint  Cyr,  the  first  resident  priest  of  Chicago 
we  will  have  occasion  to  speak  ere  long,  as  his  stay  at  Chicago  was 
about  contemporaneous  with  Father  Lefevere \s  early  days  at  St.  Paul's 
and  in  the  surrounding  wilderness.  The  seed  of  God's  word  has  already 
taken  root  in  some  parts  of  this  virgin  soil :  the  indications  for  a  great 
harvest  were  not  as  yet  very  noticeable ;  still  Father  Lefevere  was  full 
of  confidence  and  his  buoyant  hope  and  resistless  energy  communicated 
themselves  to  others,  as  a  pledge  of  the  great  things  to  come. 

As  Father  Lefevere 's  letter  of  July  3,  1834,  passes  in  rapid  survey, 
not  only  the  country  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Quincy,  but  also  the 
promising  settlements  on  the  lower  Illinois  River,  with  its  tributaries — 
Crooked  Creek  and  Sangamon  River,  a  brief  account  of  the  physical 
and  social  conditions  of  these  advanced  posts  of  civilization  in  Central 
Illinois   will   prove   acceptable   and,   we   hope,   helpful   for  the   better 


s     Lefevere  to  Rosati,  St.  Paul's,  July  3,  1834. 


576  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

understanding  of  what  we  may  have  to  say  concerning  the  planting 
of  the  Church  therein. 

In  1818  the  settled  part  of  Illinois  extended  a  little  north  of 
Edwardsville  and  Alton.  The  entire  state  numbered  about  45,000 
settlers  in  the  villages  of  Kaskaskia,  Prairie  du  Rocher,  Prairie  du  Pont, 
Cahokia,  Peoria  and  Chicago. 

Immigration  on  a  larger  scale  from  the  East  and  the  South  set 
in  in  1822.  Galena  in  the  farthest  north  was  settled  about  1825,  though 
known  as  a  lead  center  much  earlier.  "In  1823  Sangamon  River  and 
Fulton  County  were  the  northern  boundaries  of  the  settlements.  A 
military  and  trading  post  existed  at  Chicago,  and  a  dozen  families, 
chiefly  French,  were  gathered  at  Peoria,  formerly  known  as  Lake  Pimi- 
teouy.  The  northern  half  of  Illinois  was  a  continuous  wilderness,  or 
as  the  universal  impression  was,  an  interminable  prairie,  forever  un- 
inhabitable. 

Morgan  county,  then  including  Scott  and  Cass,  had  about  seventy- 
five  families.  Springfield  in  Sangamon  County  was  a  frontier  village 
of  a  dozen  log  cabins."9 

In  1830  the  first  steamboat  went  up  the  Illinois  River  as  far  as 
Peoria. 

"The  population  of  the  state,"  says  Ford,  "had  increased  by  the 
year  1830  to  157,447;  it  had  spread  north  from  Alton  as  far  as  Peoria, 
principally  along  the  rivers  and  Creeks,  and  in  such  places  there  were 
settlers  sparsely  scattered  along  the  margin  of  the  Mississippi  River 
as  far  as  Galena,  sometimes  at  a  distance  of  a  hundred  miles  apart ;  also 
on  the  Illinois  River,  to  Chicago,  with  long  intervals  of  wilderness ;  a 
few  sparse  settlements  were  scattered  about  all  over  the  southern  part 
of  the  military  tract,  Pike  and  Calhoun  counties.  The  country  on  the 
Sangamon  River  and  its  tributaries  had  been  settled,  .  .  leaving 
a  large  wilderness  tract  yet  to  be  peopled  between  Galena  and  Chicago ; 
the  whole  extent  of  the  Rock  River  and  Fox  River  counties  and  nearly 
all  the  lands  of  Hancock,  McDonough,  Fulton,  Peoria,  Stark,  Warren, 
Henderson,  Knox,  Mercer,  Henry,  Bureau,  Livingstone,  Champaign, 
Piatt  and  Iroquois,  comprising  one-third  of  the  state.  As  yet  in  1830 
but  a  few  settlements  had  been  made  anywhere  in  the  then  open-wide 
prairie  but  were  confined  to  the  margins  of  the  timber  in  the  vicinity 
of  rivers  and  streams  of  water."10 

There  was  reason  for  this.  The  prairie  lands  were  so  different 
from  anything  the  early  immigrants  had  seen.  Though  marvels  of 
beauty  and  design,  stretching  away  in  endless  undulations  of  wind- 
swept grass  in  Summer,  with  a  clump  of  trees  here  and  there ;  appar- 


9     Perkins,  James  H.,  "Annals  of  the  West,"  2nd  Ed.,  p.  784. 
io     Ford's  "History  of  Illinois,"  Ch.  4,  pp.  102  and  103. 


Peter  Paul  Lefevt  re  of  Salt  River  577 

ently  fertile  beyond  the  lands  of  the  East,  yet  so  silent  and  lonesome, 
lacking  shade  and  water,  uncanny  as  if  a  curse  rested  on  the  vast 
expanse  of  pathless  green,  the  prairies  frightened  away  the  bewildered 
homeseekers. 

Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  up  to  the  Black  Hawk  "War,  Northern 
Illinois  was  almost  an  uninhabited  wilderness,  in  which  the  towns  of 
Peru,  Lasalle,  Ottawa,  Newark,  Holderness  Grove,  Galena  and  Chicago 
formed  the  scattered  oases  of  civilization,  the  two  places — Galena  on 
the  Mississippi  and  Peoria  on  the  Illinois  River — being  connected  by  the 
only  railroad  in  the  state.  For  the  rest,  there  was  the  stage-road 
through  the  pathless  prairie  to  Shawneetown  on  the  Ohio,  and  the 
Illinois  River  leading  to  the  outer  world. 

But  with  the  defeat  of  Black  Hawk  the  sinister  charm  seemed 
broken.  The  soil  was  found  to  be  most  fertile,  the  climate  not  too 
severe,  and  the  lurking  dangers  from  savage  men  and  wild  animals 
only  formed  another  element  of  attraction. 

Numberless  settlements  arose  in  all  the  counties  and  every  year 
brought  new  and  flourishing  additions  to  the  towns  already  founded. 

Although  the  great  immigration  of  Irish  Catholics  was  coincident 
with  Irish  famine  of  1846,  1847  and  1848,  and  that  of  the  German 
Catholics  found  its  high-tide  during  the  years  1841-1850,  still  there 
was  a  steady  stream  of  Catholic  families  pouring  into  Northern  Illinois 
all  through  its  earlier  period  and  diffusing  its  elements  of  progress 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 

What  was  to  become  of  their  religion  amid  the  hardships  and  priva- 
tions of  the  wilderness,  in  the  loneliness  of  isolated  homesteads,  or  among 
men  of  other  faith  ?  That  was  the  great  question  that  touched  the  heart 
of  many,  but  most  deeply  the  fatherly  heart  of  Bishop  Rosati.  For  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis  had  in  1818  been  intrusted  by  Bishop  Flaget  of 
Bardstown  with  the  spiritual  care  of  the  Catholic  settlements  of  Illinois 
along  the  Mississippi.  At  that  time  this  commission  was  comparatively 
easy,  as  these  settlements  were  all  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
St.  Louis.  But  as  the  settlements  were  extended  farther  and  farther 
every  year  the  difficulty  of  attending  them  grew  in  proportion. 

In  order  to  provide  properly  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  Illinois, 
the  territory  should  be  under  his  immediate  jurisdiction,  especially  as 
the  Mississippi  River  and  its  eastern  tributaries  formed  the  only  high- 
ways of  travel.  On  June  25  Bishop  Rosati  answers  a  letter  of  Bishop 
Flaget,  then  the  Ordinary  of  Illinois;  "I  concur  with  your  opinion 
that  the  limits  of  my  diocese  should  be  fixed  at  the  12th  degree  of 
longitude  west  of  Washington.  I  also  desire  that  the  line  be  continued 
further  north."11    This  arrangement  was  ultimately  approved  by  Rome 


ii     Rosati  to  Flaget,  Archives. 
Vol.  1-19 


578  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

-I une  17,  1834,  in  the  following  words:  "The  diocese  of  St.  Louis  com- 
prises the  state  of  Missouri,  together  with  the  territory  called  Arkansas 
and,  until  the  Holy  See  decrees  otherwise,  it  shall  include  the  territory 
also  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  (i.  e.  Iowa).  The  diocese,  then,  of 
Vincennes  shall  comprise  the  state  of  Indiana  together  with  a  part 
of  Illinois,  to-wit:  let  a  straight  line  he  drawn  from  Fort  Massac  (36 
miles  above  the  junction  of  Ohio  and  Mississippi),  along  the  east 
boundaries  of  the  counties,  Johnson,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  Marion,  Fay- 
ette, Shelby,  and  Marion  as  far  as  the  Rapids  of  the  Illinois  River, 
which  are  about  eight  miles  above  the  city  of  Ottawa  in  the  County  of 
La  Salle,  and  thence  up  to  the  northern  limits  of  the  state  so  that  the 
part  of  Illinois  lying  west  of  this  line  shall  belong  to  the  diocese  of 
St.  Louis,  the  eastern  part  however  to  the  diocese  of  Vincennes."12 
By  this  decree  Chicago  was  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Bishop 
Simon  William  Gabriel  Brute;  nevertheless  this  rising  metropolis  of 
the  West  was,  at  least  for  a  time,  to  be  administered  by  a  priest  from 
St.  Louis,  Father  John  Mary  Irenaeus  Saint  Cyr.  Indeed  there  was 
a  movement  to  place  all  the  state  of  Illinois  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
St.  Louis,  but  it  failed  through  the  strenuous  opposition  of  Bishop 
England's  party  in  the  American  hierarchy. 


12     "Maximas  Inter''  of  Gregory  XVI,  in  "Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review," 
vol.  II,  p.  411. 


Chapter  18 
FATHER   LEFEVERE'S   FAR-FLUNG   MISSIONS 


Three  years  of  constant  labor  and  many  privations  had  now 
thoroughly  seasoned  the  naturally  robust  man  to  the  inclemencies  of 
the  weather,  as  well  as  to  the  unreasonableness  and  ingratitude  of  men. 
To  build  up  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  his;  missionary  territory  on  both 
sides  of  the  Mississippi  River,  the  largest  and  most  difficult  in  the 
diocese,  was  his  sole  ambition.  St.  Paul's  on  Salt  River  remained  his 
headquarters.  Around  it  lay  like  a  crown  of  mingled  thorns  and  roses, 
the  Missouri  counties  of  Pike,  Lincoln,  Monroe,  Marion,  Lewis,  Clarke 
and  Shelby  with  their  ever  increasing  Catholic  population  of  Irish, 
German  and  native  American  descent.  Beyond  these  missions  lay  the 
vast  territory  along  the  Illinois  River  and  its  tributaries,  the  Fever 
River  district,  however,  as  well  as  Dubuque  on  the  Iowa  side,  being  now 
in  charge  of  Father  Mazzuchelli.  On  October  6th,  1836,  Father  Lefevere 
sends  the  following  report1  to  Bishop  Rosati ;  in  regard  to  his  exper- 
iences in  Illinois: 

' '  I  have  been  deeply  engaged  in  the  constant  exercises  of  the 
mission  ever  since  my  departure  from  St.  Louis.  When  I  reached  Salt 
River  after  a  mission  of  18  days,  I  had  no  sooner  received  your  letter 
of  the  9th  of  August  conveying  the  doleful  intelligence  of  the  death  of 
our  much  beloved  Mr.  M.  Condamine,2  but  another  one  was  handed 
to  me  which  called  me  in  all  haste  into  the  state  of  Illinois,  to  assist  two 
persons  at  the  point  of  death.  So  that,  although  much  fatigued  and 
thinking  to  be  at  my  journey's  end,  I  was  obliged  to  set  out  again, 
and  ride  in  full  speed  upwards  of  a  hundred  miles  to  the  County  of 
McDonough,  where,  instead  of  two,  I  found  numbers  of  Catholics 
dangerously  sick  of  the  billions  and  congestive  fevers,  which  complaints 
were  so  prevailing  there  and  in  the  adjacent  countries,  that  I  have  been 
all  this  while  so  intensively  engaged  in  visiting  and  assisting  the  sick 
in  various  parts  of  Illinois,  that  I  could  not  find  leisure,  many  a  time,  to 
say  my  office,  and  have  often  been  in  danger  of  perishing  in  the  diffi- 
cult crossing  of  swamps,  and  high  watercourses.  But  thanks  be  to 
God,  I  have  escaped  safe  so  far;  sickness  is  now  abating,  and  I  hope 


1  Lefevere  to  Eosati,  October  6,  1836,  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 
All   the   letters   of   Peter   Paul   Lefevere   are   printed   in    the    "Illinois    Catholic 

Historical  Review,"  volumes  II  and  III. 

2  Father  Condamine  had  been  intended  for  the  missions  in  North  Illinois  but, 
on  Father  Mazzuchelli 's  return,  received  the  appointment  to  Cahokia,  where  he  died 
on  August  8,  1836. 

(579) 


580  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

to  be  at  rest  for  sometime  in  attending  the  different  stations  here  in 
Missouri. 

"The  prospect  of  having  a  stone  church  erected  at  the  Head  of  the 
Des  Moines  Rapids  seems  to  have  failed.  Mr.  George  Atcheson  has 
sold  out  his  property;  it  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  an  Eastern  company. 
But  I  hope  that  the  congregation  which  consists  of  fifteen  families,  will 
shortly  be  able  to  build  one  themselves. 

"The  congregation  of  Crooked  Creek,  hearing  the  good  news  of  soon 
having  a  priest  stationed  amongst  them,  have  purchased  40  acres  of 
land  in  your  name  for  the  church,  of  which  I  hold  the  certificate.  This 
congregation,  being  on  the  east  line  of  Hancock  County,  and  west  of 
McDonough,  would  be  the  most  central  place  of  that  mission,  and 
would  likewise  offer  the  most  suitable  and  convenient  residence  for  a 
priest.  There  are  upwards  of  30  Catholic  families,  all  zealous  and  much 
devoted  to  religion ;  and  as  they  all  live  tolerably  compacted,  there 
might  soon  be  a  female  (educational)  establishment  made  and  decently 
supported.  From  there  he,  (Saint  Cyr)  might  extend  his  mission  to 
the  Head  of  the  Rapids  and  to  the  Half  Indians'  reservation  which  is 
only  a  distance  of  25  to  30  miles.  Also  to  the  northwest  corner  of 
Fulton  County,  at  a  distance  of  40  miles  Avhere  there  is  a  small 
congregation  of  fervent  Catholics,  who,  last  summer,  have  laid  off  a 
town  named  St.  Augustin,  which  from  its  situation,  must  soon  become 
a  considerable  inland  town.  Then  he  could  now  and  then  go  to  Peoria, 
Macomb,  Rushville,  Meredocia,  Beardstown,  Jacksonville,  Naples,  etc., 
where  are,  here  and  there,  some  number  of  Catholics  living,  but 
principally  to  Quincy,  which  is  55  miles  from  Crooked  Creek, 
and  where  there  is  a  large  and  still  growing  congregation  of  between  40 
and  50  families  in  and  about  town.  When  I  w7as  there  last  week,  the 
Catholics  were  so  transported  with  the  prospects  I  gave  them  of  being 
regularly  visited,  that  they  became  more  anxious  than  ever  to  build 
a  church.  To  this  end  Ave  held  a  meeting  and  appointed  five  trustees 
to  draw  and  make  up  a  subscription  and  superintend  the  building  of 
the  church.  A  respectable  gentlemen,  not  a  Catholic,  was  also  kind 
enough  to  give  a  lot  of  ground  for  the  purpose,  which  was  then  im- 
mediately surveyed  and  whereof  the  deed  was  to  be  made  in  your 
name  the  following  day.  More  than  half  of  this  congregation  are  German, 
and  they  are  particularly  desirous  of  having  preaching  in  German  now 
and  then. 

The  Lutheran  Germans,  who  also  have  formed  a  small  congregation 
here,  have  got  a  German  preacher  from  Cincinnati  to  preach  for  them ; 
and  the  Presbyterians,  who  continually  endeavor  to  draw  all  on  their 
side,  have  offered  him  their  meeting  house,  and  contribute  largely 
towards   his  support.     Even   some  of  the    Catholics,   wearied   of  being 


Father  Lefevere's  Far-Flung  Missions  581 

without  Divine  Service  on  Sundays,  and  desirous  of  hearing  a  sermon, 
have  assisted  in  making  up  his  salary.  Thus  you  see  that  this  congre- 
gation stands,  above  all,  in  need  of  immediate  attendance.  For  the 
Catholics  have  now  obtained  a  good  footing  in  Quincy,  but  if  they 
be  neglected,  I  greatly  fear,  that  footing  will  not  be  of  long  duration. 
I  would  therefore  beg  you,  earnestly,  to  send  out  to  that  mission,  if 
possible,  a  priest  who  speaks  the  German  language  besides  the  English, 
for  there  is  another  congregation  of  Germans  in  Beardstown  on  the 
Illinois  River,  12  miles  east  of  Rushville,  where  he  could  do  an  immense 
deal  of  good.  If  it  be  not  possible,  I  hope  you  will  endeavor  to  get 
someone  to  go  from  St.  Louis  at  least  two  or  three  times  a  year  to 
Quincy ;  Mr.  Lutz,  for  instance,  or  Father  Helias  or  anyone  else,  which 
might  easily  be  done;  for  two  boats  are  running  regularly,  every  week, 
the  trip  from  St.  Louis  and  back.  Moreover  the  Germans  have  promised 
to  pay  the  priest  who  would  go,  for  his  trouble  and  expense."3 

Father  Lefevere's  anxiety  in  regard  to  the  Catholics  of  Quincy 
was  not  without  cause;  for  in  the  course  of  time  one  of  the  first  and 
most  influential  promoters  of  the  church  there  apostatized.  Owing  to 
press  of  circumstances,  however,  five  months  passed  by  without  anything 
else  being  attempted  than  an  official  inquiry  as  to  the  conditions,  instead 
of  a  promise  of  assistance.  And  yet  Father  Lefevere  was  in  urgent 
need  of  help,  especially  for  Illinois.  In  order  to  obtain  favorable 
results,  now  that  the  Bishop's  attention  was  aroused.  Father  Lefevere 
made  haste  to  answer  his  inquiries,  as  clearly  and  with  as  much 
detail   as   possible,   under   date    of    St.    Paul's   March   the    9th,   1837: 

"Right  Rev.  Sir — Your  letter  of  the  5th  of  January  1837,  came 
to  hand  a  few  days  since  and  I  hasten,  with  the  first  opportunity  to 
comply  with  your  request,  in  answering  the  several  interrogatories 
therein  contained.  I  shall  answer  them  severally  and  precisely  as 
possible.  (1st)  the  number  of  Catholics  I  visit  is  from  1.000  to  2,000 
souls.  (2nd)  in  the  mission  I  have  hitherto  attended  there  are  fourteen 
stations,  id  est,  congregations,  big  and  small ;  besides  a  great  number 
of  scattered  families  not  belonging  to  any  particular  congregation ; 
of  these  there  are  eight  stations  in  the  state  of  Missouri,  four  in  the 
state  of  Illinois,  and  two  in  the  Wisconsin  territory,  viz: 

"In  the  state  of  Missouri;  1,  in  Pike  County  on  Pinno  Creek;  2, 
in  Lincoln  County,  between  Troy  and  Louisville :  3,  in  Ralls  County, 
on  Salt  River,  fifteen  miles  northwest  from  New  London;  4,  on  Cedar 
Creek;  5,  in  Monroe  County,  on  Indian  Creek,  seven  miles  north  from 
Florida ;  6,  on  the  South  Fork  of  Salt  River,  six  miles  out  from  Florida ; 


3     Many  of  the  places  mentioned  here  developed  into  flourishing  parishes  and 
religious  centers. 


582  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

7,  in  Marion  County,  in  the  town  of  Palmyra;  8,  in  Lewis  County, 
on  the  Wyaconda  River,  ten  miles  northeast  from  Tally.  In  the  State 
of  Illinois ;  1,  in  Adams  County,  in  the  town  of  Quincy ;  2,  in  Hancock 
County  at  the  Head  of  the  lower  Rapids;  3,  at  the  Head  of  Crooked 
Creek,  twenty-five  miles  east  from  Commerce;  4,  in  the  northwest  corner 
of  Fulton  County,  on  Cedar  Creek.  In  the  Wisconsin  territory;  1,  at 
Keokuk,  in  Half  Indian  tract,  between  the  river  Des  Moines  and  the 
Mississippi;  2,  on  .Skunk  River,  ten  miles  west  from  Fort  Madison. 
(3rd)  the  number  of  baptisms  of  infants  is  seventy-seven.  (4th)  number 
of  adults,  eight.  (5th)  number  of  converts,  eight.  (6th)  as  to  the 
number  of  deaths,  I  am  not  able  to  make  a  statement ;  but  the  number 
of  burials  I  have  performed,  is  nine.  (7th)  number  of  Marriages,  thirty- 
six.  (8th)  number  of  first  communions,  about  twenty-five.  (9th)  number 
of  Paschal  communions  is  497.  As  to  the  number  of  dispensations  for 
marriages,  which  I  have  granted,  it  is  as  follows:  (1)  dispensations 
upon  the  impediment  existing  between  baptized  and  non-baptized,  four- 
teen. (2)  Upon  the  impediment  of  consanguinity  in  the  second  degree, 
two;  of  consanguinity  in  the  third  degree,  one.    Total  eighteen. 

Such  is  the  statement,  Right  Rev.  Sir,  I  can  give  in  answer  to 
the  several  questions  you  have  asked  me.  These  stations  above  named, 
together  with  the  numerous  families  widely  scattered  in  remote  parts 
of  the  same  and  other  counties,  keep  me  continually  travelling  from 
one  part  of  the  country  to  another,  and  were  I  to  go  whithersoever 
Catholics  dispersed  in  the  country  invite  and  beg  me  to  come,  one  trip 
would  take  me  six  months  steady  riding. 

"And  although  these  Catholics  ought  to  be  visited,  yet  it  is  abso- 
lutely out  of  my  power.  For  no  sooner  had  I  ended  one  journey,  than 
I  have  to  commence  another,  and  so  on  in  rotation ;  so  much  so  that 
in  the  course  of  the  year,  I  cannot  remain  one  week  steady  at  home. 
And  particularly  this  last  winter,  during  the  coldest  weather,  at  a 
time  when  I  thought  to  enjoy  a  few  days  for  myself,  I  was  called  out 
to  the  sick ;  three  times  into  the  State  of  Illinois,  once  to  the  River 
Des  Moines,  and  once  into  the  Wisconsin  territory,  150  miles  north 
from  Ralls  County;  and  that  at  a  time  when  the  snow  was  about 
eighteen  inches  deep  on  the  ground,  and  I  had  to  ride  a  distance  of 
twelve  miles  on  the  ice  on  the  Mississippi.  Then  on  my  return  the 
weather  breaking  up  with  a  sudden  thaw,  the  waters  began  to  run 
so  swiftly  that  I  was  compelled  to  travel  all  the  night  and  in  full  speed 
in  order  to  get  the  start  of  the  high  waters,  and  it  was  then  only  by 
lucky  circumstances,  or  special  Providence  of  God  that  I,  several  times, 
escaped  being  drowned.  I  must  finish  this  tale  for  fear  of  being  prolix. 
But  if  ever  you  have  been  on  extensive  missions,  Right  Rev.  Sir, 
particularly   in  a  newly   settled  country,    like   this,   where   people   are 


Father  Lefevere's  Far-Flung  Missions  583 

poor,  without  sufficient  house-room  and  destitute  even  of  all  the  neces- 
sary conveniences  of  life,  you  must  be  acquainted  with  the  hardships 
and  privations  to  which  a  priest  is  continually  exposed,  and  the  little 
decency  with  which  the  sacred  rites  can  be  performed.  To  those  unac- 
quainted with  its  meaning,  the  celebration  of  mass  in  little  log-cabins 
which  serve  for  work-room,  refectory,  dormitory  and  kitchen,  to  numer- 
ous families,  must  look  more  like  a  comedy  than  a  religious  action.  For 
my  part,  I  am  thoroughly  acquainted  with  them.  Four  and  a  half 
years'  constant  exercise  in  this  mission  has  made  me  taste  so  much  of 
this  bitter  cup,  that  without  assistance,  I  am  becoming  unable  to 
continue  it  much  longer.  Moreover  I  perceive  that,  after  much  toil  and 
labor,  I  have  done  but  little  good  to  others,  and  greatly  endangered  my 
own  life  and  salvation.  For  I  perceive  but  too  well  that,  when  I  am 
attending  one  congregation,  religion  suffers  in  other  congregations,  for 
want  of  their  being  regularly  attended  and  instructed.  Whilst,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  most  of  my  time  being  spent  in  traveling,  necessity  must 
of  course,  compel  me  to  retrench  from  my  own  religious  duties  and 
devotional  exercises;  and  such  a  necessity  often  repeated,  is  but  too 
apt  to  engender  a  habit.  As  the  money  you  have  received  at  different 
times  from  several  parts  of  Europe,  was  given  for  the  very  purpose  of 
supporting  the  missions,  I  had  always  entertained  great  hopes  that 
you  would  have  lent  some  pecuniary  aid  to  erect,  here  and  there,  a 
plain  building,  at  least  in  places  where  it  is  indispensably  necessary  to 
celebrate  the  Divine  Mysteries  with  any  degree  of  becoming  decency ; 
and  my  hopes  were  so  much  the  more  confident,  because  I  knew  that 
you  knew  that  this  mission  stood  the  most  in  need  of  it.  But  now  my 
hopes  look  frustrated,  and  I  begin  to  despair.  From  the  little  zeal  and 
interest  you  have  hitherto  manifested  toward  this  mission,  it  appears 
to  me  that  you  think  it  not  worth  your  attention  and  that  all  your 
object  is  to  ornament  St.  Louis  and  care  but  little  about  the  rest.4 
But  I  must  confess  that,  when  I  am  in  St.  Louis,  my  heart  sickens 
whenever  I  behold  the  superfluous  splendor  and  luxe  that  is  there 
displayed  about  the  Cathedral,  whilst  religion  here  suffers  from  want 
of  things  indispensably  necessary.  This,  in  my  opinion,  looks  pretty 
much  like  a  father  of  a  family  arrayed  in  the  most  splendid  apparel 
surrounded  with  a  parcel  of  his  children  stark  naked.  I  was  also  in 
hopes,  Right  Rev.  Sir,  that  you  would  have  stationed  a  priest  on  Crooked 
Creek,  for  the  missions  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  Territory,  as  you 
promised  me  last  summer;  and  that  you  would  have  mentioned  some- 
thing about  it  to  me  in  answer  to  a  letter  T  wrote  to  you  on  the  subject 


■*     The  hitter  criticism  is  directed   especially  at   the  Cathedral  built  by  Bishop 
Eosati. 


584  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

last  Autumn.  But  as  I  have  never  received  or  heard  a  word  about  it, 
I  must  now  also  confess  to  you  that  I  am  tired  and  wearied  out,  and  that 
what  you  tacitly  seem  to  exact  of  me  with  regard  to  my  continuing 
these  long  protracted  journeys  seems  to  me  unreasonable  and  impracti- 
cable. Wherefore,  unless  there  be  someone  sent  to  divide  with  me  the 
labors  of  this  mission,  I  have  resolved  to  abandon  it  and  retire  to  myself. 
or  leave  the  Diocese.  Not  because  I  am  not  willing  to  labor  in  the 
ministry,  but  because  I  feel  unable  to  continue  what  I  have  hitherto 
done.  For  let  the  work  be  ever  so  toilsome  and  fatiguing,  I  will  cheer- 
fully undertake  it,  provided  I  am  able  to  do  it  with  usefulness  to 
the  salvation  of  others  without  endangering  my  own.  But  in  the 
present  circumstances  and  upon  other  considerations  not  mentioned, 
I  feel  myself  under  no  obligation  to  stay  any  longer.  In  finishing,  I 
beg  of  you  now,  as  a  favor,  to  let  me  know  by  letter,  whether  and  when 
you  will  send  a  priest  to  the  Illinois."5 

This  earnest  though  somewhat  rude  expostulation  was  taken  by 
Bishop  Rosati  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  had  been  made,  and  Father 
Lefevere's  urgent  request  for  an  assistant  in  his  vast  field  of  labor 
was  sure  to  be  fulfilled. 

McDonough  County  is  an  open  prairie  traversed  by  a  stream  of 
water  called  Crooked  Creek.  Its  first  settlement  was  Carter's,  made 
in  1826.  What  had  delayed  its  progress  was  the  lack  of  timberlands, 
so  necessary  for  building  and  fuel.  The  principal  settlements  in  1834 
were  Macomb  and  Fountain  Green,  the  latter  place  about  twenty-five 
miles  from  Commerce,  on  the  Mississippi  River,  afterward  called  Nauvoo, 
the  one-time  home  of  the  Mormons.  The  Head  of  Des  Moines  Rapids, 
also  called  the  Lower  Rapids  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Upper 
Rapids  at  Nauvoo,  is  Warsaw,  in  Hancock  county,  just  across  the  river 
from  Keokuk,  Iowa. 

According  to  Father  Lefevere  there  were  a  good  number  of  German 
Catholics  at  Quincy,  which,  therefore,  should  have  a  German  priest, 
and  there  was  also  an  entire  settlement  of  German  Catholics  at  Beards- 
town,  on  the  Illinois  River.  Father  Lutz,  whom  Lefevere  wished  to  be 
sent  to  the  Germans  at  Quincy,  was  the  Indian  missionary  of  a  former 
chapter  of  this  book.  Father  Helias,  S.  J.,  the  future  apostle  of  Central 
Missouri  was  then  busily  occupied  in  the  missionary  field  in  and  around 
St.  Louis,  especially  among  the  Catholic  Germans. 

Father  Lefevere  has  in  his  official  report  for  1836  given  a  state- 
ment of  the  "Number  of  Catholics  living  in  the  respective  counties, 
expressed  here  below,  with  the  different  churches  therein  built  or 
proposed  to  be  built : ' ' 


5     Lefevere  to  Eosati,  March  9,  1837,  Archives. 


Father  Lefevere's  Far-Flung  Missions  585 

STATE  OF  MISSOURI 

County  of  Lincoln  church  proposed  to  be  built 108 

County  of  Pike 113 

County  of  Ralls,  one  church  already  built    (St.  Paul's)    in   Salt 

River  Township,  and  another  one  now  a  building  in  the  town 

of  Cincinnati 455 

County  of  Monroe,  a  church  (St.  Stephen's)  to  be  built  in  Sandy 

Creek,  five  miles  north  of  Florida 232 

County  of  Marion 69 

County  of  Lewis,  a  church  proposed  to  be  erected  on  the  Wyaconda 

River,  eight  miles  northwest  of  Tully 109 

Half  Indian  Tract 38 

1124 
STATE  OF  ILLINOIS 

Adams  County,  a  church  proposed  to  be  built  in  Quincy 205 

Hancock  County,  a  church  is  to  be  built  at  the  Des  Moines  Rapids, 
and  another  at  the  headwaters  of  Crooked  Creek,  near  Fountain 

Green  214 

Schuyler  County 29 

Fulton  County  a  church  proposed  in  the  Town  of  St.  Augustine.  ...    32 

McDonough  County 25 

Peoria  County 13 


518  "G 
It  will  be  noticed  that  in  this  account  the  missions  of  the  Northwest 
Territory  i.  e.,  of  Iowa  are  wanting.  The  reason  is  because  they,  with 
Galena  and  Prairie  du  Chien,  had  been  turned  over  by  Bishop  Rosati 
to  the  Dominican  Father  Samuel  Mazzuchelli,  on  June  24th,  1835,  in 
answer  to  his  letter  from  Prairie  du  Chien,  dated  March  12th,  1835 : 
"Most  Rev.  Bishop — I  was  informed  a  few  days  ago  that  the 
territory  of  Wisconsin  now  forms  a  part  of  your  Diocese  and,  as  a 
consequence,  the  two  priests  of  this  territory  are  under  your  ecclesias- 
tical jurisdiction.  For  the  last  three  months  I  have  been  making 
preparations  to  leave  this  place,  intending  to  go  to  the  State  of  Ohio. 
In  the  month  of  April  I  went  down  the  Mississippi  River  in  a  steamboat, 
using  the  opportunity  to  inform  myself  concerning  the  state  of  these 
missions. 

Bishop  Rese  has  not  yet  received  any  reply  from  Rome  regarding 
me,  and  now,  I,  who  wanted  to  do  so  much,  am  tired  of  being  left  alone 


6     Report  to  the  Synod  of  1837,  Archives. 


5Sii  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

among  difficulties  without  any  assistance,  and  of  being  exposed  to  so 
many  dangers.  I  have  started  an  association  at  Prairie  du  Chien  for 
the  building  of  a  church;  the  men  pay  fifty  cents  each  month,  and  the 
women  twenty-five  cents,  but  my  church  will  not  be  built  without  the 
assistance  of  a  priest.  I  am  preparing  many  for  First  communion  and 
others  to  make  their  Easter.  Father  1).  Vanderbrock,  a  Hollander  of 
the  Order  of  St.  Dominie,  is  now  the  pastor  of  Green  Bay,  where  there 
are  no  less  than  500  French  and  about  just  as  many  Catholic  Indians."7 

In  his  answer  of  July  27th  of  the  same  year  Father  Mazzuchelli 
informs  Bishop  Rosati  that  he  had  in  the  meantime  visited  his  Dominican 
Superior,  Father  Young,  at  Somerset,  Ohio,  and  obtained  permission 
to  remain,  for  a  time,  under  the  rule  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis.  But 
a  difficulty  arose,  as  the  permission  had  been  given  orally,  whereas 
Bishop  Rosati  required  it  in  writing.  But  this  matter  was  arranged 
pleasantly,  and  Father  Mazzuchelli  entered  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis 
and  labored  therein  with  truly  apostolic  zeal  and  corresponding  success. 
His  appointment  to  the  missions  of  Galena  and  Dubuque  was  sent  him 
by  Bishop  Rosati  on  June  26th,  1835. 

At  last,  after  long  and  weary  waiting  Father  Lefevere  received 
notice  of  the  appointment  of  Father  Saint  Cyr  for  the  missions  of 
northern  Illinois,  that  had  been  in  his  own  pastoral  care  since  1833. 

On  the  20th  of  February  1837,  Bishop  Rosati  sent  word  to  Father 
Lefevere  that  Father  St.  Cyr  had  returned  from  Chicago,  and  was  destined 
for  Crooked  Creek;  and  on  the  17th  of  March  Fatber  Lefevere  expressed 
his  delight  and  gratitude.  "It  is  truly  consoling  to  me,  and  will,  no 
doubt,  be  the  cause  of  much  good  in  that  mission.  I  feel  sorry,  very 
sorry,  that  I  cannot  go  to  St.  Louis  about  the  time  jrou  would  wish  me 
to  go.  But  now  I  have  made  several  appointments  at  different  stations ; 
also  several  persons  have  made  preparations  and  have  fixed  the  time 
for  marrying  after  Easter,  so  that  my  absence  at  this  time  would  cause 
much  disturbance.  For,  having  caused  some  discontent  among  the 
people,  by  frequently  disappointing  them  on  account  of  the  many  and 
distant  sick  calls  I  had  last  winter,  I  should  not  wish  to  disappoint  them 
any  more,  if  I  could  possibly  avoid  it.  Moreover,  many  persons  are 
now  preparing  to  make  their  Easter,  and  might  perhaps  neglect  it, 
if  I  were  to  absent  myself  at  this  time.  So  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to 
leave  here  before  the  third  or  fourth  Monday  after  Easter.  I  hope, 
therefore,  that  you  will  excuse  me;  I  will  give.  Mr.  Saint  Cyr  all  the 
instruction  and  encouragement  possible  with  regard  to  that  mission. 
Should  he  desire  to  start  to  that  mission  sooner,  and  have  my  company, 
he  might  come  to  Salt  River,  and  I  will  conduct  him  up  and  introduce 


~     Mazzuchelli  to  Eosati,  March  12,  1835,  in   Archives. 


Father  Lefevere's  Far-Flung  Missions  587 

him  to  the  congregation  on  Crooked  Creek ;  if  not,  he  may  expect  me 
in  St.  Louis  about  the  fourth  week  after  Easter."8 

With  the  appointment  of  Father  Saint  Cyr  for  Crooked  Creek  and 
Quincy,  Father  Lefevere's  missionary  activities  were  confined  to  North- 
east Missouri.  We  will  give  the  substance  of  his  report  for  1836,  with 
some  additional  information  derived  from  other  unpublished  sources : 

Number  of  Souls 

Ralls  County,  Cincinnati  mission,  St.  Mark's  Church .••••) 

Ralls  County,  Salt  River  Mission,  St.  Paul's  Church } 

Lincoln  County,  Louisville  Mission,  St.  Simeon's  Church 84 

Pike  County,  Pinno  Creek  Mission I 

Pike  County,  Cedar  Creek  Mission | 

Monroe  County,  Indian  Creek  Mission,  St.  Stephen's  Church 261 

Marian  County,  Palmyra  Mission 95 

Lewis  County,  Wyaconda  River  Mission,  St.  John's  Ev.  Church.  .  .  ) 
Clark  County,  West  Santa  Fe  Mission,  St.  Bartholomew's  Church.  I 

11139 
Concerning  the  early  settlers  of  St.  Paul's  we  have  already  given 
an  account.  At  Cincinnati  a  church  was  built  under  the  title 
of  St.  Mark.  Concerning  St.  Simeon's  Church  at  Louisville,  in  Lincoln 
County,  we  find  that  there  was  a  frame  building,  thirty  feet  .square, 
erected  in  1838.  The  first  Catholics  of  the  place  were  Dr.  Hayden  and 
Enoch  Emerson,  who  arrived  there  in  1830.  The  first  priests  to  say  Mass 
were  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  Felix  Verreydt  and  Charles  Van  Quickenborne, 
in  1832.  Mass  was  said  by  these  priests  and  by  Father  Lefevere  in  the 
house  of  Mr.  Emerson  and  Dr.  Hayden.  The  number  of  families  in 
1838  is  given  as  twenty.  Passing  over  Pike  county,  we  come  to  Stephen's 
at  Indian  Creek,  in  Monroe  County,  which  received  its  first  Catholic 
settlers  in  the  year  1832,  in  the  families  of  Leonard  Green  and  Alexander 
Winnsett.  Mass  was  said  and  other  services  were  held  in  the  house 
of  Leonard  Green  for  three  years,  then  at  Raphael  Yates'  and  Mr. 
Piersall's  homes.  The  church,  a  log  building,  forty-eight  by  twenty- 
five  feet,  was  erected  in  1838.  The  first  Mass  was  said  in  it  on  the 
third  Sunday  in  August  of  the  same  year.  There  were  eight  acres 
of  land  belonging  to  the  church  and  a  graveyard,  which  were  given  by 
Vincent  Yates  and  James  Murphy.  In  1838  there  were  thirty-eight 
Catholic  families  at  Indian  Creek. 

The  following  letter,  written  on  December  26th,  1837,  is  the  last 
one  received  by  Bishop  Rosati  from  St.  Paul : 


s     Lefevere  to  Kosati,  February  17,  1837,  Archives. 
9     Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese  Keports. 


588  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

"Eight  Rev.  Sir — I  received  your  letter  of  the  6th  of  September 
last,  and  in  compliance  with  your  request,  as  I  am  now  on  the  eve  of 
starting  on  a  mission  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  state,  I  hasten  to 
send  you,  enclosed,  the  statistics  of  my  mission  for  the  year  1837, 
which  I  have  made  up  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge.  You  will  perceive 
that  the  space  under  the  head :  Numerus  Confirmatorum,  is  left  blank. 
I  have  left  it  so,  in  hope  that  you  will  be  so  kind  as  to  fill  it  out 
yourself,  being  fully  persuaded  that  no  one  can  know  better  than  your- 
self the  exact  number  of  confirmations  you  have  given  in  this  mission, 
and  how  often  you  have  visited  this  part  of  your  diocese  during  the 
five  years  that  I  have  now  attended  it. 

"With  regard  to  your  request  under  the  head  notatu  digna,  I  can 
only  state  that  I  arrived  here  on  Salt  River,  and  took  charge  of  this 
mission  on  the  5th  day  of  January  in  the  year  1833,  and  have  con- 
tinued  to  attend  it  ever  since.  Previous  to  that  period,  no  priest  or 
missionary,  that  I  know,  has  ever  resided,  or  been  stationary  in  this 
mission.  But  during  the  two  or  three  years  proceeding,  some  of  the 
Jesuits  visited  a  small  part  of  it,  once  or  maybe  thrice  a  year.  The 
church  of  St.  Paul,  in  Ralls  Count}-,  is  the  only  one,  which  with  great 
difficulty  I  got,  in  a  manner,  completed  in  the  year  1834,  and  in  which 
Divine  Service  is  now  performed.  Besides  this  church  I  have  three 
other  ones  a  building,  viz.,  One  on  Indian  Creek,  which  is  nearly  com- 
pleted ;  one  in  Lincoln  County,  in  Lotiisville,  and  one  in  Clark  County, 
on  the  Wyaconda  River,  which  are  commenced  but,  for  want  of  means, 
cannot  go  on.  No  church  in  my  mission,  that  I  know,  has  as  yet  been 
blessed,  though  I  begged  you  several  times  to  pay  a  visit  to  these  poor 
congregations  of  your  Diocese,  and  bless  the  church  on  Salt  River."10 

The  sly  sarcasm  as  to  Bishop  Rosati  knowing  best  how  many  Con- 
firmations there  have  been  in  Ralls  County,  was  perhaps  the  means  of 
bringing  the  overburdened  Bishop  to  the  fulfilment  of  Father  Lefevere's 
great  longings;  but  not  before  the  month  of  September  1838.  Bishop 
Rosati  notes  in  his  Diary  under  date  of  September  27th,  1838:  "We 
visited  the  Church  of  St.  Paul,  which  is  a  wooden  building,  but  beauti- 
ful in  its  simplicity  and  poverty.  Near  the  church  there  is  a  cemetery 
and  a  garden  and  the  house  of  the  pastor  which  is  very  small.  Rev- 
erend M.  Lefevere  deserves  great  commendation  for  the  care  with  which 
he  keeps  all  things  in  church  and  house  in  decent,  neat,  and  orderly 
condition."  The  30th  day  of  September  the  sacrament  of  Confirma- 
tion was  administered  by  Bishop  Rosati  to  forty-five  persons.  Father 
Lefevere  sang  Highmass  and  Father  Van  Quickenborne  preached  a 
sermon  on  the  sacrament  of  Confirmation.     An  immense  multitude  had 


io     Lefevere  to  Rosati,  December  26,   1837,  Archives. 


Father  Lefevere's  Far-Hung  Missions  589 

gathered  in  and  around  the  Church  to  witness  the  solemnities.  On 
October  1st,  the  Bishop  and  Fathers  Verhaegen  and  Lefevere  rode  to 
St.  Stephens  Church  on  Indian  Creek,  where  on  the  following:  Sunday 
Confirmation  was  administered  to  twenty-eight  persons.  Departing  from 
Indian  Creek  the  company  passed  through  Florida,  Sante  Fe,  Mexico, 
Fulton,  Bloomfield  and  stopped  at  Jefferson  City  to  administer  Con- 
firmation. There  the  Bishop  and  Father  Helias  proceeded  to  New  West- 
phalia, Union  and  Washington,  and  arrived  in  St.  Louis  October  18th. 
Bishop  Rosati's  final  remarks  about  the  pastor  and  people  of  Salt 
River  were :  "  M.  Lefevere  keeps  his  Churches  and  congregations  in 
the  best  order.    The  people  are  very  good  practical  Catholics."11 

On  November  10th,  1838,  Father  Lefevere  assisted  at  the  conse- 
cration of  St.  Augustine  in  English  Settlement,  Illinois.  In  1840  he 
attended  the  Fourth  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  (May  14  to  24th) 
as  Theologian  of  Bishop  Hailandiere  of  Vincennes  and  on  June  1st, 
he  set  sail  for  his  native  land,  in  company  with  Bishop  Rosati  and 
Father  Joseph  A.  Lutz.  Meanwhile  his  name  had  been  sent  to  Rome 
for  the  Coadjutorship  to  Bishop  Rese  of  Detroit,  and  administrator  of 
the  diocese.  The  bulls  of  appointment  awaited  his  return  to  America. 
He  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Philadelphia ;  November  21st,  1841.  The  diocese  had  been  four 
years  without  episcopal  supervision.  Bishop  Rese  outlived  his  coadju- 
tor many  years,  in  the  seclusion  of  a  convent  in  his  native  city  Hildes- 
heim  in  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover.12 


11  Rosati's  Diary,  passim  and  Letter  to  Father  Timon,  October  20,  1838. 

12  Bishop  Rese  was  actively  concerned  in  the  foundation  and  early  management 
of  the  Leopoldine  Society  of  the  Austrian  Empire.  When  Bishop  of  Detroit  he 
gave  signs  of  a  mental  trouble  and  the  diocese  received  an  administrator  in  the 
person  of  Father  Lefevere.  Bishop  Rese  could  never  be  prevailed  upon  to  resign ; 
hence  Bishop  Lefevere  remained  Administrator  of  Detroit. 


Chapter  19 
FATHER  SAMUEL  MAZZUCHELLI,  O.P. 


•'The  little  episcopal  city  of  Dubuque,"  writes  Father  Mazzuehelli, 
in  his  Memoir,1  "dated  its  origin  from  the  year  18)33.  Prior  to  that  date 
all  the  present  territory  of  Iowa  was  still  inhabited  by  numerous  Indian 
tribes.  The  Government  having  bought  from  these  tribes  the  land  ad- 
joining the  river,  after  various  treaties,  or  to  speak  more  correctly,  after 
the  expenditure  of  generous  sums  of  money,  many  thousands  of  the 
citizens  of  the  Republic  settled  there  Avithin  a  few  months,  but  es- 
pecially in  the  vicinity  of  Dubuque  on  account  of  the  lead  mines.  The 
traffic  in  this  valuable  metal  created  the  city  of  Dubuque,  named  for  the 
last  French  trader  (Julien  Dubuque),  who  after  spending  many  years 
of  his  life  in  that  place  with  the  Indians,  died  in  1811. "2  Across  the  river 
from  Dubuque  was  the  village  of  Galena,  of  about  equal  size  and  similar 
composition.  Farther  north  between  the  Mississippi  and  Wisconsin 
rivers  lay  the  ancient  town  of  Prairie  du  Chien.  All  these  places 
were  anxious  for  a  resident  priest,  who  should  build  up  the  church 
among  them.  This  eager  desire  was  fulfilled  by  the  coming  of  the  Dom- 
inican Missionary  Father  Mazzuehelli. 

But  what  were  the  antecedents  of  this  man  that  was  to  instill  new 
life  into  these  drooping  missions  of  the  North.  Father  Samuel  Charles 
Mazzuehelli,  O.P.,  was  born  in  Milan,  Italy,  in  the  year  1806,  of  a 
distinguished  family.  In  1822  he  became  a  novice  of  the  Order  of 
St.  Dominic  in  Rome.  When  the  first  Bishop  of  Cincinnati,  Edward 
Fenwick,  himself  a  Dominican,  came  to  Rome  in  1828,  seeking 
helpers  for  the  missions  in  the  wild  Northwest,  the  youthful  deacon, 
full  of  glowing  dreams  of  religious  triumphs  and  romantic 
adventures  in  the  wilderness  of  America,  obtained  permission  from 
his  superiors  to  join  the  saintly  Bishop.  In  1830  he  was  ordained 
priest  and  immediately  set  out  for  the  Island  of  Mackinac,  the 
most  northern  mission  of  the  diocese  of  Cincinnati.  Mackinac  was 
the  starting  point  for  Father  Marquette 's  voyage  of  discovery :  it  was 
to  be  the  starting  point  also  for  Father  Mazzuehelli 's  missionary  jour- 
neys  which   were   to   bring   him   in   such   close   union   with   the   north - 


1  "  Memorie  Historichi, "  Historical  Memoirs,  was  published  in  Milan  in  1844, 
without  the  name  of  the  author.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  about  the  author- 
ship of  the  book;  Samuel  Charles  Mazzuehelli  wrote  the  Memorie  in  Italian.  The 
only  other  published  writings  of  Father  Mazzuehelli  are  a  collection  of  letters  ad- 
dressed to  Bishop  Eosati,  found  in  the  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese,  and  trans- 
lated by  us  for  the  "Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vols.  II  and  III. 

2  Memoirs,  p.  163. 

(590) 


Father  Samuel  Mazzuchelli,  O.P.  591 

eastern  part  of  Bishop  Rosati's  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  Mackinac  was 
the  center  of  a  parish  that  extended  from  Lake  Huron  to  the  Missis- 
sippi River.  Here  stood  the  only  chapel  in  the  wide  territory,  but 
the  parishioners,  Catholic  Indians,  and  half-breeds,  Frenchmen  from 
Canada,  and  native  Creoles,  Irish  miners,  and  German  farmers,  and 
scattered  members  of  almost  every  nation,  were  settled  down  or  wan- 
dered about  in  every  part  of  it.  To  supply  their  spiritual  necessities 
in  life  and  in  death,  the  pastor  was  obliged  to  travel  almost  constantly. 
in  winter  on  snowshoes  or  in  a  sled,  in  summer  on  horseback  or  in  a 
birch  canoe.  Mass  was  said  at  times  under  a  spreading  green-wood 
tree,  sometimes  in  the  wigwam  of  a  converted  Indian,  sometimes  in  the 
rude  dwelling  of  a  trader,  miner  or  trapper.  In  Green  Bay  Father 
Mazzuchelli  built  the  first  church  and  opened  the  first  school,  not 
only  of  the  neighborhood,  but  of  the  entire  territory  of  Wisconsin,  ex- 
cepting, of  course,  the  church  built  at  Prairie  du  Chien  by  the  Trappist 
Dunand  which  had  disappeared  when  Mazzuchelli  arrived.  Here  Bishop 
Fenwick  came  shortly  before  his  death  to  visit  the  indefatigable  mis- 
sionary, and  to  administer  confirmation  to  a  large  number  of  his  flock.3 
Father  Mazzuchelli  always  manifested,  in  word  and  deed,  a  ro- 
mantic, yet  truly  Christian  love  for  the  poorest  of  the  poor,  the  wild 
children  of  the  forest  and  prairie.  The  Menominees  were  his  special 
favorites,  but  the  other  tribes  of  Wisconsin  also  ever  found  a  friend 
in  their  "Blackgown. "  The  Indians  in  truth  held  Father  Mazzuchelli 
in  highest  esteem.  As  an  illustration  of  their  friendly  relations,  we 
would  insert  the  speech  of  Whirling  Thunder,  in  behalf  of  the  Winne- 
bago Nation  held  in  1833  in  the  presence  of  Father  Mazzuchelli.  The 
Indian  Chief  addressed  the  Government  agent:  "Father,  listen  to  us! 
By  the  treaty  of  last  Fall  wTe  are  to  have  established  at  Prairie  du 
Chien  a  school,  as  the  most  of  our  nation  are  here  on  the  Benecalt 
River,  we  are  anxious  to  have  the  school  placed  among  us.  You  are 
aware,  and  we  wish  our  Great  Father  to  know  that  many  of  us  have 
joined  the  Catholic  Church  and  have  become  Christians.  Many  men 
of  our  nation  seem  desirous  of  becoming  civilized  through  the  exer- 
cises of  our  friend  here,  the  Blackgown  (Father  Mazzuchelli),  we  there- 
fore, hope  that  our  prayers  va.aj  be  granted  by  our  Great  Father ;  we 
will  then  be  able  to  have  our  children  educated  among  us  and  in  the 
Catholic  Faith.  We  have  never  had  anyone  until  lately  to  teach  us 
the  word  of  God.  We  begin  to  see  light  and  we  wish  to  know  more 
of  our  Great  Father  above.  We  want  Father  Mazzuchelli  to  remain 
with  us,  and  the  school  established  among  us."4 


3  Cf.    Memoirs,   Introduction  by   Archbishop   Ireland,   and   Chapters   II-V,    pp. 
11-29. 

4  "American  Catholic  Historical  Researches,"  vol.  XII.  p.  61. 


592  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Next  to  the  love  of  God  as  expressed  in  the  burning  zeal  for  souls, 
and  naturally  flowing  from  this  fountain-head  of  all  true  virtue,  come 
the  distinctive  qualities  of  our  noble-minded  priest,  his  fearlessness  in 
danger,  his  [(alienee  in  adversity,  his  disinterestedness  in  all  his  under- 
takings. 

"In  perils  often"  Father  Mazzuchelli  might  say  with  the  Apostle 
of  the  gentiles.  One  example  only  can  we  give:  It  was  a  morning  in 
March  that  the  priest  was  called  from  his  home  at  Galena  to  bring 
the  last  Sacraments  to  a  dying  person  in  Iowa  Territory.  The  ice  on 
the  river  was  broken  up  by  the  sudden  change  in  the  temperature,  and 
was  carried  along  with  the  swift  current.  The  priest  found  no  other 
means  of  transportation  than  a  sort  of  narrow  canoe  hollowed  out  of  a 
single  trunk  of  a  tree,  which  had  been  lying  on  the  bank  all  through  the 
winter.  Father  Mazzuchelli  engaged  four  men  to  row  him  across  the 
river.  After  pushing  out  about  half  a  mile  the  water  began  to  pour  in 
through  several  cracks  made  wider  by  collisions  with  the  drifting  ice. 
The  steersman  courgeouusly  managed  the  frail  craft,  ordering  all  to 
remain  seated  and  perfectly  quiet.  Father  Mazzuchelli  felt  secure 
amid  the  seething,  rushing  waters,  bearing  as  he  did,  the  Blessed  Sac- 
rament upon  his  breast.  Kneeling  in  the  water  and  paddling  with  a 
single  oar,  he  followed  the  directions  of  the  steersman,  and  when  the 
water  had  risen  to  within  four  fingers  length  of  the  rim  of  the  canoe, 
they  reached  a  little  island  where  they  repaired  their  boat  and  pro- 
ceeded on  their  voyage. 

Of  Father  Mazzuchelli 's  patience  his  letters  give  abundant 
examples :  of  noble  disinterestedness,  we  would  add  a  brief  word. 
"It  may  be  well  to  remark,"  says  he,  "that  the  generosity  of  the 
faithful  in  these  parts  depends  in  a  great  measure  upon  the  disin- 
teredness  of  the  Priest.  If  he  manifest  any  desire  for  money,  then  all 
is  lost  for  the  Church ;  for  he  is  the  sole  agent,  secretary  and  treasurer. 
If  he  does  not  divest  himself  completely  of  self,  and  consecrate  him- 
self without  reservation  to  the  propagation  of  the  truth,  that  in- 
dispensible  boundless  confidence  of  his  people  loses  itself  in  doubts 
and  suspicions,  and  at  last  vanishes  entirely.  The  great  secret  of  find- 
ing money  where  it  does  not  seem  to  exist,  lies  in  the  sincere  disin- 
teredness  of  the  Priest ...  In  the  United  States  the  church  is  generally 
the  poorest  of  the  poor :  for  either  a  house  of  worship  must  be  built, 
or  else  it  requires  repairs,  or  necessary  furnishings  for  the  altar.  So 
if  the  Priest  desires  to  see  the  people  liberal  and  full  of  confidence  in 
his  personality,  he  must  himself  lead  the  way.  Keeping  nothing  for 
himself,  and  putting  everything  that  he  possesses  in  the  treasury  of 
the  church.  The  same  Providence  that  cared  for  him  in  the  past  will 
not  fail  him  in  the  future:  forever  true  are  those  words  of  our  Divine 


Father  Samuel  Mazzuchelli,  O.P.  593 

Master:  "When  I  sent  you  without  purse  and  script  and  shoes,   did 
you  want  anything?     (Luke  22,  35). "5 

In  July  1835,  when  Father  Mazzuchelli  arrived  at  Galena,  he 
found,  as  he  himself  says,  "not  a  vestige  of  the  sacred  things  neces- 
sary for  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice."  In  an  upper  room 
of  the  dwelling  of  one  of  the  parishioners  he  erected  an  altar,  probably 
of  a  dry-goods-box,  which  transformed  the  place  into  a  church.  In 
one  corner,  separated  from  the  altar  by  a  curtain  was  the  bed  of  the 
Priest.  So  poor,  yet  so  intimate  with  God,  was  this  second  spring- 
tide of  the  church  in  Galena.  But  this  beautiful  promise  of  a  rich 
harvest  seemed  to  be  doomed  to  failure  once  more.  On  April  18,  1836, 
Bishop  Rosati,  on  hearing  that  Father  Mazzuchelli  had  been  recalled  by 
his  Superior  in  the  Order,  entrusted  the  parishes  of  Galena,  Dubuque 
and  Prairie  du  Chien  to  Father  Condamine.  When  Father  Conda- 
mine  arrived  at  his  destination.  Father  Mazzuchelli  \s  recall  had  been 
revoked,  and  Father  Condamine  was  appointed  to  Cahokia,  May  8th, 
1836,  where  he  died  soon  after  his  return. 

Father  Mazzuchelli  in  going  to  the  ends  of  the  diocese  of  Detroit 
found  himself  well  within  the  limits  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  Du- 
buque on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  Galena  and  Prairie 
du  Chien  on  the  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  side  had  been  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  under  the  spiritual  care  >of  Bishop  Rosati.  Father 
Mazzuchelli,  though  coming  to  this  field  without  lawful  authority, 
was  gladly  received  by  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  and  immediately  set 
to  work  to  establish  his  three  missions  on  a  sound  basis.  "In  the  great 
number  of  those  who  seek  their  support  by  emigrating  to  new  lands, 
there  are  many  Catholics,  principally  from  Ireland  and  Germany ; 
therefore,  preserving  the  Faith  in  this  scattered  population,  organiz- 
ing new  parishes  and  building  new  churches  constitutes  the  most 
important  duties  of  a  Missionary."6 

This  was  the  program  he  followed  throughout  his  life.  Dubuque 
was  his  first  care.  At  the  time  of  his  arrival  there,  July  1835,  the  village 
numbered  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons,  and  the  country  round 
about  probably  seven  hundred  and  fifty  more.  The  number  of  Cath- 
olics was  two  hundred  all  told.  "Nearly  all  the  Catholics  were  Irish 
by  birth,  not  a  few  had  acquired  a  considerable  fortune,  but  the  wealth, 
acquired  more  by  chance  than  by  industry,  served  rather  to  their 
harm  than  their  wellbeing.  "7  Vet.  as  Father  Mazzuchelli  was  firmly 
convinced,  that  the  place  was  destined  to  become  an  important  city, 
and  thought  he  could  do  nothing  greater  and  better  than  to  build  as 
fine  a  church  as  lay  in  his  power  and  form  a  parish  around  its  walls. 


5  Memoirs,  p.  219. 

6  Memoirs,  p.  161. 
i     Memoirs,  p.  164. 


594  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Mass  was  said  at  the  home  of  P.  Quigley :  the  people  of  the  town  showed 
the  greatest  interest  and  generosity,  so  that  t  he  corner-stone  for  the  church 
to  be  called  St.  Raphael's,  could  be  laid  amid  universal  rejoicing  on 
the  Feast  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  the  year  1835. 

Whilst  the  stone  walls  of  the  church  destined  to  be  the  Cathedral 
of  Dubuque  were  slowly  rising  to  completion,  the  tireless  missionary 
turned  his  main  attention  to  Galena,  which  then  had  a  population  of 
eight  hundred  souls,  two  hundred  of  whom  were  Catholics.  "The 
Irish,"  says  Father  Mazzuchelli,  "were  the  first  to  penetrate  these 
regions,  but  deprived  as  they  were  of  the  efficacious  help  to  the  practice 
of  religion,  with  few  exceptions  they  possessed  the  Faith  without  the 
works  which  give  it  life."8  Father  Vincent  Badin,  Father  Lutz,  and  the 
Jesuit  Van  Quickenborne,  had  visited  the  Catholics  of  the  place. 
Fathers  McMahon  and  Fitzmaurice  had  died  there.  Father  Mazzuchelli 
at  first  used  a  private  residence  for  chapel  and  rectory.  For  there 
was  no  church  and  no  lot  to  build  on.  "The  greatest  difficulty,"  he 
says,  "was  to  find  a  site,  suitable  and  central  for  a  church.  Galena 
closely  surrounded  by  high  hills,  has  very  little  space  for  a  city ;  land 
suitable  for  building  sites  costs  considerably  more  here  than  in  other 
places.  It  was  necessary  to  incur  a  debt  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  in  order  to  receive  sufficient  land."9  The  lot  being  secured, 
building  operations  were  begun,  the  pastor  himself  acting  as  architect. 
The  foundation  was  begun  on  September  12th,  1835.  It  was  dedicated 
to  the  Archangel  Michael.  It  was  a  good  sized  structure,  seventy-four 
feet  in  length  by  forty  in  width.  Father  Mazzuchelli  was  constantly 
crossing  and  recrossing  the  Mississippi  between  his  two  missions. 

But  this  work  of  church  building  was  not  without  discourage- 
ments. On  July  14th,  1836  he  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati  from  Galena : 
"After  many  a  day  of  hard  work  and  uneasiness,  I  succeeded,  with 
the  will  of  God,  to  complete  the  stone  Avails  of  St.  Raphael's  Church 
at  Dubuque  as  high  as  the  roof.  Every  preparation  is  now  made  to 
raise  the  roof  and  two  stonecutters  are  at  constant  work  to  make  a 
plain  cornice  round  the  building  and  to  finish  the  front.  On  the  4th 
of  July  the  church  was  used  by  the  people  of  the  town  to  hear  the 
Oration  delivered  by  a  lawyer.  I  had  to  act  the  part  of  chaplain  and 
say  the  prayer.  The  expenses  of  the  building  have  been  very  great 
for  one  man  like  me,  agitated  by  many  trials.  I  already  paid  $2,400.00. 
Want  of  time  has  hindered  me  from  collecting  the  $800.00  due  on  the 
subscription,  only  $300.00  were  lent  to  me  to  pay  the  last  debts.  I  hope 
to  say  Mass  in  St.  Raphael's  Church  next  Sunday.  The  church  of  Ga- 
lena is  as  I  left  it  last  Fall,  many  things  have  entirely  discouraged 
me  in  the  undertaking;  however,  last  Saturday  I  took  two  of  my  men 


s     Memoirs,  pp.  166  and   167. 
9     Memoirs,  p.  168. 


Father  Samuel  Mazzuchelli,  O.P.  595 

to  this  place,  they  now  -work  in  the  quarry.  I  opened  this  quarry  on 
the  church  lot ;  about  200  perch  of  stone  are  now  ready  round  the 
foundation,  lime  and  sand  are  also  procured.  All  this  is  a  great  deal 
here  where  materials  are  very  scarce.  There  is  not  a  person  here  that 
can  move  a  step  for  the  building  of  the  church.  I  have  to  pay  for 
all  materials,  to  the  amount  of  a  cent.  The  most  difficult  part  of  the 
work  is  the  collection.  Although  I  am  confident  of  the  great  attach- 
ment of  the  people  to  me,  and  of  the  knowledge  they  have  of  my  dis- 
interestedness, still  it  is  with  the  greatest  reluctance  I  do  begin  this 
work  and  sincerely  wish  to  abandon  it  if  I  could.  My  constant  occu- 
pation in  May  and  June  about  the  church  of  Dubuque  has  prevented  me 
from  attending  at  the  church  of  Mill-Seat,  Wisconsin  Territory,  15 
miles  from  this  place.  Nearly  all  the  materials  for  the  building  of 
it  are  now  ready.  Next  week  I  shall  spend  three  of  four  days  about 
that  place  to  gather  all  materials,  make  contracts,  collect  the  money, 
and  begin  the  work  if  possible."10 

Prairie  du  Chien,  also,  received  a  visit  from  the  busy  pastor  of 
souls.  The  entire  month  of  February  1836,  was  spent  there  in  caring 
for  its  five  hundred  Catholics.  Here  he  received  a  gift  of  four  acres 
in  the  center  of  the  town  for  the  erection  of  churches.  Yet,  he  felt 
obliged  to  resign  the  charge  of  Fort  Winnebago  and  Prairie  du  Chien, 
as  the  Redemptorists  of  Detroit  were  well  able  to  take  over  this  distant 
outmission,  over  which  Bishop  Rese  now  held  jurisdiction.  But  besides 
his  financial  cares  Father  Mazzuchelli  had  also  troubles  of  a  legal  kind. 
The  church  lot  in  Dubuque  had  no  clear  title.  In  1834  the  U.  S.  Gov- 
ernment gave  a  permit  to  Bishop  Rosati  to  occupy  this  piece  of  ground 
for  church-purposes,  and  this  included  the  right  of  pre-emption.  Now 
a  part  of  the  ground  was  claimed  by  a  widow-woman,  who  asserted, 
that  in  the  days  of  Father  Fitzmaurice  the  decision  in  regard  to  her 
contention  was  left  to  arbitration  and  that  the  decision  was  in  her 
favor.  A  merchant  of  Dubuque,  Mr.  O'Farrell,  had  bought  the  widow- 
woman's  claim,  and  now  considered  all  the  land  as  his  own.  The  lot 
embraced  four  acres.  Father  Mazzuchelli  advised  that  a  friendly  ar- 
rangement with  Mr.  O'Farrell  be  made  and  asked  for  the  power  of  at- 
torney. Then  there  was  a  legal  tangle  over  a  bequest  of  $250  made 
by  Patrick  Gray,  for  establishing  the  Sisters  of  Charity  in  Galena. 
The  executors  refused  to  pay  the  amount  until  the  Sisters  should  be 
established  in  the  town.  At  last  one  of  the  benefactors  of  the  church, 
Mr.  Dowling  advanced  the  amount  to  Father  Mazzuchelli." 

The  ceaseless  tide  of  population.  German  and  Irish,  was  now  rolling 
over  the  entire  Northwest,  scattering  upon  its  prairies  and  thickening 
along  its  rivers,  and  streams.  New  towns  were  springing  up  below  Galena 

io     Mazzuchelli  to  Rosati,  July  14,  1836,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese, 
ii     Mazzuchelli  to  Eosati,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


596  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Catholic  part  of  their  inhab- 
itants, sent  urgent  calls  to  Father  Mazzuchelli  to  come  and  build  chapels 
for  them.  Rock  Island,  Davenport,  Burlington,  Fort  Madison,  Nauvoo 
and  Keokuk  were  anxiously  waiting  for  his  coming. 

"I  have  during  the  winter  made  a  general  visit  through  the  coun- 
try east  of  the  Mississippi  and  returned  yesterday  from  my  last  visit 
for  this  season.  It  has  been  impossible  for  me  to  go  to  Rock  Island 
on  account  of  the  bad  roads  and  the  high  streams.  Should  my  health 
continue  good  as  it  is  I  shall  visit  that  place  as  soon  as  the  boats  will 
run.  I  flatter  myself  with  the  idea  that  you  will  send  to  this  country 
a  good,  active  man  to  help  me ;  for  my  church  affairs  take  all  my  time. 
It  would  be  well  to  remark  to  the  priest  who  has  to  share  my  labors,  that  I 
have  no  place  of  my  own  in  Galena ;  but  in  Dubuque  a  room  under  the 
church,  entirely  unfinished:  for  my  rule  is,  the  church  first,  the  priest's 
room  next. 

I  board  in  various  houses,  for  I  have  no  means  to  pay  regular 
boarding;  it  is  a  bad  table,  now  and  then.  I  have  good  beds,  but  no 
furniture.  No  salary.  Baptisms  and  marriages  will  give  enough  to 
buy  clothes,  I  must  say  that  a  salary  was  offered  to  me  in  Dubuque 
last  summer.  I  declined  it,  because  I  have  no  fixed  place,  and  because 
the  church  could  not  be  finished  whilst  the  people  are  obliged  to  pay  a 
salary.  The  pew  rent  will  in  time  become  an  excellent  support  for 
the  priest.  Disinterestedness,  patience  and  humility  are  indispensible 
with  the  people  I  have  here.  You  know  well  the  great  faults  of  the 
nation  I  have  to  live  with."12 

Towards  the  end  of  March  Father  Mazzuchelli  visited  St.  Louis, 
but  did  not  find  the  Bishop.  "On  my  return,"  he  writes,  "I  stayed  at 
Rock  Island  to  visit  the  poor  Catholics  of  that  place.  Mr.  Le  Claire 
will  probably  build  a  very  nice  brick  church  of  which  I  made  the  plan. 
Now  I  send  you  a  short  statement  of  the  Catholic  church  in  the  Wis- 
consin Territory  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Galena.  The  congrega- 
tion of  Dubuque  has  much  increased  this  summer;  The  church,  with 
the  assistance  of  God,  will  shortly  be  finished,  except  the  inside  plas- 
tering and  pews.  There  is  a  large  but  humble  room  under  the  altar. 
Times  are  very  difficult,  and  it  will  be  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that 
I  shall  get  four  hundred  dollars  to  continue  the  building  of  the  wall 
of  Galena  church.  Protestants,  after  much  preparation,  have  given  up 
the  idea  of  building  their  church  this  year.  My  occupations  do  not 
permit  me  to  attend  the  building  of  the  church  of  St.  Gabriel  at  Daven- 


12     Mazzuchelli   to   Rosati,   March    4,    1838,   original   in   English   in    Archives   of 
St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Father  Samuel  Mazzuchelli,  O.P.  597 

port.  I  made  and  sent  down  to  that  place  all  necessary  plans  for  a 
handsome  church  of  brick.  M.  Le  Claire  has  the  means  and  the  gen- 
erosity, but  he  is  unable  to  make  contracts  and  does  not  understand 
building.  He  wrote  me  to  go  down  and  have  the  church  built.  Now  I 
do  not  know  what  to  do.  "We  have  no  opposition  here  from  the  Protes- 
tants.   I  shall  do  my  best  to  prepare  a  place  for  the  new  Bishop."13 

Iowa  as  well  as  Wisconsin  was  at  this  time  called  Wisconsin  Territory, 
and  consequently  in  the  diocese  of  Detroit,  whilst  Galena  was  in  the 
diocese  of  St.  Louis.  Yet  as  Father  Mazzuchelli  held  faculties  from 
both,  and  as  Bishop  Rese  had  practically  relinquished  the  whole  Miss- 
issippi border  to  Bishop  Rosati,  the  church  in  Iowa  can  still  be 
considered  a  part  of  the  original  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  Father  Maz- 
zuchelli certainly  did  so  regard  it.  In  speaking  of  Rock  Island  the 
missionary  meant  Davenport,  as  appears  from  the  following  passage 
of  Father  Mazzuchelli  Memoirs : 

"Among  the  most  beautiful  and  charming  sites  on  the  western 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  is  that  one  opposite  the  famous  Rock  Island, 
more  than  a  hundred  miles  from  Dubuque  down  the  river.  Nature 
itself  seems  to  have  shaped  this  regular  verdant  slope,  girdled  and 
shielded  by  hills,  that  man  might  raise  a  city  there.  A  certain  Antoine 
LeClaire,  a  devout  Catholic,  noted  no  less  for  his  integrity  than  for 
his  wealth,  for  many  years  had  his  happy  home  there,  alone  with  his 
wife,  and  held  his  estate  of  a  square  mile  along  the  river.  This  had 
been  presented  him  as  a  free  gift  by  the  tribes  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes 
in  their  gratitude  toward  their  faithful  friend  and  interpreter  and 
beneficient  adviser  on  the  occasion  of  the  ceding  of  that  section  to  the 
United  States  Government.  It  was  in  1836  that  Mr.  LeClaire  began 
to  convert  his  estate  into  a  city,  which  he  named  Davenport.  His 
faith  did  not  let  him  forget  the  cause  of  Religion :  for  in  the  city  he 
was  planning,  he  donated  a  square  in  an  advantageous  position  for 
the  erection  of  a  church.  The  city  sprang  up  as  by  magic  and  expand- 
ing beyond  the  confines  of  LeClaire 's  estate  became  the  center  of  trade 
for  the  southern  part  of  Iowa."14 

After  hesitating  a  while  Father  Mazzuchelli  came  to  the  assistance 
of  Mr.  LeClaire,  the  principal  proprietor  of  Davenport,  and  in  April 
1831  laid  the  first  stone  of  the  church  which  was  called  St.  Gabriel's. 
The  first  bricks  manufactured  in  the  place  were  used  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  building  which  was  only  forty  by  twenty-five  and  built 
with  two  stories,  so  as  to  accomodate  on  the  lower  floor  the  priest  who 
was  to  make  his  home  there.     Thus  far  the  account  given  of  the  begin- 


13  Mazzuchelli  to  Kosati,  April  16,  1837,  Archives. 

14  Memoirs,  p.  190. 


")!'S  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

uings  of  Davenport,  now  an  episcopal  see.  Up  to  this  time  Father 
Mazzuchelli,  had  built  two  churches,  in  places  where  no  church  had 
ever  existed,  Dubuque  and  Galena,  and  had  named  them  for  two  of 
the  three  great  archangels  whose  names  and  deeds  are  recorded  in 
Sacred  Scripture,  St.  Raphael  and  St.  Michael.  It  was  his  wish  to 
dedicate  the  Church  of  Davenport  to  the  third  Archangel  St.  Gabriel: 
but  the  wish  of  the  founder  Antoine  LeClaire  prevailed,  and  the  Church 
of  Davenport  bears  the  title  of  St.  Anthony. 


Chapter  20 
FATHER  MAZZUCHELLI  AND  THE  CHURCH  OF  GALENA 


On  the  22nd  of  April,  1837,  the  Fathers  of  the  Third  Provincial 
Council  of  Baltimore,  at  the  request  of  Bishop  Rosati,  petitioned  the 
Holy  Father,  Pope  Gregory  XVI,  that  Dubuque  be  made  an  episcopal 
see,  having  for  its  diocese  all  that  portion  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin 
which  lies  between  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  east  bank  of  the 
Missouri.  In  an  Apostolical  Brief  of  July  28th,  of  the  same  year,  the 
Holy  Father  appointed  Very  Rev.  Mathias  Loras,  then  Vicar-General 
of  Mobile,  as  Bishop  of  Dubuque.  On  December  10th,  Dr.  Loras  was 
consecrated  by  Bishop  Michael  Portier  in  the.  Cathedral  of  Mobile. 
Alabama.  Father  Mazzuchelli  was  at  once  appointed  Vicar-General 
of  the  new  diocese,  yet  remained  attached  to  St.  Louis  on  account  of 
his  pastorship  of  Galena.  Bishop  Rosati  conferred  on  him  the  title 
and  power  of  a  Pro-Vicar-General.  As  the  building  operations  on  the 
Church  of  St.  Michael  were  still  in  progress  it  was  but  natural  that 
he  who  began  the  work  should  also  complete  it.  On  September  1st, 
1837,  he  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati : 

"I  have  already  done  all  that  was  possible  for  me  to  do  con- 
cerning the  welfare  of  religion  in  this  country.  The  church  of  Dubuque 
is  worthy  of  being  a  cathedral.  I  have  obtained  the  claims  of  about  three 
acres  of  land  joined  to  the  lot  of  the  church.  The  commissioners  have 
not  yet  begun  to  examine  the  claims  of  Dubuque,  and  as  a  consequence, 
the  claim  of  the  year  1834  is  still  in  statu  quo.  I  wrote  some  months 
ago  to  your  Grace,  telling  you  that  the  deed  to  the  church  of  Galena 
was  given  to  the  Bishop,  and  on  account  of  many  difficulties  with  the 
trustees,  I  did  not  have  sufficient  money  to  .settle  up.  Mr.  Dowling  of 
Galena  gave  me  $250.00  for  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  But  this  man  has 
not  yet  received  one  cent  from  the  executors  of  Mr.  Gray.  On  the  28th 
of  the  past  month  I  finally  accomplished  my  desire  and  I  paid  for  the 
land  of  the  church  of  Galena,  $615.00 ;  the  title  I  had  from  the  trustees 
is  given  to  your  Grace.  117  feet  are  being  used  for  a  church,  and  100 
feet  is  for  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  All  this  was  done  by  Divine  Prov- 
idence in  a  time  when  money  was  scarce,  and  then  under  many  difficul- 
ties caused  by  perverse  men,  have  also  paid  159  dollars  for  lumber,  and 
there  is  left  in  the  treasury  of  the  church  of  Galena  141  dollars.  Di- 
vine Providence  will  also  assist  me  to  build  a  small  house  for  the  resi- 
dent priest.  It  is  almost  impossible  for  a  priest  to  stay  at  Galena 
under  the  present  circumstances.  The  papers  of  Dubuque  and  Galena 
will  shortly  give  a  correct  account  of  the  money  received  and  spent, 
to  which  will  be  added  a  sufficient   explanation.     I  leave  this  morn- 

(599) 


000  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

ing  for  a  mission  on  the  east  side  of  Big  River,  about  00  miles  away 
from  here.  I  hope  that  the  Bishop  of  this  place  (Loras)  will  come  before 
winter,  that  he  will  find  a  nice  room  prepared  for  him  under  the  sanc- 
tuary of  the  church  of  Dubuque."1 

On  September  10th,  after  his  arrival  from  his  missionary  trip  in 
Wisconsin  he  reports:  "I  arrived  yesterday  from  the  country.  I 
have  obtained  a  good  lot  in  the  town  of  Mineral  Point,  the  most  im- 
portant place  in  the  interior  of  the  Territory :  also  a  house  and  four 
acres  in  a  country  place  fifteen  miles  from  Galena.  There  is  a  good 
promise  of  a  lot  in  the  town  of  Madison,  the  Capital  of  the  Territory. 
The  deeds  will  shortly  be  made,  and  I  should  like  to  know  to  whom  I 
ought  to  have  them  made.  Everything  has  to  be  done  in  this  territory, 
great  exertions  are  indispensible.  Protestants  are  not  in  the  way  of 
doing  much.  If  we  are  active  and  good,  everything  must  turn  in  our 
favor."2  From  October  10th,  to  October  14th,  Father  Mazzuchelli  was 
in  St.  Louis,  but  failed  to  see  the  Bishop,  who  was  at  the  Seminary  of 
St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens.  He  is  kept  busy  in  putting  everything  in 
good  order  at  Dubuque  and  Galena  for  the  reception  of  Bishop  Loras. 

"The  difficulties,"  he  writes,  "that  I  have  to  overcome  with  the 
government  committee,  now  in  session  at  Dubuque  on  account  of  the 
land  given  by  the  agent  are  very  great,  and  are  caused  by  some  rich 
and  powerful  Americans  who  do  not  keep  their  promises.  It  would 
be  of  the  greatest  help  to  have  an  American  priest  here  for  a  few  days, 
he  would  be  able  to  lessen  the  opposition.  I  am  very  uneasy  about  these 
affairs,  the  loss  and  the  gain  are  of  great  value.  I  need  money  to  em- 
ploy two  lawyers,  and  I  hope  that  Providence  will  give  it  to  me. 
Today  I  leave  for  my  mission.  The  water  of  the  Mississippi  is  very 
high,  but  with  the  grace  of  God  I  will  arrive  at  the  mission  in  three 
days.  I  have  asked  (Rev.)  Mr.  Jameson  to  visit  my  place,  and  he 
replied  that  he  would  come  with  much  pleasure,  if  your  Grace  grants 
him  the  permission."3  Bishop  Rosati  sent  the  missionary  a  hearty 
invitation  to  come  to  the  Barrens  for  the  consecration  of  the  Church 
of  St.  Marys,  and  also  the  appointment  as  Pro-Vicar-General.  Father 
Mazzuchelli  answers : 

"A  few  days  ago  I  received  the  instructions  in  which  you  gave 
me  the  precise  information  concerning  the  limits  of  the  new  diocese. 
Last  year  I  had  sent  to  Bishop  Rese  a  description  of  the  new  diocese 
according  to  my  ideas,  hoping  that  he  would  present  it  to  the  Fathers 
of  the  Council ;  but  now  that  all  has  been  settled  by  the  authority  of 
the  Church,  it  is  useless  to  speak  about  it  any  more.  As  regards  the 
faculty  of  Pro- Vicar-General,  I  wish  you  to  know  that  it  was  my  inten- 


1  Mazzuchelli  to  Rosati,  September  1,  1837,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

2  Mazzuchelli  to  Rosati,  September  10,  1837,  Archives. 

3  Mazzuchelli  to  Rosati,  October  14,  1837,  Archives. 


Father  Mazzuchelli  and  the  Church  of  Galena  601 

tion  not  to  accept  any  dignity  of  such  nature,  but  accidentally  your  letter 
fell  into  the  hands  of  a  man  that  knows  a  little  Latin  and,  having  seen 
the  contents  of  it,  he  made  them  known  to  my  friends.  Hence  it  would 
not  be  prudent  to  reject  the  faculty.  It  was  my  purpose  to  do  nothing 
more  to  the  church  of  Dubuque,  hoping  that  the  Bishop  would  arrive 
in  the  month  of  May.  Now  being  informed  that  he  will  not  be  in  his 
diocese  until  the  month  of  November,  it  puts  me  into  many  difficulties 
to  finish  the  church  before  he  comes.  Yet  I  hope  with  the  Grace  of 
God  to  have  the  church  of  St.  Raphael  prepared  for  the  consecration 
next  September,  but  it  will  be  necessary  for  me  to  have  a  priest  here 
after  Easter.  I  hope  that  your  Paternity  will  be  able  to  send  one  of 
those  priests  now  in  your  diocese.  The  parish  of  Galena  in  the  State 
of  Illinois  contains  about  400  Catholics.  Many  of  the  Wisconsin  ter- 
ritory consider  Galena  their  parish,  hence  the  reason  why  I  have  written 
about  600.     Galena  is  about  6  miles  from  the  Wisconsin  territory."4 

"I  have  received  two  letters  from  Bishop  Loras.  He  wrote  the 
second  letter  from  Havre  in  which  he  tells  me  to  rent  a  house,  as 
he  is  to  be  in  Dubuque  about  All  Saints.  Last  month  I  took  a  house  and 
paid  the  rent  for  a  month,  and  I  bought  a  bed  with  other  things. 
I  am  not  disposed  to  make  any  debts  for  the  Bishop,  because  a  fatal 
experience  has  taught  me  not  to  trust  the  future.  If  he  does  not  ar- 
rive before  the  middle  of  this  month,  I  will  give  up  the  house  which 
costs  25  dollars  a  month.  Everything  is  dear  in  this  place.  Circum- 
stances are  such  in  Dubuque  that  the  Bishop  will  be  obliged  to  take 
care  of  his  own  cooking.  Monseigneur  Loras  will  find  in  my  insignifi- 
cant person  a  most  humble  and  most  faithful  servant.  With  the  grace 
of  God  I  hope  to  make  my  home  with  Bishop  Miles  towards  the  end  of 
next  year."5 

After  his  consecration,  December  10th,  1837,  Bishop  Loras  un- 
dertook a  journey  to  France  and  Italy  for  the  purpose  of  gaining 
priests  and  students,  and  collecting  funds  for  his  poor  diocese.  He 
returned  to  this  country,  bringing  with  him  two  priests,  Joseph  Cretin11 
and  J.  A.  M.  Pelamourgues  and  four  subdeacons,  August  Ravoux, 
Renigius  Petiot,  Luciene  Galtier  and  J.  Causse.  The  four  students 
and  Father  Pelamourgues  were  left  at  St.  Marys  Seminary,  Baltimore, 
whilst  the  Bishop  and  Father  Cretin  took  their  way  to  St.  Louis  by  the 
Ohio  River  where  he  arrived,  December  3rd,  1838.  Here  he  was  de- 
tained the  entire  winter,  as  navigation  on  the  river  was  blocked  by 
the  masses  of  ice  coming  down  its  majestic  current.  Father  Mazzu- 
chelli left  Galena  on  March  19th,  1838,  by  the  first  steamboat,  to  bring 


4  Mazzuchelli  to  Eosati,  March  4,  1838,  Archives. 

5  Mazzuchelli  to  Eosati,  December  3,  1838. 

s     Joseph  Cretin  became  Bishop  of  St.  Paul  in  1850.     Father  Pelamourgues  is 
said  to  have  declined  the  honor.     Cf.  Kempker,  J.  F.,  in  "Annals  of  Iowa,"  p.  120. 


602  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  SI.  Louis 

his  Bishop  to  (he  episcopal  city  of  Dubuque.  Oil  the  21st  day  of  April, 
the  prelate  took  possession  of  his  Cathedral.  On  the  28th  day  of  April 
Bishop  Loras  officiated  in  the  Church  of  Galena.  It  was  a  great  event 
in  the  town  that  had  never  before  been  visited  by  a  Bishop. 

For  sixteen  months  Vicar-General  Mazzuchelli  had  labored  inces- 
santly in  preparing  the  diocese  for  its  Bishop.  He  was  as  yet  its  only 
priest,  and  the  burden  was  pressing  very  heavily  on  his  strength  of 
body  and  mind.  On  a  former  occasion  Father  Mazzuchelli  had  asked 
for  an  assistant :  this  request  was  now  to  be  gratified,  but  in  a  manner 
not  altogether  satisfactory  to  the  old  missionary,  who  wrote  Bishop 
Rosati : 

"The  Rev.  Mr.  Lee  arrived  in  Dubuque  when  Bishop  Loras  was 
still  absent  on  a  visit  to  St.  Peter  and  Prairie  du  Chien.  I  advised 
him  to  remain  in  Dubuque  last  Sunday,  while  I  would  go  to  Galena  to 
prepare  everything  for  his  reception.  As  the  people  of  this  place  do  not 
like  a  change  of  clergyman  and  felt  quite  displeased  at  the  idea  of  it, 
so  I  deemed  it  more  prudent  to  tell  the  congregation  that  the  Rev.  Lee 
was  sent  up  by  you  to  be  an  assistant  to  me  in  his  mission,  as  I  was  about 
to  visit  many  other  places;  in  this  way  they  were  sufficiently  satisfied. 
Mr.  Philip  Barry  will  board  him,  and  there  he  will  be  kept  away  from 
any  place  where  his  countrymen  might  be  an  occasion  of  evil  to  him. 
I  left  for  his  use  all  those  conveniences  I  have  procured  heretofore, 
and  if  he  does  well,  before  winter  he  will  be  better  fixed  and  liked 
by  the  inhabitants.  Should  he  taste  any  liquor  he  is  a  gone  man  in 
this  place.  I  shall  continue  to  be  responsible  for  all  things  belong- 
ing to  the  finishing  of  the  church."7 

Poor  Father  Constantine  Lee  did  not  last  long  at  Galena.  Un- 
doubtedly a  man  of  talent  and  capable  of  doing  good  work  among  his 
countrymen,  he  spoilt  all  by  his  lack  of  self-restraint.  On  September 
13th,  three  months  after  his  coming  to  Galena,  he  wrote  a  long  ramb- 
ling letter  to  Bishop  Rosati,  full  of  self-accusations  and  bitter  com- 
plaints. We  will  give  all  the  items  of  historical  interest  scattered 
through  the  five  pages :  leaving  the  rest  to  the  oblivion  it  deserves. 

"I  am  always  at  Bishop  Loras'  command  whenever  he  requires 
my  services.  I  preached  the  Consecration  sermon  of  the  Cathedral. 
The  Bishop  preached  on  Friday  the  day  following.  On  Saturday  I 
preached  the  funeral  oration  of  Bishop  Brute,  and  the  same  day 
returned  to  my  congregation  in  Galena.  On  Monday  I  attended  a  sick 
call  in  the  country.  On  Tuesday  I  commenced  collecting  for  the  new 
church  and,  notwithstanding  a  sick-call  of  twenty-two  miles,  I  col- 
lected on  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  in  paid  money  between  three  and 
four  hundred  dollars.  I  went  to  the  homes  of  the  people  and  found  them 
generous  indeed,  no  one  refusing  out  of  all  I  called  upon,  but  four. 


7     Mazzuchelli  to  Rosati,  July  23,  1839,  Archives. 


Father  Mazzuchelli  and  the  Church  of  Galena  603 

When  I  got  their  names  I  would  not  leave  the  house  until  they  had 
paid  the  money  which  they  did  freely,  when  they  saw  that  I  made  it 
a  rule.  This  small  sum  encouraged  the  workmen  to  proceed  on  Thurs- 
day. I  was  then  obliged  to  ride  thirty-eight  miles  under  the  heat  of  the 
sun  to  attend  a  sick-call,  and  the  next  day  I  was  thrown  down  with 
bilious  fever,  from  the  effects  of  which  I  have  not  as  yet  recovered  .... 
I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  great  majority  of  the  congre- 
gation are  both  very  ignorant  of  and  very  careless  in  the  practice  of 
their  religion.  If  it  pleases  Almighty  God  to  restore  me  to  my  former 
strength,  I  intend  to  give  them  a  retreat,  and  I  have  every  reason  to 
think  that  Bishop  Loras  will  assist  me.  I  know  that  it  is  impossible 
for  you  to  come  here  this  season.  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  be  ready 
for  you  next  May.  By  that  time  I  hope  to  have  150  communicants  ready 
for  Confirmation,  and  the  church  ready  for  consecration  ....  I  wish  to 
inform  you  as  to  the  present  state  of  the  new  church  of  Galena.  I 
do  not  know  the  exact  figures,  but  I  know  that  the  church  is  deeply 
plunged  in  debt.  Mr.  Mazzuchelli  told  me  that  he  was  giving  the  pews 
as  security,  and  that  he  would  not  go  to  any  one  to  collect  a  dollar. 
The  church  is  neither  ceiled  or  plastered,  a  few  crazy  old  boards  sup- 
ply the  place  of  an  altar,  and  nothing  but  the  stones  and  lime  surround 
it .  .  .  The  workmen  are  now  hurrying  up  the  pews  in  order  to  sell 
them  to  the  parishioners.  For  my  part  I  have  no  more  authority  re- 
garding the  affairs  of  the  church,  than  if  you  had  never  appointed  me. 
No  doubt,  Mr.  Mazzuchelli  is  an  excellent  man,  but  he  has  by  far.  too 
many  irons  in  the  fire  in  the  Diocese  of  Dubuque  to  bestow  much  at- 
tention here.  Besides,  the  orders  of  Mr.  Mazzuchelli  differ  so  widely 
from  your  instructions  that  I  cannot,  in  conscience,  obey  him.  On  my 
arrival  he  told  me  that  there  was  no  support  for  me  here,  but  that 
I  might  take  my  meals  wherever  I  could  get  them.  I  told  him  that  was 
contrary  to  your  orders  .  .  .  But  he  could  make  no  other  arrange- 
ment. So  dire  necessity  obliged  me  to  do  what  I  never  had  done  before. 
Many  days  have  I  remained  in  my  lonely  habitation  without  tasting  a 
morsel,  ashamed  to  go  to  any  one 's  house  to  look  for  a  meal ....  I  was 
told  that  the  people  expected  that  I  would  eat  in  one  house,  sleep  in 
another,  just  as  it  might  happen,  like  Mr.  Mazzuchelli.  I  take  the 
Sunday  collection  which  amounts  to  five  or  six  dollars,  but  this  is  a 
very  small  item  when  everything  is  so  extravagantly  high.  As  to 
the  other  charges,  i.  e.,  baptisms,  marriages,  funerals,  etc.,  they  are 
not  worth  speaking  of . .  .  My  furniture  in  the  old  chapel  where  I  live, 
is  a  bed,  three  chairs,  a  table  large  enough  to  hold  my  writing  ma- 
terials. I  have  no  knife,  fork,  spoon  or  plate,  but  sooner  than  go  to 
Mr.  Major  Barry's  or  any  other  place  to  get  my  victuals  for  nothing, 
I  will  buy  a  small  cooking-stove  and  cook  for  myself  as  well  as  I  can. 
The  number  of  Catholic  souls  here,  in  town  and  country,  of  age,  if  in- 
structed to  approach  the  holy  sacraments  is,  as  near  as  I  can  say,  about 


604  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

five  hundred.  The  children  who  are  numerous,  are  extremely  ignorant.  1 
have  made  it  my  chief  object  every  Sunday  to  represent  to  the  Catholic 
parents  the  sin  they  were  guilty  of  in  allowing  their  children  to  grow 
up  in  ignorance  of  the  very  principle  of  religion.  I  have  succeeded  in 
bringing  together  a  great  number,  but  I  must  use  very  great  exertions 
with  them,  before  they  will  be  fit  for  the  sacrament  of  confirmation. 
There  is  a  pious  widow  here  who  teaches  the  Catholic  school  and  helps 
to  instruct  the  children  in  Catholic  doctrine.  She  is  a  convert,  her 
name  is  Mrs.  Farrar.  She  is  rich,  and  built  a  fine  school-house  on  one 
of  her  lots,  expecting  that  two  Sisters  of  Charity  would  come  and  live 
with  her,  to  teach  in  the  Catholic  school.  She  would  give  the  house 
and  lot. 

There  are  by  far  better  prospects  for  the  Sisters  here  than  in 
Dubuque,  and  I  think  that,  if  the  grand  prospect  be  lost  sight  of,  it 
may  be  long  ere  another  present  itself. '  '8 

And  now  having  viewed  conditions  and  prospects  of  the  northern- 
most missions  under  Bishop  Rosati's  rule,  through  eyes  somewhat 
dimmed  and  blurred  by  faults  and  misfortunes,  let  us  listen  to  Father 
Mazzuchelli's  final  message  to  the  beloved  Bishop  of  St.  Louis: 

"Having  been  the  pastor  of  Galena  for  four  years  past,  and  being 
now  almost  unable  to  combine  my  various  duties  in  the  Iowa  Territory 
with  the  care  of  this  place,  I  deem  is  necessary  to  write  to  you  a  few 
lines  on  this  subject.  I  do  sincerely  regret  that  the  Rev.  C.  Lee  was 
not  qualified  for  this  parish,  and  that  he  has  confirmed  the  people  in 
their  unfavorable  opinion  of  Irish  Priests.  Our  church  and  popularity 
here,  being  built  upon  zeal,  disinterestedness  and  piety,  nothing  less 
is  required  in  a  clergyman  to  do  good  here,  at  least  for  a  year  or  two 
longer,  when  everything  will  be  completed.  There  is  no  doubt  that, 
if  this  parish  is  well  conducted,  it  will  in  two  years  be  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  of  Illinois,  and  will  much  assist  the  bishop  of  the  State. 
The  annual  rent  of  fifty-six  pews  amounts  to  over  fourteen  hundred 
dollars,  the  collections  on  Sunday  to  over  three  hundred  dollars.  All 
this  money  is  now  given  for  the  building  of  the  church  which  I  hope 
to  finish  next  year.  So  I  take  the  liberty  to  advise  you,  my  most 
esteemed  Bishop,  to  send  to  Galena  a  pious  disinterested  priest.  If 
he  is  anxious,  and  the  people  are  satisfied,  I  will  give  up  to  him  forever 
all  the  credits,  debts  and  cares  of  the  church.  Should  this  not  please  you 
or  him,  I  will  continue  to  do  as  I  have  done,  and  let  him  have  all 
the  private  contributions ;  and  if  this  is  not  satisfactory,  I  will  provide 
house,  table  and  clothes  and  any  other  thing  he  should  be  in  need  of, 
provided  he  gives  to  the  church  treasury  all  that  he  shall  receive  in 
the  parish.  But  aware  of  your  many  difficulties  I  dare  to  suggest  to 
you  another  plan,  and  this  is  to  let  the  Bishop  of  Dubuque  have  full 


8     Lee  to  Rosati  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Father  Mazzuchelli  and  the  Church  of  Galena  605 

jurisdiction  of  the  northwest  corner  of  Illinois  as  long  as  you  will 
have  it  yourself.  The  Bishop  of  Dubuque  can  easily  send  a  priest  to 
this  place  and  can  come  himself  with  the  greatest  facility.  The  people 
of  Galena  are  now  very  much  attached  to  Bishop  Loras  and  would 
be  much  pleased  with  the  arrangement.  Your  wisdom  and  zeal,  how- 
ever, are  far  superior  to  my  word.  Our  retreat,  which  was  to  begin  on 
the  6th  of  October,  was  by  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  deferred  to 
the  13th,  and  lasted  until  the  21st.  A  great  many  people  were  at 
church  every  day.  One  hundred  and  thirty-eight  communions,  thirty- 
six  confirmations.  My  little  share  of  the  work  was  to  preach  the  word, 
and  the  superior  call  of  my  affectionate  Bishop  and  companion  in  the 
missions  was  to  communicate  the  spirit.  I  thank  God  that  in  all  things 
the  wishes  of  Bishop  Loras  are  never  discordant  with  my  nothingness. 
I  was  informed,  that  your  Lordship  had  been  ill  and  felt  much  pleased 
when  I  heard  of  the  recovery."9 

The  arrangement  in  regard  to  Galena  suggested  by  Father  Mazzu- 
chelli was  accepted  by  both  Bishops.  Accordingly  we  find  Bishop  Loras 
and  Father  Mazzuchelli,  officiating  at  the  East  side  of  the  River,  as 
delegates  of  Bishop  Rosati.  We  found  two  letters  of  Bishop  Loras  in 
our  archives,  which  we  will  insert  here  as  showing  how  the  transition 
of  Galena,  the  city  that  had  such  a  hold  on  Bishop  Rosati,  was  made 
from  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  to  that  of  Chicago. 

"What  you  tell  me  in  your  letter  of  the  23rd,  Sept.",  writes  Bishop 
Loras  on  December  17th,  1839,  "That  I  may  regard  Galena  and  its 
surroundings  as  forming  part  of  my  diocese,  causes  me  pleasure,  and  I 
willingly  consent  to  the  arrangement  on  account  of  the  geographical 
situation  of  that  part  of  Illinois ;  nevertheless  I  fear  this  new  respon- 
sibility. I  believe,  however  that  I  need  not  do  more  for  the  place 
than  I  have  done  so  far.  I  have  established  myself  at  Galena 
since  Advent,  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Mazzuchelli,  who  is  at 
Burlington,  and  I  fill  here,  to  the  best  of  my  power,  the  office  of  pastor. 
I  shall  pass  Christmas  here.  The  people  are  well  disposed.  I  have 
daily  more  than  fifty  children  or  adults  at  my  catechism  class.  On 
Sundays  the  church  is  full  to  overflowing.  The  Mass  is  frequented 
on  work  days.  I  preach  here  once  in  my  English.  Mr.  Cretin,  who 
was  a  little  lonesome  whilst  I  was  in  Dubuque,  will  have  a  grand  chance 
to  practice  his  English  on  young  men  likewise.  I  can  absent  myself 
freely  and  this  is  absolutely  necessary,  if  it  were  only  for  the  Council, 
which  really  cannot  be  placed  later  than  in  Spring.  I,  at  first,  thought 
that  it  was  of  little  consequence  to  me  to  be  present,  but  I  can  make 
such  good  use  of  the  journey  that  I  decided  to  go.  What  you  have  the 
goodness  to  tell  me  about  Kentucky,  is  quite  consoling ;  how  I  wish  to 
see  the  worty  Patriarch  (Bishop  Flaget)  at  the  Council! 


9     Mazzuchelli  to  Rosati,  November  6,  1839,  Archives. 


606  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

I  am  waiting  every  day  for  details  on  the  disaster  of  Mobile.  How 
severely  this  poor  bishop  is  tried !  I  am  afraid  that  his  poor  Cathedral 
progresses  but  little.  How  immensely  the  loss  of  Mr.  Mauverney  is 
felt;  he  was  the  soul  of  that  college.  You  say  that  You  have  lost  Mr. 
Jamison ;  what  will  all  those  good  ladies  do  at  St.  Louis  ?  As  far  as  I 
am  concerned,  I  do  not  think  that  this  is  such  a  great  evil.  The  con- 
duct of  Mr.  Lee  here  has  raised  the  repugnance  which  our  good 
Irish  entertain  against  priests  of  their  own  nationality,  to  the  utmost. 
There  is  in  this,  I  feel,  something  providential.  Our  young  men  will 
do  very  well.  I  am  very  insistent  on  their  acquiring  the  English 
language  and  mastering  their  Theology  in  Latin.  They  write  to  me 
from  Davenport  that  Mr.  Pelamourgues  is  doing  very  well,  by  virtue 
of  his  piety,  his  zeal  and  his  polished  manners.  He  already  preaches 
in  English  every  Sunday.  After  Christmas  I  shall  push  the  construc- 
tion of  two  churches  20  and  18  miles  from  Dubuque.  God  will  bless 
our  efforts  and  our  feeble  beginnings."10 

On  December  31st,  1839  I  arrived  from  Galena  where  I  spent 
all  Advent  and  Christmas  to  my  satisfaction.  I  officiated  alone  on  the 
holy  day  of  Christmas,  but  the  church  was  filled  four  times  within  24 
hours.  At  midnight  it  was  crowded,  without  the  least  disorder ;  also 
at  Dubuque.  We  are  more  happy  here  than  in  the  South  where  there 
are  men  who  give  trouble.  Next  Sunday  I  shall  ordain  my  first  deaeons, 
and  I  shall  conduct  the  best  one  to  Galena,  where  he  shall  stay  and  where, 
from  time  to  time,  he  shall  be  replaced  ...  I  shall  go  there  myself 
occasionally  and  shall  keep  You  "au  courant"  on  what  is  done  there. 
We  shall  soon  need  a  new  church."11 

The  "best  one"  of  the  newly  ordained  priests  was  Father  Remigius 
Petiot,  a  native  of  France.  He  was  sent  to  Galena  shortly  after  his 
ordination  and  for  a  number  of  years  labored  faithfully  and  successfully 
in  that  difficult  mission.  But  as  Bishop  Rosati  left  St.  Louis  on  April 
27,  1840  to  attend  the  Fourth  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore,  and 
then  set  sail  for  Europe,  never  again  to  see  his  diocese,  we  have  no  letters 
from  the  Rev.  Petiot  in  our  archives.  As  Bishop  Loras  writes,  Galena 
became  practically  a  part  of  Dubuque  diocese  until  it  passed  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  Chicago  in  1844. 

Three  great  States  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  Iowa,  Wisconsin  and 
Illinois  have  a  special  claim  to  the  renown  of  Father  Samuel  Mazzu- 
chelli :  Within  their  precincts  his  life-work  was  accomplished,  and  in 
their  historic  pages  his  memory  is  enshrined.  Cyrenus  Cole,  in  his  His- 
tory of  Iowa,  designates  him  as  "a  man  of  the  highest  education  and 
refinement"  and  "one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  connected  with  the 
early  church  history  of  Iowa."     In  addition  he  declares:  "The  story 


io     Loras  to  Rosati,  December  17,  1839,  Archives. 
11     Loras  to  Rosati.  December  31,  1839,  Archives. 


Father  Mazzuchelli  and  the  Church  of  Galena  607 

of  Father  Mazzuchelli 's  work  in  Iowa  reads  like  a  romance.  He  went 
to  many  places  and  he  labored  unceasingly.  He  traveled  on  foot  and 
on  horseback,  in  ox-wagons  and  on  boats.  A  stranger  in  a  strange  land, 
he  slept  on  the  floors  of  cabins  and  he  ate  often  the  food  of  savages.  In 
his  own  land  he  might  have  been  any  one  of  many  things,  for  he  had 
the  gifts  of  the  musician,  the  sculptor,  and  the  painter,  and  his  talents 
as  an  architect  are  undoubtedly  expressed  in  the  old  capitol  at  Iowa 
City.  As  a  writer  he  contributed  much  to  the  history  of  the  upper 
Mississippi  Valley.  His  'Memorie  Istoriche'  was  written  in  Italian 
after  his  return  to  his  native  country.  Its  simple  and  graceful  diction 
could  not  be  lost  even  in  translation.''12  Wisconsin  eagerly  lays  claim 
to  a  share  in  his  glory,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  eloquent  manner  in  which 
Quaife's  History  of  Wisconsin  speaks  of  him:  "A  voice  crying  in  the 
spiritual  wilderness  of  Wisconsin  in  the  early  and  middle  decades  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  its  mellow  tones  with  soft  Italian  accent  bring- 
ing to  the  aborigines  with  special  unction  and  sweetness  the  compell- 
ing story  of  the  Savior's  love — such  was  the  voice  of  the  pioneer  Dom- 
inican missionary  of  our  state,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Charles  Mazzuchelli. 
As  a  precursor  of  the  later  heralds  of  the  Gospel  and  peer  among  the 
greatest  of  them,  he  strove  with  high  heroism  to  level  the  mountains  of 
ignorance  and  vice  and  make  straight  the  crooked  paths  of  superstition 
and  unbelief.  A  unique  and  impressive  story  his  life  history  presents: 
Unique  in  the  prompting  that  bade  him  exchange  affluence  and  con- 
genial society  in  a  great  city  for  poverty,  solitude  and  the  compan- 
ionship of  Indians ;  unique  in  the  superior  gifts  of  mind  and  heart  which 
as  a  lone  young  priest  he  brought  to  the  herculean  task  of  evan- 
gelization in  the  Wisconsin  wilds  of  1830 ;  unique  in  the  variety  of  events 
and  activities  that  meant  so  substantial  and  permanent  a  contribution 
toward  our  religious  and  educational  development."13 

And  lastly  a  voice  from  Illinois  chimes  in : 

"He  built  a  church  at  Galena  and  secured  extensive  grounds  for 
convent  and  graveyard  purposes;  He  was  never  known  to  miss  an  ap- 
pointment in  the  duties  of  his  sacred  ministry.  Rain,  hail,  or  sunshine, 
whether  the  thermometer  stood  at  ninety  degrees  above  or  thirty  de- 
grees below  zero,  he  was  always  present  at  the  appointed  hour."14 

But  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  extending  at  the  time  to  Father 
Mazzuchelli 's  high-tide  of  activity,  has  the  highest  claim  to  his  glory, 
as  that  of  one  of  her  apostolic  men  laboring,  watching  and  praying  on 
her  northeastern  frontier. 


12  Cyrenus  Cole,  "History  of  Iowa." 

13  Quaife,  Milo,  Milton,  "History  of  Wisconsin." 

1-4     Quaife,  ibidem.     The  three  last  quotations  are  derived  from  Joseph  Gum's 
excellent  article  on  "A  Builder  of  the  West,"  in  "Columbia,"  for  January,  1928. 


Chapter  21 
CATHOLIC  BEGINNINGS  OF  KANSAS  CITY 

The  Concordat  between  the  Bishop  of  Louisiana  and  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  in  virtue  of  which  the  entire  territory  of  the  diocese  along 
the  Missouri  River  was  assigned  to  the  Jesuits,  was  never  approved 
by  the  Holy  See  and  consequently  was  binding  on  both  parties  only  in 
as  far  as  they  mutually  agreed  as  to  the  various  clauses.  The  clause 
regarding  the  Jesuits  exclusive  jurisdiction  proved  inoperative  on  ac- 
count of  the  small  number  of  available  missionaries  on  part  of  the 
Jesuits,  and  the  unexpected  rapid  growth  of  Catholic  settlements  clamor- 
ing for  priests.  As  the  demand  by  far  exceeded  the  supply,  Bishop 
Rosati  felt  obliged  to  make  use  of  his  undoubted  right  to  send  diocesan 
priests  into  what  was  considered  Jesuit  territory,  and  the  Jesuits  gladly 
accepted  their  cooperation.  The  first,  and  most  notable  evangelizing 
effort  along  the  Missouri  River,  after  the  brief  visit  of  Father  Lutz 
to  Kawsmouth,  the  future  Kansas  City,  was  the  pastorate  of  Father 
Benedict  Roux  from  1833  to  1835.  With  Father  Roux1  the  ecclesiastical 
history  of  Kansas  City  properly  begins;  as  he  was  the  first  resident 
priest  of  the  entire  region  around  the  junction  of  the  Kansas  and 
Missouri  Rivers.  Father  Roux,  together  with  Father  Saint  Cyr  and 
three  other  missionaries  had  been  sent  to  St.  Louis  in  1831,  by  the 
Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith.  The  young  and  energetic 
priest  was  assigned  to  the  Cathedral.  His  great  ambition  was  to  be- 
come proficient  in  the  English  language :  he  spent  a  part  of  the  year 
1833  with  private  families  in  Dardenne  and  St.  Charles  in  order  to 
practice  the  vernacular.  His  desire  was  to  go  to  the  Far  West  among 
the  Indians  and  the  frontiermen.  In  this  purpose  he  had  a  competitor 
in  the  person  of  Father  Condamine,  the  pastor  of  Kaskaskia,  who  asked 
Father  Roux  to  take  Kaskaskia  and  let  him  go  to  the  Indians.  Father 
Roux  declined  the  offer  and  insisted  that  his  desire  to  become  an  Indian 
Missionary  had  brought  him  to  America.  Another  attempt  at  an  Osage 
mission  after  the  failure  of  Father  Lutz,  proposed  to  Bishop  Rosati 
by  Father  Roux,  was  considered  hopeless:  but  the  persistent  requests 
of  Father  Roux  attained  this  much,  that  the  Bishop,  in  the  Fall  of  1833, 
appointed  him  missionary  priest  to  the  Catholics  along  the  Missouri 
frontier. 


i  The  only  full  account  of  the  life  and  labors  of  Father  Benedict  Roux  is  that 
of  Father  Gilbert  J.  Garraghan,  S.  J.,  contained  in  Chapters  III  and  IV  of  his 
splendid  volumes,  "Catholic  Beginnings  of  Kansas  City,"  Chicago,  1920.  The 
letters  of  Father  Roux  are  the  main  sources  of  this  narrative. 

(608) 


Catholic  Beginnings  of  Kansas  City  609 

Arriving  in  his  new  field  of  labor  the  missionary  then  visited  the  vari- 
ous settlements  of  which  Liberty  in  Clay  County  was  the  most  consider- 
able. At  Independence  there  were  but  two  Catholic  families.  On  Novem- 
ber 14th,  he  arrived  on  the  site  of  Kansas  City.  The  Chouteaus,  Cyprian 
and  Francis  Gesseau,  were  the  principal  traders  on  both  sides  of  the 
border.  It  was  in  Cyprian  Chouteau's  hospitable  house  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Kaw,  that  Father  Roux  found  a  temporary  home  and  chapel. 
A  tract  of  forty  acres  was  assured  to  the  priest  that  would  build  a 
church  in  the  place.  Financial  help  would  also  be  provided.  Father 
Roux  already  dreamt  of  a  school  and  Sisters'  Convent.  There  were 
only  a  dozen  Catholic  families  in  all  Jackson  County,  but  great  numbers 
were  "preparing  to  flock  here,"  as  Father  Roux  wrote  to  the  Bishop. 
Then  the  two  establishments  he  contemplated  were  "at  the  very  door 
of  the  Indian  country."  He  had  been  received  by  the  Potawatomi 
and  Kickapoos,  as  an  angel  sent  from  Heaven.  "They  are  truly  Cath- 
olics in  desire,"  and  their  life  is  "a  perfect  image  of  that  of  the  Chris- 
tians of  the  primitive  church."  "I  should  never  finish"  he  concludes, 
"were  I  to  tell  you  all  the  edifying  things  I  saw  among  them."  The 
romantic  spirit  was  still  strong  in  Father  Roux.  The  Kickapoo  prophet 
Kenekuk  was  not  present  when  Father  Roux  addressed  the  Kickapoo 
chiefs  and  their  tribesmen,  but  he  sent  his  "profession  of  faith"  which 
raised  high  hopes  in  the  fervent  soul  of  the  missionary. 

The  town  of  Liberty,  which  also  bore  the  nickname  "Vide  Poche," 
Empty  Pocket,  Avith  its  six  hundred  people,  was  intended  by  Father 
Roux  as  the  second  missionary  establishment.  But  the  place  of  his 
main  activites  was  Chouteau's  Trading  Post  at  Kawsmouth,  successively 
called  the  Church  of  Mr.  Chouteau,  then  the  town  of  Kansas,  Westport 
and  at  last  Kansas  City.  It  was  here  that  Father  Roux  held  services 
for  the  first  time  on  Christmas  day  1833,  preaching  in  French  and 
English,  without  saying  Mass,  as  the  meeting  was  held  in  the  home 
of  a  Protestant.2 

Father  Roux's  efforts  to  found  an  institution  of  the  Nuns  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  or  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  in  the  frontier  settlement 
on  the  Kaw  proved  unavailing :  the  difficulty  of  finding  an  adequate 
support  for  them  seemed  insurmountable. 

Early  in  1834  the  French  parishioners  of  Father  Roux  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Kaw  secured  a  house  to  be  used  as  a  temporary  church  and  an- 
other to  serve  as  the  pastor's  residence.  Services  were  held  for  the 
first  time  on  Sexagesima  Sunday  1835,  but  mass  was  not  celebrated 
publicly  until  Easter  Sunday.     As  late  as  March  11th,  1834,  the  good 


2  Cf.  Father  Benedict  Roux'  first  and  second  letters,  "From  the  Mouth  of  the 
Kansas  River,"  November  24,  181!.'!  and  March  11,  1834,  printed  in  Garraghan,  op. 
cit.,  pp.  43,  48  and  50. 


Vol,  1-20 


610  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

but  rather  scrupulous  Father  had  not  said  mass,  because  for  the  first 
four  months  he  "did  not  have  the  least  little  place  respectable  enough  for 
an  action  so  august  and  holy."  •  The  reason  given  for  omitting  mass 
the  rest  of  the  time  is  still  less  acceptable:  the  danger  to  his  health 
owing  to  the  distance  from  his  residence  to  the  church,  and  the  difficulty 
of  getting  something  to  eat  after  his  long  fast.  It  is  plain,  the  young 
missionary  was  not  as  yet  sufficiently  seasoned  to  be  of  much  use  among 
the  hardy  frontiermeii  and  Indians.  Father  Roux's  mind  was  more 
esthetic  than  ascetic.  "  A  very  pretty  little  altar  .  .  .  with  a  touch  of 
dainty  elegance  and  four  chandeliers  as  bright  as  gold"  consoled  him 
Sunday  after  Sunday  for  the  lack  of  the  holy  sacrifice. 

But  from  Easter  Sunday  on,  this  seeming  lethargy  was  shaken 
off.  He  acquired  forty  acres  of  land  within  the  present  site  of  Kansas 
City,  for  a  consideration  of  six  dollars  on  which  he  proposed  to  build 
the  log  church  to  be  dedicated  to  St.  Francis  Regis.  From  his  temporary 
home  he  visited  the  little  towns  and  settlement  of  the  neighborhood 
preaching  everywhere  in  English  and  French,  baptizing  and  saying 
mass.  The  hope  of  getting  the  Sisters  of  Charity  for  the  town  of  Liberty 
buoys  him  up.  At  last  he  succeeds  in  having  a  house  built  for  his 
residence  on  his  forty-acre  lot  at  Kawsmouth.  In  the  fall  of  1834  he 
hopes  to  have  his  Church  started.  "It  all  depends  on  You,"  he  writes 
to  the  Bishop,  "by  sending  me  the  hundred  dollars  You  subscribed." 
Bishop  Rosati  sent  his  contribution  and,  at  the  same  time  offered  to 
send  a  colony  of  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  who  were  then  expected  from 
France.  But  Father  Roux  felt  obliged  to  decline  the  offer,  as  the 
Sisters  did  not  speak  English,  and  as  no  support  could  be  given  them 
amid  the  poverty  of  his  surroundings.  The  parishioners  of  Father 
Roux  were,  for  the  most  part,  rough  voyagers  and  trappers,  thought- 
less of  tomorrow  and  careless  of  eternity.  Besides  they  were  engaged 
in  a  bitter  feud  with  the  Mormons,  who  then  infested  Jackson  County. 
The  few  American  Catholics  from  Kentucky  were  the  priest's  great  con- 
solation through  their  piety  and  regularity  of  life. 

Father  Roux'  projected  Church  was  still  a-building,  in  spite  of 
Bishop  Rosati 's  generous  contribution:  Mass  was  still  said  in  the 
rented  chapel  two  miles  from  his  home.  Sickness  overtook  the  pastor, 
and  the  sheep  strayed  hither  and  thither  in  the  wilderness.  The 
Catholics  of  his  Congregation  were  indeed  "incapable  of  supporting 
a  priest  decently,  being  too  few  in  number,"  and  we  might  add,  too 
shiftless  in  character.  "Yet,"  he  exclaimed,  "even  though  I  had 
nothing  but  corn-bread  to  eat,  I  will  not  abandon  them."  Either  to 
die  or  Deo  adjuvante,  to  succeed,  such  is  the  determination  I  have 
taken."  As  to  his  building  projects  they  had  all  failed,  because  the 
good   old   Mr.    Bouvet   in   whom   he   had   put   all  his   trust,   proved  to 


Catholic  Beginnings  of  Kansas  City  611 

be  incapable  of  taking  them  in  hand  and  expediting  the  erection  of 
the  buildings  in  question."3 

Father  Roux's  ministry  at  "the  Mouth  of  the  Kansas  River"  was 
now  drawing  to  a  close.  Bishop  Rosati  expressed  his  intention  of 
sending  him  to  Kaskaskia,  and  the  rumor  reached  the  good  Father's  ear. 

"I  am  perfectly  indifferent,"  he  Avrote  to  his  Bishop  on  February 
12th,  1835,  "to  go  wherever  it  will  please  you,  and  to  stay  wherever 
it  will  please  you,  here  even,  if  you  think  it  best.  I  only  pray  you 
to  let  me  know  your  intentions  in  this  matter  as  soon  as  possible,  so 
that  I  may  know  on  whom  to  rely  in  regard  to  several  things.  I  am 
very  anxious  to  go  down  to  St.  Louis  and  spend  some  days  in  retreat ; 
for  it  seems  an  age  since  I  have  had  the  happiness  of  approaching 
the  tribunal  of  penance.  In  the  meantime  kindly  give  me  some  of 
your  excellent  prayers."4 

Towards  the  end  of  April  he  started  for  St.  Louis  and  on  May 
11th,  expressed  his  regrets  at  being  obliged  to  leave  the  forlorn  people 
of  the  Missouri  frontier.  "I  experience  intolerable  pain  to  think  that 
I  must  part  from  those  poor  sheep  which  I  have  brought,  though  in 
truth  with  difficulty,  to  the  Lord 's  fold ;  docile  now  to  the  voice  of 
their  pastor,  they  were  coming  regularly  on  fixed  days  to  slake  their 
thirst  in  the  waters  of  the  spring  salientis  usque  an  vitam  aeternam. 
Many  among  them,  it  is  true,  were  still  far  astray  on  the  paths  of 
perdition ;  but  they  were  beginning  to  make  their  bleatings  heard, 
announcing  therebj-  their  desire  to  return  to  wholesome  and  abundant 
pastures."5 

No  doubt,  Father  Roux  was  sincere  in  making  this  plaintive  re- 
traction of  what  he  had  said  in  former  letters.  And  that  this  more  cheer- 
ful outlook  really  had  better  justification,  than  the  gloomier  one  of 
desponding  days,  is  evident  from  the  results  attained  within  the  brief 
period  of  eighteen  months. 

"I  have  at  Independence  or  in  its  vicinity,  only  some  twenty 
Catholic  families,  French,  American,  Indian.  And  yet  nineteen  persons 
have  fulfilled  their  Easter  duty,  while  ten  others  presented  themselves 
at  the  sacred  tribunal  for  this  purpose.  I  heard  the  confession  of  all 
the  Catholic  children,  over  nine  years.  Six  made  their  first  com- 
munion on  Easter  Day.  From  June  4,  1834,  to  April  26,  1835,  I  bap- 
tized nineteen  persons,  three  of  whom  were  of  advanced   age.     Many 


3  Jean  B.  Bouvet,  a  layman,  upon  whose  mechanical  abilities  Father  Roux  hail 
set  great  hopes,  in  regard  to  the  erection  of  the  proposed  church. 

4  Eoux  to  Eosati,  February  12,  1835,  Archives. 

5  Eoux  to  Eosati,  May  11,  1835,  Archives. 


(ill1  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Americans  were  pleased  to  come  and  listen  to  my  poor  English.  Several 
were  preparing  to  receive  baptism  on  my  return  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Kansas  River.  A  subscription  has  been  taken  up  amounting  to  nearly 
$400  towards  building  a  church  and  presbytery  of  nicely  squared 
logs.  Both  buildings,  according  to  the  contract,  must  be  delivered  in 
August  of  this  year.  Moreover,  the  population  of  the  eastern  stairs 
is  shifting  westward  in  large  numbers.  Within  a  few  years  Jackson 
County  will  be  one  of  the  most  populous  of  the  State  of  Missouri. 
This  Catholic  congregation  is  small  indeed ;  still  there  is  good  to  be 
done  there,  and  a  great  deal  to  put  up  with,  and  such  ought  to  be  the 
portion  of  a  priest  who  wishes  to  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Great 
Pastor  of  sheep.  If  you  are  willing,  Monseigneur,  to  send  me  back 
there,  I  will  return  with  great  pleasure;  if,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  your 
intention  to  place  me  elseAvhere,  I  will  also  with  great  pleasure  be- 
take myself  to  whatever  post  you  or  your  Vicar-General  will  assign 
me  .  .  .   "6 

Bishop  Rosati  thought,  and  justly  so,  that  Father  Roux  would 
accomplish  more  good  and  have  more  peace  of  mind  in  a  parish  of 
older  date  and  higher  culture  and  accordingly  appointed  him  pastor 
of  Kaskaskia.  (July  21st.)  in  place  of  Father  Conclamine,  who  was 
to  take  charge  of  the  missions  of  Northern  Illinois.  The  old  church 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception  at  Kaskaskia  had  been,  for  a  long 
time,  in  a  dilapidated  condition,  partly  through  the  great  earthquake 
of  1813,  partly  through  simple  neglect.  For  as  sloth  is  the  most  de- 
structive force  in  regard  to  spiritual  life,  so  neglect  is  the  silent,  slow, 
yet  surest  destroyer  of  material  things.  Kaskaskia  had  full  experience 
of  this  truth  in  its  decline  and  fall.  The  church  built  to  stand  for 
ages,  at  last  had  to  be  wrecked  lest  it  bury  the  Congregation  under  its 
ruins.  A  church  of  wood  replaced  the  stone  structure.  The  convent 
and  school  of  the  Visitation  Nuns  also  fell  under  Father  Roux's 
spiritual  care,  and  on  November  30th,  1837,  he  resigned  the  parish 
and  retained  spiritual  charge  of  the  Convent.  In  1844,  Father  Roux 
was  stationed  at  the  Cathedral,  where  he  remained  until  1846.  It  is 
said  that  he  then  returned  to  France. 

The  sum  of  Father  Benedict  Roux's  achievements  in  the  mission- 
ary and  pastoral  fields  does  not  loom  very  large :  yet  he  deserves 
honorable  mention  as  the  founder  of  the  first  Congregation  on  the  site 
of  one  of  our  great  episcopal  cities.  Besides,  the  work  he  did  accom- 
plish on  the  western  frontier  of  civilization,  had  to  be  done  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  far  greater  results  attained  by  his  successor.     Pioneering 


a     Eoux  to  Rosati,  May  11,  1835.     Archives. 


Catholic  Beginnings  of  Kansas  City  613 

is  always  an  ungrateful  task  and  it  usually  claims  the  life,  or  at  least, 
the  health  of  the  pioneer.  "Father  Roux  was  a  man  of  sincere  personal 
piety  and  exemplary  integrity  of  life"  as  Father  Garraghan  sums  up 
his  character,  "a  stickler  for  all  that  pertained  to  the  accuracy  and 
even  splendor  of  church-ceremonial.  In  zeal  for  souls,  he  surely  was 
not  lacking."7  A  characteristic  touch  is  added  to  this  sketch  of  a 
good  and  earnest  though  not  successful  priest  by  one  of  Kansas  City's 
pioneers,  who  said :  "he  was  a  little  smooth-shaven  Frenchman,  slight 
of  build  and  delicate.  That  is  all  we  know  about  him.  But  he  did 
good  work. '  '8 


i     Garraghan,  op.  cit.,  p.  83  and  84. 

s     A  brief  chronicle  of  Kaskaskia  compiled  by  Father  Eoux,  in  1839,  may  be 
found  in  "Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Eeview, "  October,  1918. 


Chapter  22 
FATHER  BRICKWEDDE  OF  QUINCY 

By  the  Bull  of  Pope  Gregory  XVI,  1834,  the  western  hall'  of  Illinois 
became  an  integral  part  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  whilst  the  eastern 
portion  with  Chicago  was  attached  to  the  diocese  of  Vincennes.  Father 
Saint  Cyr  was  withdrawn  from  his  outpost  on  Lake  Michigan  and 
in  response  to  the  repeated  request  of  Father  Lefevere,  appointed  to 
Quincy  and  the  other  Illinois  missions  in  the  vicinity,  which  had  been 
formed  by  that  ubiquitous  missionary.  It  was  high  time  that  some- 
thing be  done  on  a  larger  scale  for  these  and  other  very  promising 
missions  in  the  •  interior  of  the  State.  In  1837  the  church  stood 
firmly  rooted  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  from  St.  Louis  to  Galena, 
Dubuque  and  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  now  began  to  branch  out  east 
and  west,  but  naturally  with  greater  vigor  along  the  chief  tributary 
of  the  Mississippi  above  its  confluence  with  the  Missouri,  the  haunted 
stream  of  Indian  legend  and  Christian  tradition,  the  far-famed  Illinois 
of  Father  Marquette's  eulogy:  "We  had  seen  nothing  like  this  view 
for  fertility  of  the  land  its  prairies,  woods,  wild  cattle,  stag,  deer, 
wild  cats,  swans,  ducks,  parrots  and  even  beaver;  its  many  lakes  and 
rivers.  That  on  which  we  sailed  is  broad  and  deep  and  gentle  for 
sixty-five  leagues."1 

This  beautiful  and  diversified  country  running  diagonally  through 
the  heart  of  Illinois,  from  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Louis  towards 
Chicago,  was  being  rapidly  reclaimed  from  the  state  of  wild  nature. 
From  1833  on,  Father  Lefevere  had  visited  the  scattered  settlements 
as  far  east  as  Sangamon  County.  But  now  the  increase  in  population 
required  a  concerted  movement  of  numerous  soldiers  of  the  Cross  to 
do  battle  with  the  enemy,  and  to  conquer  the  land  for  Christ.  In 
1837,  Father  Lefevere  is  succeeded  in  Quincy  by  Father  August  F. 
Brickwedde ;  in  Fountain  Green,  and  in  the  stations  around  the  head- 
waters of  Crooked  Creek,  by  Father  Saint  Cyr;  in  Springfield,  a 
year  and  a  half  later,  by  George  A.  Hamilton,  whilst  the  English- 
speaking  people  of  Quincy  received  their  own  pastor  in  the  person 
of  Father  Hilary  Tucker.  In  1838,  the  Vincentian  Fathers  J.  B.  Raho 
and  Aloysius  Parodi  entered  upon  their  most  fruitful  labors  in  and 
around  La  Salle  County,  whilst  Alton,  having  been  visited  by  Father 
E.  Debruyn,  S.J.,  since  1836,  received  its  first  resident  priest  Father 
James  Flynn,  in  February  1838.     Father  Lefevere  had  made  a  special 


1     Shea,    "Discovery    and    Exploration    of    the    Mississippi    Valley,"    2nd    Ed., 
p.  54. 

(614) 


Father  Brickwedde  of  Quincy  615 

plea  to  the  Bishop  for  Quincy,  his  first  mission  in  Illinois  and  had 
been  promised  as  assistant,  Father  Saint  Cyr  of  Chicago.  Father 
Lefevere  expressed  his  great  joy  and  gratitude,  especially  as  Father 
Saint  Cyr  was  reported  to  be  a  fair  German  scholar.  For  more  than 
half  of  the  Catholics  of  Quincy  were  German.  In  fact  Bishop  Rosati 
had  been  asked  to  send  the  only  German  priests  he  then  had,  Father 
Lutz  or  Father  Helias,  S.J.,  to  Quincy,  at  least  two  or  three  times 
a  year.  Father  Saint  Cyr  received  his  appointment  to  Quincy,  June 
12th,  1837,  and  was  about  to  start  for  his  new  and  promising  field, 
when  something  unforeseen  occured  that  changed  Bishop  Rosati 's  plans. 
A  large  congregation  of  German  Catholic  emigrants,  accompanied  by 
their  priest,  August  Florentius  Brickwedde,  arrived  in  St.  Louis,  in- 
tent upon  a  settlement  somewhere  in  the  wilds  of  Missouri  or  Illinois. 

Augustus  Florentius  Brickwedde  was  born  June  24,  1805,  at 
Fuerstenau ;  Kingdom  of  Hanover,  diocese  of  Osnabrueck.  He  was 
descended  from  a  distinguished  family  of  jurists ;  his  Father,  an  able 
counselor  at  law,  held  the  position  of  Circuit  Judge  at  Bersenbrueck. 
Having  completed  his  classical  course  at  Osnabrueck,  and  his  philosoph- 
ical and  theological  studies  at  the  universities  of  Munich  and  Bonn, 
young  Augustus  was  ordained  priest  in  the  Cathedral  of  Hildesheim, 
September  20,  1830.  The  young  curate  of  five  years'  experience 
in  the  ministry  casually  hearing  of  the  great  need  of  missionaries  in 
far-away  America,  especially  among  the  German  colonists  who  were 
just  then  beginning  to  make  their  numerous  settlements  in  the  new 
world,  decided  to  devote  his  life  and  talents  to  their  service.  The 
Bishop  of  Osnabriick,  Dr.  Liipke,  gave  him  his  dimissorials  and  his 
paternal  blessing,  and  the  young  enthusiast  set  out  for  America  in 
company  of  a  band  of  German  emigrants,  in  May  1837,  arriving  in 
New  York,  July  4th,  of  the  same  year. 

When  Father  Brickwedde  arrived  in  St.  Louis,-  Bishop  Rosati 
was  absent  from  home,  and  Father  Lutz  received  the  stranger  as  a 
guest,  until  the  Bishop  could  dispose  of  him.  Then  he  wrote  a  letter 
communicating  the  news.  Father  Lutz  seems  to  have  been  in  con- 
stant fear  of  displeasing  the  Bishop ;  and  the  letter  of  July  24,  bears 
witness  to  the  fact: 

"It  appears  rather  singular,"  it  says  "that,  just  at  the  time  of 
your  absence  from  home,  German  priests  should  happen  to  arrive. 
However,  though  this  coincidence  may  have  at  times,  proven  disagree- 
able to  your  Reverence,  it  will  not,  I  hope  prove  so  at  present.  Per- 
haps you  say,  that  I  have  suffered  myself  to  be  imposed  upon  once 
more.  To  this  I  answer:  That  I  shall  always  invariably  follow,  and 
have  followed  in  the  present  case  your  precepts,  as  far  as  the  personal 
circumstances  of  the  individuals  require  it.  Being  aware  of  your 
just  severity  on  this  point,  I  was  at  first  inclined  not  to  receive 
the  German  Priest  at  your  house;  but  having  examined  his  papers, 


616  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

especially  his  dimissorial  letters  from  his  Bishop,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Liipke 
of  Osnabriick,  and  moreover  became  acquainted  with  the  particulars 
relating  to  his  mission  hither,  1  thought  it  more  proper  to  receive 
him,  than  to  let  him  stay  out  of  the  house,  whilst  he  has  no  acquain- 
tances. He  appears  to  be  a  worthy  ecclesiastic,  and  well  disposed  to 
consecrate  his  labors  to  the  salvation  of  so  many  hundreds  of  his 
fellow  country-men  that  are  scattered  all  over  your  diocese.  I  told 
him  to  wait,  till  you  should  return  and  to  abstain  from  celebrating 
Mass;  in  short,  he  approved  with  his  whole  heart  without  the  least 
displeasure,  of  your  measures  in  relation  to  the  admittance  of  German 
priests.  You  remember,  that,  a  few  years  ago,  I  had  written  a  letter 
to  a  worthy  German  priest  of  the  name  of  Beckmann  in  Osnabriick, 
to  which  letter  you  deigned  to  add  a  few  lines.  The  answer  received 
from  the  said  Revd.  gentleman  expressed  his  own  wish,  yet  actual 
impossibility  of  doing  as  he  wished,  to  join  your  clergy.  This  priest, 
therefore,  the  Revd.  August  Brickwedde,  came,  as  it  Avere,  in  the 
place  of  the  former.  He  is  32  years  old  and  apparently  of  a  strong 
constitution.  I  have  to  observe,  that  with  regard  to  the  censuras 
ecclesiasticas,  nothing  at  all  is  said  in  his  dimissoral  letters.  The 
latter  amongst  other  things  state,  Dictum  Vicarium  Augustum  Brick- 
w7edde,  per  plures  jam  annos  in  animarum  cura  subsidaria  versatum, 
optime  Nobis  Commendatum  existere,  proindeque  eundem  Reverendis- 
simis  Dnis.  in  Reg.  America  Episcopis  enixe  a  nobis  commendari." 

Indeed,  Bishop  Rosati  had  received  a  letter  from  Bishop  Liipke 
in  regard  to  the  mission  and  personality  of  Father  Brickwedde,  and 
was  well  pleased  to  secure  such  a  helper  in  his  greatest  need.  For 
did  not  Father  Lefevere  insist  that  a  good  part  of  the  congregation 
of  Quincy  consisted  of  Germans,  who  required  the  ministry  of  a 
German  priest.  Father  Brickwedde  was  immediately  adopted  and 
sent  to  Quincy  for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  German  parish,  the  first 
national  parish  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  whilst  the  English-speaking 
Catholics  of  Quincy  were  to  be  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Father  Saint 
Cyr  who,  however,  was  to  reside  at  Fountain  Creen.  It  is  not  known 
whether  Father  Saint  Cyr  ever  came  to  Quincy.  In  his  report  for 
1837,  he  writes:  "I  did  not  include  in  the  number  of  my  parishioners 
the  English  Catholics  of  Quincy,  because  I  thought  that  Rev.  Brickwedde 
will  give  their  number  in  his  report." 

Father  Brickwedde  held  his  first  service  in  the  new  parish  on  the 
Feast  of  the  Assumption  of  Our  Blessed  Lady.  One  of  the  upper 
rooms  of  the  dwelling  of  Adam  Schmitt  formed  the  chapel,  and  the 
adjoining  porch  was  enclosed  to  serve  as  the  priest's  sitting  and  sleep- 
ing-room. The  Parish  was  dedicated  in  honor  of  the  Ascension  of 
Our  Lord.  At  the  first  Mass  there  were  only  thirteen  persons  in 
attendance,  although  the  congregation  numbered  more  than  170  souls. 


Father  Brickwedde  of  Quincy  617 

There  were  only  two  baptisms  and  four  burials  in  all  Adams  County 
from  August  15,  to  December  31,  1837.  In  January  1839,  the  pastor 
writes  that,  since  Pentecost,  the  services  have  been  held  in  his  own 
house.  On  account  of  the  dull  times  the  people  could  not  build  the 
church,  but  they  were  hopeful  of  building'  one  within  the  year.  As 
to  -the  spiritual  progress  of  his  people,  Father  Brickwedde  has  only 
words  of  praise. 

It  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  this  German  pastor  of  souls  that 
one  of  his  first  undertakings  at  Quincy,  was  to  establish  a  school  for 
the  lambs  of  his  flock.  School  was  taught  in  Father  Brickwedde 's 
own  building,  which  also  contained  the  church  and  priest's  residence. 
There  were  fourteen  boys  and  ten  girls  in  attendance  the  first  year. 

Father  Brickwedde 's  report,  dated  April  22nd,  1839,  contains  a 
few  more  items  of  interest :  Mass  is  still  celebrated  in  the  private 
house  of  the  pastor,  but  the  place  (a  room  28x18  feet)  cannot  contain 
the  multitude.  There  is  no  farm  attached  to  the  parish,  as  the  good 
father  had  been  accustomed  to  find  in  his  native  land;  there  are  no 
resources,  the  pastor  lives  on  his  own  private  fortune.  Lately  a  Mr. 
AVhitney  donated  to  the  Bishop  a  lot  of  ground  on  Main  and  Eighth 
Streets,  suitable  for  the  erection  of  a  Church,  a  hundred  feet  long 
and  forty  wide.  For  the  building  of  the  Church  about  .$900  have  been 
subscribed,  either  in  money  or  in  labor.  There  are  now  241  German 
Catholics  in  the  county  and  about  50  speaking  the  English  language, 
forming  a  rather  floating  population.  Every  Sunday  there  is  High 
Mass  and  a  Sermon  in  the  German  language;  at  2  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  Catechism  instruction  for  the  children  and  the  Rosary  or 
some  other  popular  devotion. 

In  the  course  of  his  ministry  Father  Brickwedde  extended  his 
efforts  to  the  German  settlements  across  the  River  in  Iowa  Territory. 
There  were  many  German  Catholics  in  Lee  County.  At  Fort  Madison 
he  said  Mass  in  the  log-cabin  of  J.  H.  Dingman.  Thence  he  proceed- 
ed Sugar  Creek,  where  he  held  divine  service  for  the  first  time  on 
May  11th,  1838,  in  the  newly  erected  barn  of  John  Henry  Kempker. 
In  the  summer  of  the  same  year  he  built  a  little  Church  on  the  land  of 
Henry  Holtkamp,  which  was  dedicated  to  St.  James.  At  Sugar  Creek  the 
congregation  consisted  of  fifty-four  persons,  all  Germans,  and  had  thirty- 
four  Easter-Communicants.  Father  Brickwedde 's  visit  to  West  Point 
occurred  on  April  17th,  1839,  two  days  before  the  arrival  of  Bishop 
Loras  in  Dubuque.2 

As  Father  Saint  Cyr,  then  residing  at  Fountain  Green  on  Crooked 
Creek,  Illinois,  failed  to  visit  the  English  speakinu  people  of  Quincy. 
they  were  obliged  to  attend  High  Mass  at  Father  Brickwedde 's  church. 
But    as    the    good    German    priest    was    far    from    proficient    in    their 


-     Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


618  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

language,  they  naturally  desired  a  priest  of  their  own.  Accordingly, 
a  lengthy  petition  was  sent  to  Bishop  Rosati  on  January  29th,  1839 : 
It  Avas  signed  hy  J.  S.  Whitney,  and  read  as  follows: 

"Rt.  Rev.  Sir: 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Catholic  congregation  in  this  place,  held  on 
the  20th  inst.,  I  was  directed  to  communicate  to  the  Bishop  of  the 
diocese,  its  doings,  and  also  some  other  points  relating  to  this  con- 
gregation : 

"The  meeting  was  hold  in  the  building  occupied  by  us  at  present 
as  a  church,  and  after  service  was  ended.  After  some  discussion  of 
the  subject  it  was  thought  proper  to  take  up  a  subscription,  to  as- 
certain, what  sum  could  be  obtained  for  building  a  church  here,  the 
ensuing  season.  Only  a  small  part  of  the  congregation  was  present, 
but  the  sum  of  $475.00  was  subscribed.  On  the  27th  inst.,  after  serv- 
ice, the  further  sum  of  $75.00  Avas  subscribed,  making  an  aggregate 
of  $550.00.  Sometime  last  Autumn,  the  hands  then  at  work  on  the 
railroad  at  this  place,  by  agreement  among  themselves,  advanced  one 
dollar  each  for  the  same  purpose  and  paid  the  money  amounting  to 
$90.00  over  to  the  contractor,  aat1io  now  has  the  money  in  his  possession. 
This  item,  added  to  the  former,  makes  a  total  $640.00.  A  subscrip- 
tion paper  Avas  circulated  here  a  year  or  two  ago  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  funds  to  build  a  church,  but  Avas  thought  not  sufficient.  The 
paper,  through  carelessness,  has  been  lost ;  but  it  is  believed  that  not 
less  than  $200  will  be  obtained.  This  added  makes  $840.00.  We 
propose  to  raise  the  sum  of  $1,200.00,  thinking  that  sum  AATill  be  suf- 
ficient to  put  up  a  brick  building  50  feet  long,  30  feet  wide  and  18  feet 
high ;  and  enclose  it  so  that  it  will  receive  no  injury  during  the  Avinter 
and  complete  it  next  year.  Not  more  than  one-third  of  the  congrega- 
tion has  as  yet  subscribed  anything.  The  ladies  of  the  congregation 
propose  to  raise  $100.00  by  holding  a  fair  from  the  sale  of  sundry 
articles  of  their  OAvn  manufacture.  The  contractor  (Mr.  Reilly)  on 
the  railroad  is  of  opinion,  there  Avill  come  300  men  next  spring  to 
Avork  on  the  road,  who  will  contribute  something  toward  our  proposed 
undertaking.  The  known  liberality  of  the  Irish  character  is  a  sufficient 
guarantee  in  this  case.  If  unanimity  prevails,  there  will  be  no  dif- 
ficulty in  the  case.  Several  think  it  Avill  be  expedient  to  complete  the 
edifice  the  present  year  and  sell  out  the  pews  to  defray  a  part  of  the 
expense.  I  do  not  believe  this  will  be  necessary.  If  we  make  the 
proper  efforts,  enough  will  be  raised  for  the  purpose,  and  a  sale  of 
the  pews  might  be  reserved  to  raise  a  fund  for  the  support  of  the 
officiating  clergyman  and  for  purposes  of  charity. 

As  chairman  of  the  meeting  of  which  I  have  spoken,  I  Avas  in- 
structed  to   write   this   letter;   and   to   say   that   this    congregation    is 


Father  Brickwedde  of  Quincy  619 

composed  of  two  classes  of  persons ;  one  class  speaks  the  English 
language  and  the  other  the  German.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Brickwedde,  who 
officiates  here,  gives  out  all  his  instructions  in  the  German  language. 
A  very  considerable  portion  of  the  congregation  do  not  understand 
a  word  of  it,  and  I  am  directed  to  ask  if  a  clergyman,  able  to  speak 
and  preach  in  the  English  language,  could  not  be  sent  here.  We  have 
been  informed,  there  is,  at  this  time,  a  young  gentleman,  of  the  name 
of  Hamilton,  who  might  be  designated  for  this  place.  If  so,  I  am 
directed  to  say  that  a  room  for  his  accomodation  and  a  suitable  place 
for  him  to  board,  will  be  ready  for  him  on  his  arrival.  "We  wish, 
all  of  us,  however,  to  be  distinctly  understood,  that  by  this  we  impute 
no  blame,  we  cast  no  censure  on  Mr.  Brickwedde ;  we  believe  him  to 
be  an  excellent  and  worthy  man.  But  our  desire  is  to  be  instructed 
in  our  religious  duty  and  that  in  a  language  we  can  understand. 

But  there  is  another  subject  that  I  am  directed  to  mention,  and 
it  seems  more  proper  to  do  so  to  our  Bishop  than  to  any  one  else. 
I  cannot  speak  with  entire  accuracy,  but  I  think  I  am  not  far  from 
it,  when  I  say,  there  are  here  150  persons  who  have  not  been  to  con- 
fession for  more  than  15  mouths.  If  a  standing  rule  of  the  church 
is  violated,  it  may  be  asked  how  can  persons  confess  without  a  con- 
fessor. Mr.  Brickwedde  cannot  understand,  unless  he  is  addressed 
in  German.  The  above  persons  cannot  do  so  for  they  cannot  speak 
that  language.  In  this  case,  if  Mr.  Hamilton  cannot  come  here,  I 
am  directed  to  propose  that  some  one  of  the  Reverend  clergy  be 
selected  to  come  here  for  a  few  weeks,  or  even  for  a  few  days. 
specially  to  attend  to  this  congregation  in  the  present  state  -of  things. 

The  house  we  meet  in  at  present,  for  public  worship,  will  not 
hold  more  than  one-half  of  the  congregation ,-  and  many  do  not  attend 
for  the  reason  that  the  house  will  not  hold  them.  Another  reason 
is  That  which  I  have  already  alluded  to,  that  the  instructions,  at  present, 
are  all  in  the  German  language.  If  we  could  also  have  preaching  in 
English  we  should  endeavor  to  adopt  this  arrangement,  that  the  Ger- 
mans should  attend  the  instructions  of  Mr.  Brickwedde,  and  there 
are  enough  of  them  to  fill  the  house,  and  on  such  occasions  to  give  up 
the  house  exclusively  to  them  during  service :  and  if  we  could  have 
preaching  in  English,  we  would  in  turn  exclusively  occupy  the  house 
and  there  would  be  enough  of  us  to  fill  it.  This  as  a  temporary  ar- 
rangement, until  Ave  can  build  a  house  large  enough  to  hold  all,  and 
would  be  very  satisfactory.*' 

After  a  few  irrelevant  remarks  the  writer  concludes  his  petition 
with  these  words : 

"Our  increasing  numbers  will  only  make  us  weak,  being  like  an 
army  without  discipline,  unless  we  have  the  leaching,  the  instruction 
and  discipline  of  the  church." 


620  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

A  postscript  is  added  by  the  ladies  of  the  congregation : 
"Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Rosati : 

The  undersigned  respectfully  beg  leave  to  add  their  names  in  an 
earnest  request  that  Mr.  Hamilton  be  stationed  at  Quincy. 

Mrs.  R.  M.  Young.      Miss  Jane  Field. 
Mrs.  Marie  Field.        Mrs.  S.  C.  Rogers.3 

This  petition  is  remarkable  for  more  than  one  reason.  The  tone 
is  that  of  a  cultured  gentleman,  and  avoids  all  asperity  and  mere 
fault-finding.  Yet  we  cannot  believe  that  Father  Brickwedde  in  1839, 
was  unable  to  hear  confessions  in  English,  for  we  have  a  number  of 
his  letters  in  a  kind  of  English,  that  is  not,  indeed,  idiomatic,  yet 
would  amply  suffice  for  the  office  of  a  confessor.  Some  of  these  pro- 
posed penitents  must  have  been  somewhat  at  fault  in  declining  the 
services  of  Father  Brickwedde  who,  by  all  accounts,  was  a  good  zealous 
priest. 

The  most  remarkable  thing  in  this  document  is  the  proposal  of 
separate  congregations  of  English-speaking  and  German  people.  In- 
deed Mr.  Whitney  of  Quincy  offered  the  plan  only  as  a  temporary 
expedient,  yet  it  was,  no  doubt,  the  occasion  of  Bishop  Rosati 's  action 
in  establishing  the  English  speaking  parish  under  Father  St.  Cyr's 
successor,  Father  Hilary  Tucker,  and  the  German  parish  of  the  As- 
cension of  our  Lord  under  Father  Brickwedde.  As  this  is  the  first 
known  case  of  such  an  arrangement,  creating  parishes  on  national 
lines,  we  must  conclude  that  the  movement  started,  not  with  the  Ger- 
mans, as  is  commonly  supposed,  but  rather  with  the  native-born  Cath- 
olics. The  Catholics  of  Quincy  therefore  must  have  the  honor  as  well 
as  the  responsibility  of  having  inaugurated  a  movement  that  proved  to 
be  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  Church  in  this  country,  saving  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  immigrants  from  the  imminent  danger  of  losing  their 
Catholic  faith. 

About  three  months  after  this  petition  was  sent  to  Bishop  Rosati, 
Father  Brickwedde  transmitted  his  official  report  on  the  condition  of 
"The  Mission  of  the  Ascension  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  in  Quincy. 
We  will  render  the  original  Latin  in  English  and  add  a  few  illustra- 
tions as  the  occasion  offers.  The  document  is  dated :  Quincy,  22nd  of 
April  1839: 

1.  The  Mission  under  the  title  Ascension  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  Quincy,  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  County  of  Adams,  is  two  hundred 
miles  from  St.  Louis. 

2.  Letters  can  be  safely  sent  by  mail  to  Quincy. 

3.  This  mission  has  no  church  of  its  OAvn,  but  until  now  the  holy 
sacrifice  of  the  Mass  lias  been  offered  up  in  a  room  of  the  house  of  the 


3     Original  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Father  Brickwedde  of  Quincy  621 

missionary,  Brickwedde,  which  was  blessed  in  the  year  1838,  on  the 
Feast  of  Pentecost ;  it  is  of  wood,  and  the  outside  is  painted,  and  the 
interior  plastered,  28  feet  long  and  18  feet  wide,  and  cannot  hold  the 
multitude  of  the  faithful.  There  are  no  bells,  no  baptismal  font,  no 
confessionals.  There  is  a  tabernacle  in  which  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
is  kept.  The  Registers  of  Baptisms,  Marriages,  and  Burials  are  properly 
kept. 

4.  There  is  no  parochial  residence. 

5.  There  is  a  public  cemetery,  but  it  is  not  blessed. 

6.  The  mission  owns  no  farms  or  aily  other  real  estate.  The 
missionary  must  live  at  his  own  expense  and  the  rare  offerings  of  the 
faithful.  Recently  Mr.  "Whitney  gave  to  the  bishop  of  this  territory 
a  site  for  a  church-building  to  be  built  of  stone,  the  lot  is  100  feet 
square,  and  conveniently  situated  on  Main  and  Eighth  Streets.  For  the 
building  of  the  church  about  900  dollars  have  been  subscribed,  partly  in 
labor  and  partly  in  money.  The  deed  for  the  gift  will  ere  long  be 
sent  to  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis. 

7-8.  There  are  241  Catholic  Germans.  The  English-speaking  Cath- 
olics number  about  50 :  But  the  exact  number  cannot  be  given,  because 
every  day  some  workmen  arrive  and  others  depart. 

9.  The  word  of  God  is  preached  every  Sunday  and  Holy  Day  in 
the  German  language,  and  High  Mass  is  sung.  On  the  same  days,  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  children  are  instructed  in  Christian 
Doctrine,  after  that  Vespers  are  held  and  the  Rosary  is  recited  in 
public  or  some  other  devotion  held. 

10.  There  is  a  Catholic  school  in  Quincy  attended  by  fourteen 
boys  and  ten  girls.  My  missionary  station  in  Iowa  territory  is  situated 
in  Lee  County,  on  Sugar  Creek.  The  number  of  souls  there,  is  62,  all 
speaking  the  German  language.  They  have  offered  six  acres  of  land 
in  a  very  suitable  place  for  a  church,  cemetery  and  priest's  residence. 
They  are  very  anxious  for  a  priest  speaking  the  German  language."4 

This  report  of  Father  Brickwedde  contains  a  number  of  very 
interesting  items.  The  first  church  in  Quincy  has  the  title  of  the 
Ascension  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  is  so  designated  in  the  records 
as  early  as  1836.  The  name  must  therefore  have  been  given  by  the 
earliest  missionary  visiting  the  place,  the  Rev.  Peter  Paul  Lefevere. 
It  seems  probable  that  Father  Lefevere  came  to  Quincy  on  his  great 
missionary  excursion  in  1834,  on  the  Feast  of  the  Ascension,  and  was 
then  moved  to  designate  the  new  mission  by  that  glorious  title.  This 
name  is  found  in  all  the  records  and  reports  until  1848,  when  for 
the  first  time  we  meet  with  the  title  St.  Boniface,  for  what  had  been 


4     Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


622  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  mission  and  parish  of  the  Ascension  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  plain,  however,  that  not  only  the  present  Parish  of  St.  Boniface, 
but  ;ill  the  churches  of  Quincy  have  their  origin  in  the  humble  mission 
of  Father  Brickwedde. 

At  the  time  of  Father  Brickwedde 's  report,  Quincy  was  a  city 
of  about  1800  inhabitants  and  enjoyed  the  facilities  of  the  mail-service, 
two  steamers  making  weekly  trips  up  the  .Mississippi  and  touching  at 
Quincy.  The  house  of  Father  Brickwedde,  temporarily  used  for  divine 
service,  was  situated  on  Broadway  and  Eleventh  Street.  The  extreme 
poverty  of  our  early  western  missions  is'  brought  before  us  very 
vividly  by  the  few  words  of  the  missionary:  "No  bells,  no  baptismal 
font,  no  confessional;"  only  the  tabernacle  with  our  Lord's  sweet 
presence  amid  all  these  signs  of  desolation.  But  this  Divine  Presence 
richly  made  up  for  all  these  privations.  Two  small  rooms  adjoining 
the  church  were  reserved  for  the  missionary.  It  was  the  intention  of 
Father  Brickwedde  to  build  the  new  church  spoken  of  in  the  petition 
sent  to  Bishop  Rosati,  on  the  lot  adjoining  the  temporary  place  of 
worship,  and  then  to  use  the  old  building  as  a  parish  residence.  But 
the  plan  was  nut  carried  out,  as  the  location  seemed  unsuitable  for 
church  purposes,  and  Mr.  Whitney  had  given  a  new  site  on  Main  and 
Eighth  Streets.  When  Father  Hilary  Tucker  arrived  to  take  charge 
of  the  English-speaking  Catholics  of  Quincy,  about  May  1839,  he 
claimed  the  donation  of  Mr.  Whitney  for  his  congregation  and  started 
to  build  his  church  upon  it.  The  German  Catholics,  however,  bought 
a  plot  of  ground  on  Seventh  Street.  The  contract  was  closed  June 
17,  1839,  and  preparations  for  building  a  church  were  immediately 
begun.  Under  date  of  June  13,  1839,  Father  Hilary  Tucker  writes 
to  Bishop  Rosati:  "The  Germans  are  also  making  preparations  for 
commencing  their  church.  Father  Brickwedde  went  about  collecting 
whatever  he  could  for  the  building.  It  is  said  that,  almost  all  the 
brick  necessary  were  donated  by  the  owners  of  the  brick  yard.  Father 
Tucker  states  that  the  cost  of  brick  was  three  dollars  per  thousand  de- 
livered, or  nine  dollars  in  the  wall.  Other  parishioners  furnished  all 
the 'stone  for  the  foundations,  others  again  offered  to  do  the  excavating 
gratis,  others  the  hauling  of  the  building  material.  Money  was  rather 
scarce  at  the  time,  but  by  the  united  efforts  of  these  sturdy  Germans 
the  walls  were  raised  up  to  the  roof.  During  the  winter  the  farmers 
cut  the  timbers  and  the  shingles  for  the  roof,  whilst  Father  Brickwedde 
was  on  a  collecting  tour  to  the  East  and  South,  to  raise  the  funds  for 
completing  the  church.  This  trip  was  begun  in  November  1839,  and 
carried  him  as  far  as  New  Orleans,  where  he  was  the  guest  of  Bishop 
Anthony  Blanc,  at  St.  Mary's  of  the  Assumption.  Here  he  was  from 
December  21,  1839  to  January  5,  1840.  Father  Brickwedde  must  have 
had  good  success  collecting ;  for  the  work  on  the  church  was  resumed  in 
early  spring  and  completed  during  the  summer  of  1840.     About  the 


Father  Brickwedde  of  Quincy  623 

same  time  Father  Brickwedde  bought  additional  ground  near  the  church 
and  erected  his  parish  residence. 

But  we  have  run  ahead  of  the  year  1839 ;  let  us  return  to  the 
Report. 

There  was  no  Catholic  cemetery  in  Quincy  in  1839,  the  public 
cemetery  was  on  the  site  of  the  present  courthouse  where  a  few  of  the 
early  Catholics  found  burial.  Since  1839,  the  second  public  cemetery 
was  opened  on  Broadway  and  Twenty-fourth  Street.  The  first  mention 
of  a  Catholic  Cemetery  in  Quincy  belonging  to  St.  Boniface  Church 
is  found  in  the  early  part  of  1841. 

As  to  landed  property,  the  mission  of  Quincy  had  none,  except 
the  lot  donated  by  John  Wood  for  Church  purposes.  But  this  lot  was 
sold  with  the  consent  of  the  donor,  when  the  new  site  was  chosen. 
A  fixed  salary  for  the  missionary  was,  of  course,  out  of  question. 
Father  Brickwedde  had  some  means  of  his  own,  and  received  occasional 
contributions  from  his  parishioners,  but  no  doubt,  he  often  found  him- 
self reduced  to  real  want.  Yet  he  bore  his  lot  patiently :  in  all  his 
letters  to  the  Bishop  we  found  no  word  of  complaint  and  no  im- 
portunate begging.  The  people  too,  were  poor  in  earthly  goods,  though 
rich  in  grace  and  hope.  There  were  241  souls,  all  Germans;  The 
Irish  and  American  Catholics  falling  to  Father  Tucker's  charge  soon 
after  the  date  of  the  report.  Father  Brickwedde  preached  regularly 
in  German,  as  he  had  not  the  facility  of  English  speech.  Father 
Brickwedde  had  a  choir :  every  Sunday  and  Holy  Day,  there  was 
High  Mass  at  the  church  in  the  morning  and  Vespers  in  the  afternoon. 
Catechetical  instruction  for  the  children  was  given  regularly  every 
Sunday  afternoon. 

Besides  all  these  points  of  distinction  Father  Brickwedde  enjoys 
the  honor  of  being  one  of  the  pioneers  of  our  present  system  of 
parochial  schools  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  parochial  school  is 
the  bulwark  of  the  Church  in  America.  "No  Church  without  a  school," 
is  our  watchword  today.  But  we  know  of  no  parochial  school  establish- 
ed by  a  secular  priest  in  this  our  western  country  before  1839,  save 
that  humble  plant  of  Father  Brickwedde 's  in  Quincy  with  its  fourteen 
boys  and  ten  girls.  Convent  schools  and  ladies'  academies  we  had  here 
and  there  in  Kaskaskia,  Florissant,  Perryville,  Fredericktown,  St.  Louis 
and  in  various  places  in  Kentucky  and  the  South,  but  the  first  parochial 
school  established  by  a  parish  and  for  a  parish,  was  that  of  Father 
Brickwedde  conducted  by  the  missionary  himself  in  a  small  room  in 
the  first  church  building  on  Broadway  and  Eleventh  Street  in  Quincy, 
Illinois.  Father  Brickwedde  confined  his  priestly  activities  to  Quincy 
and  its  immediate  surroundings.  His  office  of  school-teacher  almost 
required  this  restriction.  Yet,  once  a  year  at  Easter  time,  he  visited 
the  German  settlement  on  Sugar  Creek,  in  Lee  County,  Iowa,  the 
present  West   Point.     Fort  Madison   was  on  his  way,   and  there   is  a 


624  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

record  of  a  baptism  administered  by  him  in  that  place.  On  one  of 
these  trips  he  writes,  "The  steamboat  that  took  me  there  and  back 
ran  aground  on  the  rapids  in  the  Mississippi  River,  which  detained 
me  eight  days."  On  account  of  this  mishap  Father  Brickwedde  was 
unable  to  attend  the  diocesan  synod  held  in  St.  Louis,  April  21. 
1839.  Bishop  Rosati  never  came  to  Quincy.  The  first  visit  of  a 
Catholic  Bishop  for  the  purpose  of  Confirmation  was  that  of  the 
newly  consecrated  Peter  Richard  Kenriek  in  1842.  Father  Brickwedde 's 
way  of  life  was  most  simple  and  laborious.  To  teach  his  little  band 
of  pupils  was  his  delight.  The  love  of  prayer  sustained  him  in 
all  trials.  On  sleepless  nights  he  would  rise  and  go  to  the  altar  in 
the  adjoining  room  and  pray  for  the  poor  souls,  who,  he  was  wont 
to   say,   had   called   for   him. 

In  1843,  Quincy  became  a  part  of  the  newly  erected  diocese  of 
Chicago,  which  included  the  entire  state  of  Illinois,  and  thereby  Father 
Brickwedde 's  connection  with  Bishop  Rosati 's  diocese  came  to  an  end. 
On  the  26th  day  of  May  1847,  Bishop  Quarter  of  Chicago  laid  the 
cornerstone  of  the  new  church  of  St.  Boniface  which  was  not  com- 
pleted until  Pentecost  day  1848.  The  comparatively  heavy  debt  of 
.$1,600.00  dollars  resting  on  the  congregation,  induced  Father  Brick- 
wedde to  undertake  another  collecting  excursion,  this  time  to  his  old 
home  in  Northern  Germany.  It  was  a  day  of  great  rejoicing  for 
all  the  good  Quincy  people  when  Archbishop  Kenriek  of  St.  Louis, 
came  to  consecrate  the  new  church  of  St.  Boniface  the  apostle  of  the 
Germans,  October  22,  1848. 

But  unfortunately,  this  new  church  was  to  become  the  sad  occasion 
of  dissension  between  the  pastor  and  a  portion  of  his  flock.  Bishop 
Van  De  Velde  of  Chicago  stood  up  for  the  good  and  generous  priest, 
and  when  the  rebellious  element  met  even  their  own  bishop  with 
imprecations  and  threats  of  violence,  the  bishop  ordered  the  church 
closed.  Father  Brickwedde  departed  from  the  scene  of  his  long  and 
faithful  labors  on  March  16,  1849,  and  on  the  very  next  day  the 
first  cases  of  cholera  in  Quincy  were  reported.  To  the  good  people 
of  Quincy  this  seemed  a  divine  visitation  for  the  scandal  given,  and 
they  begged  the  bishop  to  send  them  a  priest.  Two  Jesuit  Fathers 
were  placed  in  charge  for  the  time  being.  But  owing  to  the  stubborn 
perversity  of  the  ring-leaders  of  the  movement  against  Father  Brick- 
wedde, the  church  was  closed  once  more,  until  another,  and  now  terrible 
invasion  of  the  cholera  softened  the  hearts  of  the  most  hardened. 
Father  Kuenster  restored  peace  to  the  storm-tossed  congregation.3  Father 
Brickwedde  did  not  return  to  Quincy,  but  received  the  appointment 
to   the   mission    in    Libory   Settlement    or   Mud    Creek,   where   he  built 


•r>     Cf.  Bruenner,  Theodore,  "  Katholische  Kirchengesehiehte  Quincy 's  im  Staate 
Illinois,"  Quincy,  1887. 


Father  Brickwedde  of  Quincy  625 

a  new  church  of  brick  in  1849,  and  which  he  enlarged  in  1862.  In 
the  course  of  time  the  untiring  priest  built  a  parish  residence,  a 
school  and  a  house  for  the  Sisters  teaching  his  school.  In  1857  he 
accompanied  his  Bishop,  Damian  Junker,  on  his  visit  to  Rome.  In 
November  1865,  Father  Brickwedde  came  to  St.  Louis  on  a  visit,  was 
taken  ill  on  the  return  trip,  at  Belleville,  where  he  died,  November 
21,  1865.  The  people  of  Libory  carried  home  his  remains  in  solemn 
procession  and  buried  them  in  the  church-yard  near  the  sanctuary 
he  had  served  so  faithfully.  Many  hardships  the  good  Father  had 
undergone  in  his  missionary  life ;  many  good  and  even  heroic  deeds 
he  had  done  for  God's  honor  and  the  welfare  of  the  poor  and  sor- 
rowing; many  a  disappointment  and  many  a  reproach  and  contradic- 
tion he  had  borne  in  patience,  from  those  he  had  never  harmed ;  there- 
fore his  name  is  still  in  benediction  and  his  life,  though  closed,  is 
still  a  power  for  good  in  the  places  once  blessed  by  his  presence ;  he 
was  worthy  to  walk  in  the  footprints  of  Father  Marquette. 


Chapter  23 
THE  VISITANDINES  OF  KASKASKIA 


The  great  Ages  of  Faith  knew  none  other  hut  cloistered  nuns : 
the  disturbed  condition  of  the  Church  following  in  the  wake  of  the 
Reformation,  seemed  to  call  for  religious  communities  of  women  that 
should  undertake  the  active  works  of  charity  and  consequently  be 
free  from  enclosure.  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  in  founding  the  "Daughters 
of  the  Visitation  of  Saint  Mary"  at  first  intended  that  they  should 
combine  the  labors  of  Mary  and  Martha,  and  should  be  free,  after 
their  year  of  novitiate,  to  engage  in  the  duties  of  active  life.  In 
1815,  he  abandoned  this  idea,  and  erected  his  congregation  into  a 
cloistered  order.  The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  about  eighty  years  later, 
were  to  realize  the  plan  reluctantly  given  up  by  the  Bishop  of  Geneva. 
"Father  John  Paul  Medaille,  S.J.''  appropriating  one  of  the  dearest 
ideas  of  the  holy  Founder  of  the  Visitation,  and  desiring  to  see  form- 
ed a  community  of  women,  who  should  unite  the  life  of  Martha  with 
that  of  Mary,  the  exterior  works  of  charity  with  the  repose  of  con- 
templation, submitted  the  plan  to  the  Bishop  of  Le  Puy,  Henry  de 
Maupas  de  Tour.  A  congregation  of  women  with  simple  vows,  de- 
voted to  teaching  and  the  works  of  charity  to  the  poor,  the  sick,  and 
afflicted,  was  formed  in  1696,  in  the  city  of  Lyons.  The  first  Sisters 
of  St.  Joseph  were  Frances  Rambion,  Jeanne  Pellet,  and  Frances 
Allion. 

Nowr,  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact,  that  the  Daughters  of  the  Visitation 
and  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  were  the  fourth  and  fifth  religious  in- 
stitute of  women  introduced  into  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  by  Bishop 
Rosati,  the  Visitandines  in  Kaskaskia,  in  1833,  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph  in  Cahokia  and  Carondelet,  in  1836. 

The  early  labors  and  vicissitudes  of  these  two  Sisterhoods  so  in- 
timately related  in  their  origin,  shall  form  the  theme  of  this  and  the 
following  chapter. 

"In  1833,  on  the  3rd,  of  May,"  writes  the  later  chronicler  of 
Kaskaskia,  Father  Benedict  Koux  in  1838,1  "there  arrived  at  this 
place  a  noble  little  colony,  composed  of  nine  nuns,  having  started 
from  the  Convent  of  the  Visitation  at  Georgetown,  D.  C.  on  the  17th, 
of  April  of  the  same  year.  The  superior  quality  of  their  talents, 
the  refinement  of  their  manners,  the  soundness  of  their  religious  princi- 
ples, the  amiability  of  their  piety,  the  generosity  of  their  sentiments, 


i     Kaskaskia,    by    Benedict    Koux,    in    "Illinois    Catholic    Historical    Review,1 
vol.  I,  pp.  203  and  204. 

(626) 


The  Visitandines  of  Kaskaskia  627 

their  consecration  to  God  ...  all  this  assemblage  of  qualities  strongly 
induced  Kaskaskia  to  favor  and  support  these  heroines."  As  this 
is  the  first  religious  community  of  women  established  on  the  soil 
of  Illinois,  and  as  the  history  of  these  Visitandines  is  so  intimately 
connected  with  the  religious  development  of  St.  Louis  it  seems  proper 
to  dwell  at  greater  length  on  the  story  of  their  early  years. 

Kaskaskia  deserves  to  be  called  the  cradle  of  Western  civilization, 
yet  at  the  time  of  the  sisterhoods  coming,  the  glory  of  Kaskaskia 
had  departed.  Politically,  commercially  and  ecclesiastically  it  was  but 
a  shadow  if  its  former  self.  War,  earthquakes,  and  floods  had  done 
their  worst  in  this  once  so  flourishing  region :  yet  there  were  rem- 
nants of  its  ancient  greatness:  the  old  French  Catholic  families,  and 
a  number  of  American  converts.  To  an  enthusiastic  soul  like  Bishop 
Rosati  the  prospects  of  religion  among  such  a  people  must  have  ap- 
peared very  bright,  indeed,  if  he  could  only  succeed  in  establishing 
among  them  some  religious  institution  that  would  attract  and  elevate 
the  female  portion  of  the  population.  In  anticipation  of  such  an  es- 
tablishment Father  Matthew  Condamine  was  appointed  resident  pastor 
of  the  ancient  parish  in  October  1832.  About  the  same  time  Bishop 
Rosati  applied  to  Archbishop  Eccleston  of  Baltimore  for  a  colony  of 
the  Visitandines,  and  received  a  favorable  answer  to  his  request.  The 
following  are  the  names  of  the  sisters  of  the  foundation:  Mother  M. 
H.  Agnes  Brent,  superior;  Sr.  M.  Genevieve  King,  assistant  and  mis- 
tress of  novices;  Sr.  M.  Helen  Flannigan,  directress  of  the  school; 
Sr.  M.  Isabella  King,  teacher,  sacristan,  robier,  etc;  Sr.  M.  Josephine 
Barber,  postulant;  Sr.  Catherine  Rose  Murray  lay  sister,  cook,  etc.'' 

The  sisters  traveled  under  the  protection  of  Mr.  Richard  Queen, 
a    Catholic   gentleman,    and   brother-in-law    to    Sister    M.    Genevieve. 

Sr.  M.  Josephine,  the  postulant  wrote  a  picturesque  account  of 
this  journey,2  which  together  with  some  letters  of  Archbishop  Eccles- 
ton3 form  the  sources  of  this  interesting  episode. 

From  Baltimore  to  Frederick  the  journey  was  made  by  train, 
the  ascent  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains  was  accomplished  in  stage 
coaches,  at  Wheeling  the  traveling  party  took  the  steamboat  and  re- 
mained over  Sunday  in  Louisville.  The  journey  down  the  Ohio  and 
up  the  Mississippi  passed  off  without  any  noticeable  incident.  But 
for  some  unknown  reason  the  Sisters  were  landed  at  St.  Marys  on 
the  Missouri  side.  When  on  the  next  day  they  sent  Mr.  Queen  across 
the  river  they  found  that  no  preparations  had  been  made  at  Kaskaskia 


2  "The  First  Convent  in  Illinois.''  Reminiscences  of  Si-.  Josephine  Barber, 
edited  by  Helen  Troesch  in  ''Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  1,  pp.  352 
371. 

3  The  letters  of  Archbishop  Eeeleston  to  Bishop  Rosati  arc  in  the  Archives  of 
St.  Louis  Archdiocese  and  were  published  in  the  "Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Re- 
view," vol.  I,  pp.  500-500. 


628  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

for  their  reception.  They  were  discouraged  and  wanted  to  return 
lo  the  mot  her  house:  but  the  counsels  of  Mother  Agnes  and  Sister 
Gonzaga  prevailed:  with  bag  and  baggage  they  crossed  the  mighty 
river.  At  the  landing,  Father  Condamine,  the  parish  priest,  awaited 
them,  and  placed  them,  for  the  time  being,  in  the  spacious  house  of 
William  Morrison,4  the  entire  second  floor  being  appropriated  to  their 
use.  On  the  following  Saturday  they  held  a  reception  for  the  elite 
of  the  town.  On  Sunday  Father  Condamine  explained  to  the  Con- 
gregation the  purport  of  the  Sisters'  coming,  and  on  Monday  they  be- 
gan to  prepare  their  own  house.  It  was  a  store  belonging  to  Colonel 
Pierre  Menard5  and  lent  to  them  free  of  rent -Counters  and  shelves 
were  removed,  and  one  room  was  arranged  for  a  chapel  with  altar 
and  tabernacle.  Father  Condamine  here  gave  them  Mass  four  times 
a  week,  on  Sundays  saying  two  masses,  one  for  the  Congregation 
and  the  other  for  the  Sisters.  "Donations  of  all  kinds  were  pouring 
in  from  our  friends — provisions,  beds,  blankets,  culinary  utensils,  etc. 
They  also  gave  us  a  chair  apiece,  which,  until  benches  could  be  made, 
we  carried  up  and  down,  from  the  choir  to  the  refectory,  and  thence 
to  the  assembly  room. ' ' 

The  Morrison  and  the  Menard  families  were  especially  solicitious 
for  the  wrell-being  of  the  sisters  and  generous  in  their  support. 

But  the  house  proved  too  small  for  the  purposes  of  the  Community. 
The  old  Kaskaskia  Hotel,  how  standing  vacant  and  in  a  ruinous  con- 
dition, being  offered  them  rent-free  was  accepted  and  fitted  up  for 
Academy  and  dwelling.  The  former  bar-room  became  the  children's 
refectory  and  playroom.  "The  townsfolk,  especially  the  Morrison  and 
Menard  families,  were  highly  gratified  at  seeing  us  so  comfortably 
located,  and  immediately  placed  their  daughters  at  our  school.  Mr. 
"Win.  Morrison  had  four  daughters:  Colonel  Menard  had  an  only 
daughter,  and  a  number  of  grand-daughters  and  nieces  whom  we  edu- 
cated, and  wdio,  learning  nearly  all  the  extras,  were  very  profitable. 
He  likewise  procured  us  patronage  among  his  friends  and  agents  in 
St.  Louis  and  the  country  around;  but  for  him  and  the  Morrison 
families  we  could  not  have  remained  in  Kaskaskia."0 

"In  the  summer  of  1835,  Bishop  Rosati  being  again  in  Kaskaskia, 
Mother  Agnes  spoke  to  him  about  selecting  a  spot  for  our  future 
building,  and  he,  accompanied  by  some  others,  went  with  her  to  see 
the  lots  proposed.     The  ground  was  fixed  upon  and  purchased,  Colonel 


4  William  Morrison  one  of  the  most  distinguished  characters  of  early  Illinois; 
his  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  Robert  Morrison,  was  a  convert  of  remarkable  intelligence  and 
extensive  information. 

•>  Pierre  Menard  was  a  Canadian  by  birth.  He  held  various  offices  of  honor 
and  trust,  among  them  the  Lieutenant   Governorship  of  the  state  of  Illinois. 

G     Troeschj  op.  <-it . ,  "Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review, "  vol.  T.  p.  362. 


The  Visitandines  of  Kaskaskia  629 

Menard  advancing  the  money;  but  the  greatest  difficulty  was  in  pro- 
curing workmen  and  materials,  no  such  things  being  found  in  Kaskaskia. 
We  wrote  on  to  Baltimore  to  Mr.  Wheeler,  nephew  of  the  late  Father 
Wheeler,  and  son  of  the  architect  by  whom  the  convent  in  Georgetown 
was  built  in  1831.  He  came  out  West  and  undertook  our  business. 
First  of  all  in  concert  with  Colonel  Menard,  he  had  a  brick-yard 
started  in  Kaskaskia ;  but  as  there  was  no  demand  for  the  article 
(except  for  ourselves)  in  this  town,  where  business  was  stagnant, 
a  year-indeed,  I  think  two  years-elapsed  ere  a  second  kiln  was  ready 
for  burning.  Our  house  repeatedly  came  to  a  standstill,  the  workmen 
deserting,  etc. ;  and  when  Mother  Agnes  resigned  her  charge  in  May 
1836,  very  little  more  than  the  foundations  were  laid.  Mr.  Wheeler 
now  proposed  to  begin  a  frame  building,  which  should  be  contiguous 
to  the  one  in  brick  already  commenced ;  for,  being  a  carpenter,  it 
would  be  in  his  power  to  carry  on  the  latter,  as  he  himself  would  re- 
main on  the  spot  and  assist  in  the  work,  which  he  promised  to  have 
finished  before  autumn."7 

It  was  at  this  juncture  in  July  1835,  that  Father  Condamine 
was  succeeded  by  Father  Benedict  Roux  as  pastor  of  Kaskaskia,  and 
spiritual  director  of  the  Sisters.  During  his  administration  of  the 
parish  the  old  Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  once  the  pride 
of  the  Valley,  was  demolished  to  make  room  for  a  new  structure  of 
wood.  On  November  30th,  1838,  Father  Roux,  having  asked  to  be 
relieved  of  the  Parish,  but  to  keep  the  care  of  the  Convent  and  Academy 
was  succeeded  by  Father  Timothy  Conway.  In  1839,  Father  John 
Mary  Saint  Cyr  succeeded  both  Fathers  as  Pastor  of  the  Parish  and 
Spiritual  Director  of  the  Sisters. 

The  building  of  the  Sisters  House  made  but  slow  progress :  and 
in  consequence  of  this  and  other  causes  a  certain  amount  of  dissatis- 
faction had  found  a  hold  among  some  of  the  nuns.  Devoted  as  they 
were  to  the  contemplative  life  and  interior  mortification  in  the  spirit 
of  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  the  Visitandines  of  Kaskaskia,  were  still  suc- 
ceptible  of  human  feelings  in  as  far  as  they  keenly  realized  the  hardness, 
and  all  but  hopelessness  of  the  struggle  in  which  they  were  engaged. 
Archbishop  Eccleston's  letters  reflect,  as  in  the  mirror  of  a  great  soul, 
this  struggle  between  nature  and  grace,  between  high  ideals  and  adverse 
circumstances,  as  manifested  in  the  history  of  Kaskaskia  Convent. 

About  three  years  after  the  foundation  of  Kaskaskia  Convent 
and  Archbishop  Eccleston  was  made  aware  of  the  first  rumblings  of  dis- 
content.    On  May  27th,  1836,  he  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati  : 

"I  deem  it  proper  to  inform  you,"  he  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati, 
"that  I  received  sometime  ago  letters  from  Sister  Genevieve  and  Sister 
Ambrosia   of   the    House    of    the    Visitation    at    Kaskaskia    expressing 


Troesch,  op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  pp.  363  and  364. 


630  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

great  discontent  at  their  present  situation  and  earnestly  requesting  my 
permission  for  them  to  return  to  the  Mother-house  at  Georgetown.  These 
poor  sisters  write  under  great  excitement  and  without  assigning  the 
grounds  of  their  disquietude,  insist  upon  being  recalled.  This  I  have 
declined  to  do,  and  see  nothing  that  indicates  it  to  be  the  wish  of  Al- 
mighty God.  They  are  obviously  too  much  troubled  and  excited  to 
view  things  in  their  proper  light,  besides,  if  these  transfers  and  re- 
turns be  once  easily  admitted,  all  the  foundations,  as  well  as  the 
Mother-house,  will  be  kept  in  a  state  of  endless  fluctuations  and  anxiety. 
Every  discontent  or  trial  permitted  for  the  sanctification  of  the  in- 
dividual will  be  considered  as  sufficient  to  go  from  one  house  to  another, 
to  the  great  detriment  of  the  good  order  of  the  respective  communities. 
May  I  therefore,  Right  Rev.  and  Dear  Sir,  request  you  to  use  your 
paternal  influence  to  pacify  these  two  sisters  and  convince  them  that 
change  of  place  is  not  accompanied  by  change  of  feeling  and  disposi- 
tions. I  have  Avritten  to  them  that  I  cannot  consent  to  their  return 
to  Georgetown  and  have  earnestly  requested  them  to  open  themselves 
unreservedly  to  you  and  to  seek  for  peace  in  blind  obedience  to  their 
superiors. '  '8 

During  1837,  Sister  Genevieve's  name  is  no  longer  in  the  list 
of  the  Visitandines  at  Kaskaskia.  She,  more  than  any  other  member 
of  the  community  seems  to  have  been  influenced  by  the  discouraging 
account  of  Kaskaskia  given  to  the  Sisters  by  her  brother-in-law,  Richard 
Queen.  Sister  Ambrosia  persevered  until  her  death,  which  occurred 
October  2nd,  1837,  shortly  after  the  Community  had  taken  possession 
of  their  new  house.  The  new  house  (September  2nd,  1837) 
seems  to  have  added  to  the  sorrows  of  the  Sisters,  as  three  of 
their  number  died  within  its  walls  in  quick  succession:  Harriet  Penn- 
ington, Postulant,  September  4th;  Sister  M.  Ambrosia,  choir  nun, 
October  2nd;  and  Sister  M.  Gonzaga,  choir  nun,  December  3rd. 

By  the  end  of  1837  only  five  of  the  original  members  of  the  foun- 
dation remained,  but  eight  others  had  already  taken  their  place,  among 
them  Sister  M.  Austin  Barber,  another  daughter  of  the  convert,  Rev. 
Virgil   Barber. 

Bishop  Rosati  had  been  most  persistent  in  his  efforts  to  enlarge 
the  community  at  Kaskaskia.  His  Vicar-General  Father  Philip  Borgna 
came  to  Georgetown  for  the  purpose,  and  succeeded  better  than  the 
Archbishop  had  expected.  "You  could  not,  in  the  United  States,  have 
selected  a  more  able  and  pertinacious  suppliant.  This  gentleman  has 
now  the  esteem  and  regard  of  all  who  have  had  the  pleasure  of  mak- 
ing  his   acquaintance.      Even   the   good   nuns,   whom   he   has   plagued 


s     Eccleston  to  Rosati,  May  27,   1836,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


The  Visitandincs  of  Kaskaskia  631 

out  of  their  lives,  find  only  one  fault  with  him,  his  perseverance  in 
suing  for  subjects  for  Kaskaskia."9 

The  Third  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  assembled  April  16, 
1827.  Bishop  Rosati  was,  perhaps,  the  most  distinguished  member  of 
the  Council.  No  doubt  the  troubles  and  prospects  of  Kaskaskia  were  the 
subject  of  his  conversations  with  the  authorities  at  Baltimore  and 
Georgetown.  The  affairs  of  the  convent  at  Kaskaskia  were  improving 
but  not  as  much  as  had  been  expected.  There  was  the  ever-increasing 
debt  that  frightened  the  sisters ;  and  then  the  insufficient  number  of 
teachers  for  the  Academy  and  the  Orphan  Home.  In  1837  the  Academy 
had  fifty-seven  young  lady  boarders  and  about  twelve  day  scholars. 
The  number  of  orphan  children  was  eleven.  Good  work  was  being 
accomplished,  but  the  means  of  the  sisters  were  not  in  proportion  to  the 
demands  made  upon  them.  Bishop  Rosati  had  financial  troubles  of  his 
own,  heavy  debts  and  constant  appeals  for  help  from  his  priests  and 
sisters.  But  the  good  Bishop  never  allowed  himself  to  be  disturbed 
by  any  spectres  of  debt.  His  trust  in  God  and  good  people  was  un- 
limited. Consequently,  he  touched  but  lightly  on  the  convent's  finan- 
cial embarrassment,  which  really  was  not  so  very  serious,  as  long  as 
Colonel  Pierre  Menard  was  among  the  living;  but  the  suggestion  that 
more  sisters  were  needed  to  carry  on  the  good  work  roused  him  to 
renewed  efforts :  Sister  Austin  in  writing  to  the  Motherhouse  early  in 
1838,  had  given  the  most  gloomy  picture  of  their  temporal  concerns 
and  embarrassments : 

' '  Immense  debts  and  no  means  or  prospect  of  paying  them !  Every- 
thing depending  on  Colonel  Menard ;  their  property  is  at  his  mercy,  and 
should  he  die  without  relieving  them,  which  he  has  never  promised 
to  do,  they  would  find  themselves  in  difficulties  inextricable,  etc.,  etc."10 

"Sister  Helen  is  no  less  doleful  on  another  subject,"  wrote  the 
Archbishop,  "She  states  that  just  before  commencing  her  letter,  they 
had  held  a  council  and  consulted  the  Reverend  Father  Roux  and  had 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  if  the  Convent  of  Georgetown  could  not 
send  them  some  other  sisters  to  assist  in  their  Academy,  they  would 
be  obliged  to  make  over  their  little  property  to  Colonel  Menard  and 
return  to  the  house  of  their  profession. 

"I  deem  it  the  more  urgent  to  put  you  in  possession  of  these  matters. 
as  Sister  M.  Austin  says  expressly  that  you  are  not  acquainted  with 
the  situation  of  their  temporal  affairs,  and  that  they  had  always  for- 
borne communicating  it  to  you  for  fear  of  giving  you  pain.  I  trust 
that  these  representations  have  taken  a  little  of  their  coloring  from 
the  fears  and  imaginations  of  the  good  sisters.     However,  I  feel  that 


a     Eccleston  to  Rosati,  in  Archives  of   St.  Louis   Archdiocese. 
io     Sister  Austin  to  Motherhouse. 


i;:;l' 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louii 


I  have  done  but  my  duty  in  giving  them  to  you  such  as  they  made 
them."11 

Affairs  looked  gloomy,  indeed,  hut  Bishop  Kosati  never  lost  courage 
and  confidence.  Yet,  postulants  were  few  and  the  motherhouse,  as 
another  foundation  had  been  recently  undertaken,  requiring  eleven  "of 
its  hopeful,  if  not  very  efficient  members,"  as  Archbishop  writes,  add- 
ing by  way  of  parenl  hesis : 

"I  am  glad  to  find  from  your  letter  that  you  are  better  acquainted 
with  the  temporal  necessities  of  the  monastery  at  Kaskaskia  than  we 
had  been  led  to  suppose.  Sister  Mary  Austin  stated  that  you  had  not 
been  put  in  possession  of  the  real  state  of  things,  through  the  delicacy 
of  the  sisters,  who  rather  preferred  to  suffer  than  to  cause  you  un- 
easiness."12 

At  last  in  January  1839  Bishop  Rosati's  pious  importunity  is 
about  to  bear  fruit : 

The  good  sisters  of  the  monastery  having  lately  received  a  number 
of  excellent  postulants,  have  been  devising  some  plan  to  comply  with 
your  earnest  request  that  they  should  send  assistance  to  Kaskaskias. 
They  think  that  they  can  make  up  a  little  colony  and  have  accordingly 
sent  their  names,  with  other  particulars,  to  their  sisters  of  Kaskaskia. 

I  need  not  add  that  I  feel  much  pleased  in  encouraging  them, 
from  a  desire  to  oblige  you.  But  as  I  have  had  great  difficulty  about 
the  foundation  near  Mobile  and  have  been  brought  into  unpleasant  col- 
lision with  Bishop  Portier,  in  consequence  of  his  having  sent  back  to 
this  house  several  sisters  whom  I  had  not  recalled,  and  whom  he  could 
not,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  Order,  dismiss  without  the  authoriza- 
tion of  the  Superior  of  the  house  of  profession.  I  have  advised  the 
sisters  to  send  out  no  subjects  to  any  foundation  without  the  express 
understanding  with  the  Bishop,  that  they  shall  not  be  sent  away  except 
when  recalled  by  the  ecclesiastical  superior  of  the  house  of  profession. 
So  far,  my  Right  Reverend  and  Venerable  Friend,  as  you  are  con- 
cerned, I  should  feel  little  hesitation  in  waiving  the  point.  But  as 
we  both  hold  our  lives  by  so  precarious  a  tenure,  I  would  thank  you, 
in  case  you  accept  of  the  promised  colony,  to  send  me  in  writing 
your  acquiesence  in  the  rule  above-mentioned  by  which  no  sister,  orig- 
inally sent  from  this  house,  can  return  to  it  without  being  recalled  by 
its  ecclesiastical  superiors."13 

The  community  having  thus  been  augmented  by  the  late  arrivals 
from  the  Motherlmuse,  the  burden  became  lighter  to  bear  and  the  yoke 
sweeter;  but  seemingly  not  to  all:  One  at  least  of  the  original  members 
was  still  haunted  with  a  desire  to  return  to  Georgetown.     Archbishop 


11  Eceleston  to  Eosati,  Purification,  1838. 

12  Eceleston  to  Rosati,  February  8,  1838. 

13  Eceleston  to   Rosati,  January   1830. 


•  The  Visitandines  of  Kaskaskia  633 

Eccleston  answered:  "As  branches  of  the  Visitation  are  multiplied, 
what  will  become  of  the  spirit  of  discipline  of  the  Motherhouse,  if 
every  sister  who  becomes  discontented  or  troublesome  can  be  returned 
on  their  hands?  I  must  confess,  that  I  would  rather,  for  the  good  of 
religion,  see  the  establishment  obliterated  from  my  diocese.  May  it 
not  have  happened,  my  venerated  and  my  dear  Friend,  that  some  sis- 
ters of  Kaskaskias,  have  exaggerated  the  evils  of  the  monastery?  No 
one  has  greater  respect  and  esteem  for  good  Sr.  M.  Austin  than  I  have. 
But  if  your  information  comes  from  her,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
I  deem  it  proper  to  say  that  her  too  active  zeal  is  liable  to  cast  a 
very  strong  coloring  over  her  predilections  or  aversions.  And  with 
all  her  truly  valuable  qualities,  she  has  too  much  perspicuity  in  dis- 
covering, and  too  much  freedom  in  dilating  on  the  real  or  imaginary 
defects  of  her  Mother  Superior."14 

This  is  the  last  letter  of  Archbishop  Eccleston  in  regard  to  the 
Visitation  Convent  at  Kaskaskia.  Under  Mother  Seraphine  Wickham, 
who  became  Superior  in  this  year  1839,  the  Academy  rose  to  a  high 
degree  of  efficiency,  a  circumstance  that  seemed  to  promise  fulfilment 
of  Father  Roux's  prediction  in  1838:  that  the  "Convent  and  Academy 
of  the  Visitation,  would  by  its  celebrity,  immortalize  Kaskaskia." 

But  the  great  flood  of  1844  tolled  the  death-knell  of  the  Visitation 
Convent  at  Kaskaskia,  which,  however,  was  to  rise  again  in  a  new 
place,  under  more  favorable  circumstances. 


14     Eccleston  to  Rosati,  April  21,  1839. 


Chapter  l!4 
THE  SISTERS  OF  ST.  JOSEPH 

In  1693  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  were  spread  throughout  the 
"dioceses  of  Le  Puy,  Clermont,  Grenoble,  Embrun,  Sisteron,  Viviers, 
Usse,  Gap,  Vienne  and  Lyons.  In  all  of  these  places  they  were  engaged 
in  the  instruction  of  young  girls,  the  direction  of  orphanages  and  the 
care  of  the  sick."  But  the  fury  of  the  Revolution  swept  them  back  to 
their  homes  in  the  world,  and  many  of  them  to  martyrdom.  When 
the  reign  of  terror  had  spent  its  force,  the  scattered  members  began 
to  lift  up  their  heads  again,  and  in  the  summer  of  1807,  one  of  their 
number,  the  brave  and  patient  Mother  Saint  John  Fontbonne  repaired 
to  Lyons  with  several  members  of  her  former  community  of  Monistrol. 
Father  Claude  Cholleton,  Vicar-General  of  Lyons,  re-established  the  Con- 
gregation of  St.  Joseph  with  Mother  Fontbonne  as  Superior.  The  num- 
ber of  convents  increased  rapidly,  the  house  at  Lyons  was  designated  as 
the  Mother  House,  and  Mother  St.  John  became  Superior  General  of 
the  Congregation. 

In  1834  Bishop  Rosati,  through  Father  Charles  Cholleton  received 
an  offer  from  Mother  Fontbonne  to  send  a  colony  of  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph  to  his  diocese.  Father  John  Odin  who  visited  Lyons  in  the  same 
year,  reminded  her  of  this  offer.  Madame  de  la  Roche-Jacqueline  offered 
to  defray  the  expense  of  establishing  a  community  in  the  diocese  of  St. 
Louis.  The  Bishop  was  pleased  to  accept,  requesting,  however,  that 
some  sisters  be  sent  who  would  undertake  to  instruct  the  deaf-mutes. 

The  call  for  volunteers  for  the  American  Mission  brought  splendid 
results.1  Two  sisters  Celestine  Pommerel  and  Julie  Founder,  Avere 
accordingly  sent  to  the  Sisters  of  St.  Charles  at  Saint-Etienne  to  learn 
the  sign  language :  six  others  were  to  proceed  at  once  to  their  destina- 
tion :  Sisters  Febronie  and  Delphine  Fontbonne,  nieces  of  the  Superior 
General,  Sisters  Marguerite-Felicite  Boute,  Febronie  Chapellon,  Saint 
Protais  Deboille  and  Philomena  Vilaine.  The  Archbishop  of  Lyons 
recommended  the  evangelical  colony  "to  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  say- 
ing: 'They  will  be  excellent  catechists,  good  infirmarians  for  the  sick, 
perfect  sacristans,  and  zealous  instructors;  and  their  services  cannot 
but  promote  powerf nlly  the  work  of  God  in  your  diocese. '  '  '2 


i  Sister  Mary  Lueida  Savage,  Ph.  D.,  is  the  authoress  of  a  well  authenticated 
and  beautifully  written  volume  of  "The  Congregation  of  Saint  Joseph  of 
Carondelet,"  B.  Herder  Book  Co.,  St.  Louis,  1923. 

2  Gaston  de  Pins  to  Rosati,  January  1,  1836,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Arch- 
diocese. 

(634) 


The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  635 

The  little  colony,  accompanied  by  Father  James  Fontbonne,  brother 
of  Sisters  Febronie  and  Delphine,  set  sail  from  Havre  on  the  good  ship 
Heidelberg,  January  17th,  1836,  landing  in  New  Orleans  March  5th, 
of  the  same  year. 

At  the  landing  the  sisters  were  received  by  the  Pastor  of  the  Cathe- 
dral, Father  Moui,  and  brought  to  the  Ursuline  Convent.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day  they  were  visited  by  Bishop  Kosati,  who  had  come  to  New 
Orleans  for  the  consecration  of  Bishop  Anthony  Blanc.  "I  told  them," 
writes  Bishop  Rosati,  "about  their  future  home  in  the  town  of  Cahokia, 
in  a  home  which  Father  Doutreluingne  has  prepared  for  the  purpose 
not  far  from  the  parish  church,  and  of  another  now  ready  in  the  town 
of  Carondelet.  "3  The  Sisters  started  on  their  voyage  to  St.  Louis  on 
the  15th  of  March.  They  were  accompanied  by  Bishop  Rosati,  Father 
Fontbonne  and  Father  John  Timon,  then  Visitor  of  the  Congregation  of 
the  Mission.  On  March  25th,  the  travellers  landed  in  St.  Louis,  where 
the  Sisters  were  conducted  to  the  Hospital  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity. 

The  house  in  Carondelet  which  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  were  to 
occupy  was  not  ready  for  them.  Two  Sisters  of  Charity  were  living 
there  with  a  small  number  of  orphan  boys.  The  completion  of  the  new 
orphan  asylum  in  St.  Louis,  however,  would  soon  enable  the  Sisters  of 
Charity  to  vacate  the  premises  in  Carondelet.  Thus  it  happened  that  Ca- 
hokia, the  ancient,  became  the  first  mission  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph. 
Father  Doutreluingne  had  been  pastor  of  the  Parish  of  the  Holy  Family 
for  over  five  years.  The  people  were  simple,  pious  Creoles,  proud  of  their 
religious  and  social  customs :  they  were  not  rich  in  earthly  goods.  Yet 
fairly  prosperous.  Their  pastor  had  secured  a  building  in  the  center  of 
the  town  and  fitted  it  up  as  a  Convent  and  Academy.  Bishop  Rosati 
selected  as  teachers  for  the  School,  Mother  Febronie  Fontbonne,  Sister 
Febronie  Chapellon  and  Sister  Saint  Protais.  The  remaining  three 
devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of  English  in  St.  Louis,  a  neat  cottage  on 
the  hospital  grounds  having  been  assigned  for  their  temporary  home. 

The  Sisters  reception  at  Cahokia  was  a  right  hearty  one.  Bishop 
Rosati  and  Father  Fontbonne  accompanied  the  little  colony.  Father 
Doutreluingne  at  the  head  of  the  entire  congregation  of  Cahokia  wel- 
comed them  "as  angels  from  heaven,"  and  led  them  in  procession  to 
their  new  home,  which  they  christened  "St  Joseph's  Institute,"  but 
which  the  proud  Cahokians  dignified  by  the  name  of  "The  Abbey." 

The  school  was  opened  with  an  enrollment  of  thirty  day  pupils 
and  five  boarders.  The  instructions  were  given  in  French.  The  school 
grew  and  prospered  for  eight  years,  but  the  almost  regular  overflows 
of  the  Mississippi,  whilst  rendering  the  already  fruitful  soil,  still  more 
fruitful,  proved  rather  deleterious  to  the  newcomers'  health. 


3     Rosati  's  Diary. 


636  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

In  .May  Father  Matthew  Condamine  succeeded  Father  Doutreluingne 
as  Pastor  of  Cahokia,  and  on  August  8th,  the  young  energetic  priest  fell 
victim  to  a  malignant  fever.  Bishop  Rosati  held  the  funeral  services. 
Father  Condamine  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  little  cemetery  beside  the 
church  at  Cahokia. 

Father  John  Francis  Regis  Loisel  was  appointed  as  his  successor. 
Nothing  daunted  by  these  reverses  the  Sisters  continued  their  work, 
and  with  the  hearty  cooperation  of  their  Pastor,  enlarged  their  school 
by  the  addition  of  a  new  room  in  1837,  and  a  pretty  chapel  adjoining 
the  convent  in  1838.  The  means  for  doing  this  came  from  the  noble 
benefactress  of  the  Sisters,  Madam  de  la  Roche-Jacquelin.  who  had  sent 
three  thousand  francs  for  the  Mission  of  Cahokia  and  Carondelet.  A 
bell  also  came,  sent  by  Mother  St.  John  Fontbonne  from  Lyons.  The 
chapel  was  blessed  by  Bishop  Rosati,  August  17th,  1838. 4 

"The  Abbey"  with  its  three  buildings  now  became  the  spiritual 
center  of  the  Congregation,  until  the  great  flood  of  1844,  spread  ruin 
and  disaster  all  through  the  Mississippi  bottom  and  forced  the  Sisters 
to  take  refuge  in  their  establishment  in  Carondelet,  never  to  return  to 
Cahokia. 

Carondelet,  the  seat  of  the  earliest  Church  in  Missouri,5  was  destined 
to  be  the  home  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  in  America.  The  little 
straggling  town  of  log  cabins  and  stone  houses,  popularly  styled  Vide 
Poche,  contained  in  1834  a  few  hundred  inhabitants,  mostly  Creoles, 
poor  but  honest  and  carefree,  working  their  individual  plot  in  the 
Common  Field,  that  had  come  down  to  them  from  Spanish  times.  On  a 
hill  above  the  village  stood  the  log  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel, 
built  in  1818,  under  the  supervision  of  Father  De  Andreis  of  blessed 
memory,  with  the  materials  of  the  first  Church  of  St.  Louis.  Near  it 
was  the  presbytere,  a  log  cabin  of  two  rooms.  The  Cemetery  lay  around 
the  church,  and  beyond  it  stood  the  log  cabin,  which  the  Sisters  of 
Charity  had  erected  in  1833  for  their  boys'  orphanage.  When  the  new 
orphan  home  in  St.  Louis  was  completed  July  22nd,  1836,  the  Sisters 
of  St.  Joseph  took  possession  of  their  destined  home.  Our  Lady  Poverty 
reigned  supreme  in  this  their  humble  abode.  The  style  of  the  building 
was  the  usual  one  of  two  rooms  with  a  wide  passage-way  between  them. 
The  attic  was  reached  by  way  of  a  ladder,  placed  on  the  outside.  Two 
sheds,  one  for  school-purposes,  and  one  for  kitchen  and  dining-room 
completed  the  convent  buildings.  There  was  no  furniture  except  one 
cot,  one  table  and  a  few  rickety  chairs.    Two  ticks  filled  with  straw,  laid 


4  Sister  Mary  Lucida,  op.  cit.,  p.  40. 

5  The   Mission   and   Village   of    St.    Francis    Xavier   on    the   River    des   Peres 
founded  by  the  Jesuits  Marest  and  Pinet,  was  on  the  site  of  Carondelet. 


The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  637 

on  the  floor,  provided  the  Sisters  with  beds.  No  preparations  had  been 
made  for  the  opening  of  the  school,  which  was  announced  for  September 
19th.G  The  Sisters  did  not  repine,  but  thought  out  an  ingenious 
plan  of  obtaining  the  furniture  for  their  class  room.  Twenty  pupils 
arrived  on  the  morning  of  the  enrollment,  and  after  some  kindry  con- 
versations with  the  Sisters  were  told  to  return  the  next  morning,  each 
one  with  a  stool,  or  a  box,  or  a  log  of  wood  for  a  seat.  Thus  opened  the 
School  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  in  the  town  of  Carondelet,  Missouri. 
But  the  attraction  of  such  noble  lives  soon  told  on  the  entire  Community. 
Friends  and  supporters  arose,  and  "Providence  did  not  leave  them 
without  consolation.  Occasional  visits  from  Bishop  Rosati  and  Father 
Fontbonne  relieved  their  solitude. 

Now  and  then  an  excursion  was  made  across  the  river  to  the  "Ab- 
bey" at  Cahokia.  In  May  1837  came  the  glad  tidings  from  Lyons,  an- 
nouncing the  departure  of  the  two  Sisters,  that  had  been  intended  for  the 
American  mission,  but  were  detained  to  prepare  them  for  the  care  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  Sister  Celestine  Pomerell  and  Sister  St.  John  Fournier. 
They  were  to  arrive  by  the  end  of  May,  but  the  summer  months  passed  on 
without  any  further  tidings  of  them,  Bishop  Rosati  himself  was  grow- 
ing anxious  about  the  long  delay,  when  on  September  4th,  the  long- 
expected  Sisters  presented  themselves  at  the  episcopal  Residence.  But 
the  Bishop  was  in  doubt  concerning  their  identity  and  requested  them 
to  converse  in  signs,  which  they  did.  But  the  best  sign  of  their  being 
the  long-lost  nuns,  they  presented  the  Bishop  with  three  thousand  francs, 
which  the  Countess  de  la  Roche-Jaqueline  had  entrusted  to  them  for  the 
use  of  the  Sisters.  The  weary  travelers  were  kindly  entertained  at 
the  Orphan  Asylum,  and  on  September  10th,  proceeded  to  Carondelet. 
They  had  been  detained  at  Brest,  Havanna  and  New  Orleans,  which 
explained  their  belated  arrival."  As  Sister  Mary  Lucida  tells  us:  "The 
log  cabin  convent  was  now  crowded,  but  its  doors  were  opened  wide  in 
October  1837  to  admit  another  occupant.  Anne  Eliza  Dillon,  the  first 
American  subject  of  the  Congregation,  was  the  daughter  of  Patrick 
McAndrews  Dillon,  a  wealthy  Irish  land-holder  of  St.  Louis.  She  was 
born  at  St.  Charles,  Missouri  in  1820.  Her  mother  died  when  she  was 
a  child,  and  together  with  a  younger  sister,  she  was  placed  with  the 
Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  at  their  Academy  in  St.  Louis,  where  she 
received  an  excellent  education  and  acquired  great  fluency  in  French. 
It  was  here  at  School  in  1836  that  she  met  Sisters  Delphine  and  Felicite, 


6     Sister  Mary  Lucida,  op.  eit.,  p.  45  s. 
"     Ibidem,  p.  47. 


<>38  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

who  during  their  first  few  months  in  America  went  every  day  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  Convent  for  English  lessons.  The  young  girl  was  drawn 
irresistibly  to  the  two  Sisters.  Like  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  she  was  at- 
tracted by  poverty ;  and  on  finishing  her  education,  she  gave  up  every- 
thing that  she  possessed  of  this  world's  goods,  and  with  the  reluctant 
consent  of  her  father,  went  to  Carondelet  and  asked  for  the  poor  habit 
of  a  Sister  of  St.  Joseph.  This  she  received  on  January  3rd,  1838,  with 
the  name  of  Sister  Francis  Marie  Joseph.  On  the  same  day,  Sister  Phil- 
omene  Vilaine  made  her  vows.  Bishop  Rosati,  assisted  by  Father  Saul- 
nier  and  Father  Pierre  Chandy,  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission, 
officiated  at  the  ceremony,  which  took  place  in  the  church  of  Our  Lady 
of  Mount  Carmel."8 

"In  the  Spring  of  1838  the  Convent  was  enlarged  by  the  addition 
of  a  second  story,  two  small  rooms  at  the  west  end,  and  broad  porches 
on  the  river  side." 

A  school  for  deaf-mutes  was  now  started  with  four  charity  pupils. 
Bishop  Rosati  succeeded  in  obtaining  an  appropriation  for  this  school 
from  the  Legislature,  but  the  funds  were  to  be  used  only  in  behalf  of  pu- 
pils that  were  residents  of  the  state.  This  fund  did  not  become  available 
until  the  end  of  1839. !)  Fortunately,  the  school-commissioner  of  Carondelet 
made  an  agreement  with  the  Sisters  which  stipulated  that  a  salary  be  paid 
to  the  Sisters  by  the  Corporation  of  Carondelt,  for  teaching  the  female 
children  of  the  town.  The  salary  paid  was  $375  annually.  The  boys 
were  placed  in  care  of  Hamilton  Michaud  as  "assistant  Schoolmaster." 
This  favorable  turn  in  the  affairs  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  was 
owing,  in  great  part,  to  the  mission  given  by  Bishop  Loras  and  Father 
Cretin  during  their  enforced  stay  in  and  around  St.  Louis  in  the 
winter  of  1838-1839. 

All  through  these  years  Father  Edmond  Saulnier  held  the  position 
of  Pastor  and  Director  of  the  Sisters:  "A  good  but  eccentric  man," 
as  the  Sisters  described  him,  he  built  the  new  stone-church  in  1834,  as  the 
old  log  chapel  was  in  danger  of  collapsing.  On  January  31st,  1837,  Father 
John  Fontbonne  was  appointed  Spiritual  Director  of  the  Sisters  of 
St.  Joseph  both  in  Carondelet  and  Cahokia.  This  led  to  certain  misunder- 
standings between  the  Pastor  and  the  Superior  of  the  Sisters.     Father 


s     Sister  Mary  Lucida,  op.  cit.,  p.  50. 

o  The  amount  of  the  appropriation  was  $2,000  per  annum.  It  was  continued 
until  1851  when  the  State  Asylum  at  Fulton  was  opened  for  the  reception  of  pupils. 
But  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  continued  their  excellent  work  for  the  deaf  and  dumb 
children  of  all  nationalities  at  Carondelet,  and  since  1885  on  Garrison  Avenue, 
St.  Louis. 


The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  639 

Saulnier  interfered  with  their  interior  affairs.  They  should  take  more 
interest  in  the  parish,  the  services  and  the  church-choir.  This  brought 
on  strained  relations  between  Mother  Delphine  and  Father  Saulnier.  The 
voluble  Gascon  spirit  received  a  reprimand  from  Bishop  Rosati,  that 
would,  as  he  wrote,  take  a  lifetime  to  forget. 

But  the  strength  of  Mother  Delphine  was  exhausted :  In  August 
1839,  she  begged  to  be  relieved  of  her  office  and  sent  to  Cahokia  as 
teacher.  She  was  succeeded  at  Carondelet  by  Mother  Celestine  Pom- 
rell.  From  her  name,  the  Institution  was  at  first  called  Madam  Ce- 
lestine 's  School,  but  received  the  official  title  of  St.  Joseph 's  Academy. 


(  'II  AFTER  25 

THE  KICKAPOO  MISSION 


It  was  in  his  first  Annual  Message  to  Congress,  December  8th, 
1829,  that  President  Andrew  Jackson  inaugurated  his  new  policy  in 
regard  to  the  Indian  tribes  east  of  the  Missouri  frontier:  "Our  conduct 
to  these  people  is  deeply  interesting  to  our  national  character.  Their 
present  condition,  contrasted  with  what  they  once  were,  makes  a  most 
powerful  appeal  to  our  sympathies.  Our  ancestors  found  them  the 
uncontrolled  possessors  of  these  vast  regions.  By  persuasion  and  force 
they  have  been  made  to  retire  from  river  to  river  and  from  mountain 
to  mountain,  until  some  of  the  tribes  have  been  extinct,  and  others 
have  left  but  remnants  to  preserve  for  a  while  their  once  terrible  names. 
Surrounded  by  the  whites  with  their  arts  of  civilization,  which  by 
destroying  the  resources  of  the  savage,  doom  him  to  weakness  and  decay, 
the  fate  of  the  Mohegan,  the  Narragansett,  and  the  Delaware  is  fast 
overtaking  the  Choctaw,  the  Cherokee  and  the  Creek.  That  this  fate 
surely  awaits  them  if  they  remain  within  the  limits  of  the  States  does 
not  admit  of  a  doubt.  Htimanity  and  national  honor  demand  that 
every  effort  should  be  made  to  avert  so  great  a  calamity. 

"As  a  means  of  effecting  this  end  I  suggest  for  your  consideration 
the  propriety  of  setting  apart  an  ample  district  "West  of  the  Mississippi 
and  without  the  limits  of  any  State  or  Territory  now  formed,  to  be 
guaranteed  to  the  Indian  Tribes  as  long  as  they  shall  occupy  it,  each 
tribe  having  a  distinct  control  over  the  portion  designated  for  its 
use.  There  they  may  be  secured  in  the  enjoyment  of  governments  of 
their  own  choice,  subject  to  no  other  control  from  the  United  States 
than  such  as  may  be  necessary  to  preserve  peace  on  the  frontier  and 
between  the  several  tribes.  There  the  benevolent  may  endeavor  to  teach 
them  the  arts  of  civilization,  and  by  promoting  union  and  harmony 
among  them,  to  raise  up  an  interesting  commonwealth,  destined  to  per- 
petuate the  race  and  to  attest  the  humanity  and  justice  of  this  Govern- 
ment. The  emigration  should  be  voluntary,  for  it  would  be  as  cruel 
as  unjust  to  compel  the  aborigines  to  abandon  the  graves  of  their 
fathers  and  seek  a  home  in  a  distant  land.  But  they  should  be  dis- 
tinctly informed  that,  if  they  remain  within  the  limits  of  the  States, 
they  must  be  subject  to  their  laws."1 

In  his  Third  Annual  Message,  December  6th,  1831,  President  Jack- 
son reverts  to  the  matter  of  the  Indian  migration  to  the  Far  West : 


'Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,"  vol.  II,  pp.  456  and  4.17. 

(640) 


MAP  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  COUNTRY 


The  Kickapuo  Mission  641 

"The  internal  peace  and  security  of  our  confederated  States  is  the 
next  principal  object  of  the  General  Government.  Time  and  experience 
have  proved  that  the  abode  of  the  native  Indian  within  their  limits  is 
dangerous  to  their  peace  and  injurious  to  himself.  In  accordance  with 
my  recommendation  at  a  former  session  of  Congress,  an  appropriation 
of  half  a  million  dollars  was  made  to  aid  the  voluntary  removal  of  the 
various  tribes  beyond  the  limits  of  the  States  ...  It  is  confidently  be- 
lieved that  perseverance  for  a  few  years  in  the  present  policy  of  the 
Government  will  extinguish  the  Indian  title  to  all  lands  lying  within 
the  States  composing  our  Federal  Union  and  remove  beyond  their 
limits  every  Indian  who  is  not  willing  to  submit  to  their  laws  .... 
But  the  removal  of  the  Indians  beyond  the  limits  and  jurisdiction  of 
the  States  does  not  place  them  beyond  the  reach  of  philanthropic  aid 
and  Christian  instruction.  On  the  contrary,  those  whom  philanthropy 
or  religion  may  induce  to  live  among  them  in  their  new  abode  will  be 
more  free  in  the  exercise  of  their  benevolent  functions  than  if  they  had 
remained  within  the  limits  of  the  States,  embarrassed  by  their  internal 
regulations.  Now  subject  to  no  control  biit  the  superintending  agency 
of  the  General  Government,  exercised  with  the  sole  view  of  preserving 
peace,  they  may  proceed  unmolested  in  the  interesting  experiment  of 
gradually  advancing  a  community  of  American  Indians  from  barbarism 
to  the  habits  and  enjoyments  of  civilized  life."2 

According  to  this  policy  the  various  Indian  tribes  of  the  States 
were  induced  to  leave  the  homes  and  graves  of  their  fathers  for  their 
appointed  reservations  in  what  was  called  Indian  Territory,  which 
then  embraced  all  the  western  territory  of  the  United  States  beyond 
the  Missouri  and  Arkansas  frontier.  About  the  time  of  which  we  are 
now  writing  the  early  thirties  of  the  nineteenth  century,  we  find  these 
wards  of  the  nation  settled,  tier  above  tier,  along  the  Arkansas  frontier, 
the  Chickasaws,  Choctaw  and  Cherokee  along  the  upper  reaches  of 
the  Arkansas  River ;  then,  along  the  Missouri  frontier,  the  Osages,  Shaw- 
nees,  Delawares,  with  the  indigenous  but  much  reduced  Kansas  between 
them,  all  dwelling  along  the  tributaries  of  the  Kansas  River ;  then  the 
Kickapoos,  Ottoes  and  Omahas,  with  the  Prairie  Potawatomi  at  Coun- 
cil Bluffs  on  the  east  border  of  the  Missouri  River.  All  the  territory 
north  of  the  Missouri  line,  was  still  a  part  of  the  Indian  Territory. 

As  the  government  showed  its  willingness  to  help  civilize  these 
pitiful  remnants  of  once  mighty  nations,  the  churches  and  charitable 
organizations  of  the  country  made  application  for  assignments  of  the 
various  tribes,  among  whom  they  might  labor  for  their  spiritual  and 
temporal  advancement.  The  Jesuit  Fathers  made  no  exception.  In 
the   summer    of    1835,    Father   Van    Quickenborne   visited   the   various 


2     "Messages  ami   Papers  of  the  Presidents,"  vol.  II,  p.  554. 
Vol.  1-21 


642  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

[ndian  tribes  along  (he  western  frontier  of  Missouri,  among  them  the 
Kickapoos,  settled  a  few  miles  above  Fort  Leavenworth. 

There  he  met  the  so-called  prophet  of  the  nation,  Keimekuk  by  name, 
and  obtained  his  somewhat  reluctant  consent  to  have  a  "Blaekrobe" 
established  among  his  people.  Applying  to  the  head  chief  Father  Van 
Quickenborne  received  better  assurances  of  success:  "I  desire,  as 
do  also  the  principal  men  of  my  nation,  to  have  a  Blaekrobe  come  and 
reside  among  us,  with  a  view  to  instruct  us."3  Father  De  Theux,  the 
Superior,  decided  to  open  a  Jesuit  residence  among  the  Kickapoos. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  Father  Van  Quickenborne  went 
to  Washington  to  negotiate  for  government  aid  in  behalf  of  his  project. 
Writing  from  Georgetown  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  he  broached  his 
case,   as  follows : 

"In  answer  to  your  favor  of  the  17th  hist,  I  have  the  honor  to 
state : — 

l.That  I  am  prepared  to  open  a  Mission  with  a  school  in  the  Indian 
country  at  the  following  places — 1st.  On  the  land  of  the  Kiekapoo  in 
the  vicinity  of  Cantonment  Leavenworth. 

2.  I  have  three  Missionaries,  including  a  teacher,  to  commence 
the  Mission  and  School  immediately  in  the  Kiekapoo  Nation.  I  am  in- 
duced to  commence  with  this  tribe  by  the  circumstance  of  it  having 
expressed  to  me,  through  their  principal  men  and  chiefs,  including 
even  the  prophet  Kennekuk,  a  desire  of  having  a  Catholic  establishment 
among  them.  The  reason  they  alleged  was,  that  they  had  for  many 
years  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  French  settlements;  that  they  had, 
in  some  degree,  become  acquainted  with  their  religion,  and  that  now 
they  wished  to  be  instructed  in  it.  The  prophet  said  that  he  had 
always  hoped  that  a  Black-gown,  by  which  name  he  designates  the 
Catholic  priest,  would  be  sent  by  the  Great  Spirit  to  help  him  in  in- 
structing his  people  and  teaching  them  the  truths  he  did  not  know. 

Besides  the  three  Missionaries  mentioned  above,  the  Catholic  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  Missouri,  in  whose  name  I  act,  has  placed  at  my  dis- 
posal for  this  year,  commencing  at  this  period,  a  sum  of  one  thousand 
dollars.  It  is  my  intention  to  take  into  the  school  as  many  pupils  as 
it  will  be  in  my  power  to  collect  and  to  add  to  the  number  of  teachers, 
in  proportion  as  the  number  of  scholars  will  increase,  as  far  as  will 
be  in  my  power ;  and  I  have  the  strongest  assurance  that  aid  will  be 
given  me  by  the  same  Society.  For  this  establishment  I  should  be 
grateful  for  every  aid  the  Department  can  afford,  either  in  the  way 
of  raising  the  necessary  buildings  or  paying  part  of  the  salary  of  teach- 
ers or  for  the  support  of  Missionaries. '  '4 


3  "Annates  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  vol.  IX,  pp.  90. 

4  Van  Quickenborne  to  Secretary  of   War,  September  17,  1835,  Indian  Office 
Records.     The  prophet  was  also  called  Keokuk. 


The  Kickapoo  Mission  643 

Father  Quickeuborne  's  appeal  was  answered  by  the  Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs.  "You  ask  an  allowance  from  the  appropriation  for 
civilizing  the  Indians.  The  Secretary  of  War  has  directed  that  the  sum 
of  Five  Hundred  Dollars  shall  be  paid  to  you  or  to  an  authorized  agent 
of  the  Catholic  Missionary  Society  of  Missouri  whenever  information  is 
received  that  a  school  has  been  establisbed  among  the  Indians.  This  in- 
formation must  be  accompanied  by  certificate  of  the  agent  of  the  tribes, 
that  a  building  has  been  erected  suitable  for  the  purpose,  that  a  teacher 
is  ready  to  enter  upon  his  duties  and  that  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  it  will  be  well  attended  by  Indian  Children."5 

"We  are  going  to  begin  an  Indian  mission  and  school  among  the 
Kickapoo,"  the  happy  missionary  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati,  "Many  of 
the  Fathers  here  in  Maryland  manifest  a  lively  desire  to  go  and  work 
among  the  Indians."6 

The  good  Fathers  of  the  Missouri  Mission  were  still  more  delighted 
at  the  coming  of  Brothers  Andrew  Mazella  and  Edmund  Barry  wbo 
were  destined  to  accompany  Father  Van  Quickeuborne  to  the  Kickapoos. 
Father  Garraghan  in  his  article  on  the  Kickapoo  Mission  gives  a  brief 
resume  of  their  early  history : 

"The  Indian  tribe  among  whom  the  Missouri  Jesuits  were  to  make 
their  first  experiment  in  resident  missionary  activity  were  not  unknown 
to  their  predecessors  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  The 
Kickapoo  (the  name  appears  to  be  a  corruption  from  a  longer  term 
signifying  'roamers')  were  of  Algonquin  stock,  showing  a  close  affinity 
in  language,  customs  and  ceremonial  forms  to  the  Sauk  and  Foxes. 
Their  first  known  habitation  was  South  Central  Wisconsin,  whence, 
they  shifted  their  position  to  the  Lower  Wabash  upon  lands  seized  from 
the  Illinois  and  Miami.  As  early  as  1669,  Father  Allouez  come  in  contact 
with  them  at  the  Green  Bay  Mission  of  St.  Francis  Xavier.  Upon  his 
fellow-laborer,  Father  Marquette,  they  made  a  distinctly  unfavorable 
impression.  Though  professing  loyalty  to  the  French,  in  1680  they 
killed  the  Recollet  Friar,  Gabriel  de  la  Ribourde,  a  member  of  La  Salle's 
party,  on  the  banks  of  the  Illinois.  In  1728  the  Jesuit  missionary. 
Father  Ignatius  Guignas,  falling  into  their  hands  was  condemned  to 
the  stake,  but  his  life  was  spared  and,  being  adopted  into  their  tribe, 
he  brought  them  by  his  influence  to  make  peace  with  the  French. 

"In  the  conspiracy  of  Pontiac  the  Kickapoo  were  allied  with  the 
Ottawa  chief  and  took  part  in  the  general  destruction  of  the  Illinois 
tribes  that  followed  upon  his  death.  In  the  Revolutionary  War  and  the 
War  of  1812  they  fought  on  the  side  of  the  English.  They  suffered 
heavily  in  these  conflicts,  specially  the  second,  and  by  a  series  of  treaties. 


5  Herring  to  Van  Quickenborne,  September  22,  1835,  Indian  Office  Records. 

6  Van    Quickenborne   to    Rosati,    September    22,    1835,    Archives    of    St.    Louis 
Archdiocese. 


(i  N  History  of  the   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

beginning  with  that  of  Greenville,  August  3rd,  1795,  after  Wayne's 
decisive  victory,  and  ending  with  that  of  Edwardsville,  July  3rd,  1819, 
eeded  all  their  lands  in  Illinois  and  Indiana.  The  United  States 
Governmenl  having  agreed  to  pay  them  $2000  a  year  for  fifteen  years, 
assigned  them  a  Large  tract  on  the  Osage  River  in  Missouri.  From 
there  they  moved  west  of  the  Missouri  river  to  what  is  now  Atchison 
County  in  northeastern  Kansas  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Ft.  Leaven- 
worth. In  1822  only  four  hundred  of  the  twenty-two  hundred  members 
of  the  tribe  were  living  in  Illinois.  By  the  treaty  of  Castor  Hill,  Oc- 
tober 24,  1832,  provision  was  made  for  schools  by  an  annual  appropria- 
tion of  five  hundred  dollars  for  ten  years.  This  appropriation  was  ap- 
plied to  the  Kickapoo  school  conducted  since  1833  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Berryinan  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church."7 

The  prospects  of  success  under  these  and  other  circumstances  were 
not  very  bright:  yet  Father  Van  Quickenborne 's  courage  and  confidence 
never  wavered.  "Father  Van  Quickenborne,"  writes  Father  Verhaegen 
to  the  East,  "left  this  place  on  the  25th  ult.  with  Brothers  Mazella, 
Barry  and  Miles.  Father  (Christian)  Hoecken,  who  is  still  on  the 
mission  is  to  join  him  in  a  few  weeks.  Since  his  departure  I  have 
received  no  news  from  him.  His  health  had  much  improved  and  he  was 
full  of  courage.  Everything  appears  favorable  to  his  great  and  laborious 
undertaking.  The  Indian  agent  (Laurent  Pinsoneau)  is  a  French  Creole 
and  much  attached  to  him.  General  Clark  took  him  under  his  pro- 
tection and  Messrs.  Chouteau  &  Co.,  will  produce  him  all  the  advantages 
and  comforts  which  the  new  situation  will  require."8 

We  have  a  long  letter  written  by  Father  Van  Quickenborne  to 
Father  McSherry  soon  after  the  opening  of  the  Kickapoo  Mission,  from 
which  a  few  interesting  details  will  be  of  service  here : 

"We  arrived  here  on  the  1st  inst.,  (June,  1836)  precisely  thirteen 
years  after  we  arrived  in  Missouri  the  first  time,  when  we  came  to  com- 
mence the  Indian  Mission — better  late  than  never.  The  steamer  on 
board  of  which  we  came  up,  brought  us  to  the  very  spot  where  we  in- 
tended to  build.  We  met  with  a  very  cordial  reception  from  the  prin- 
cipal chief  and  his  warriors  and  from  the  prophet  himself.  There  are 
two  towns  among  the  Kickapoos  about  1%  or  2  miles  apart,  which  are 
composed  of  the  two  bands  into  which  the  nation  is  divided.  Pashishi, 
the  chief,  is  quite  proud  of  the  circumstance  of  our  coming  at  his 
particular  invitation  and,  for  this  reason,  wished  me  to  build  near 
his  town  ;  on  the  other  hand  the  Prophet  expressed  a  wish  that  we  should 
do  as  much  for  his  band  as  for  the  others.  He  said  he  had  always 
told  his  people  that  a  black-gown    (priest)   would  come  and  help  him, 


'     Garraghan,  S.  J.,  "The  Kickapoo  Mission,"  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical 
Review,"  vol.  IV,  pp.  30  and  31. 

s     Verhaegen  In  McSherry,  June  2,  1836. 


The  Kickapoo  Mission  645 

that  he  felt  disposed  to  join  us  and  to  persuade  his  followers  to  do 
the  same.  By  the  agreement  of  the  chief  we  intend  to  build  between 
the  two  towns  on  a  spot  nearly  equally  distant  from  both  ....  Father 
Hoecken  and  Brother  Miles  have  been  added  to  the  number  of  those 
who  started  from  St.  Louis,  Father  Hoecken  is  getting-  sick.  .The 
others  enjoy  good  health,  except  myself  being  as  usual  very  weak. 
Our  accommodations  are  rather  better  than  I  had  anticipated.  I  do 
not  know  what  we  could  have  done  here  if  we  did  not  have  the  Brothers 
from  Georgetown.  I  hope  that  your  Reverence  will  receive  an  ample 
reward  for  your  liberalit}-  towards  us,  and  that  the  increase  of  the 
number  of  good  subjects  will  allow  your  reverence  to  treat  with  Father 
General  for  sending  us  some  more; — a  teacher  for  the  school-boys  will 
be  very  necessary.  Father  Hoecken  and  myself  hope  to  be  able  to 
learn  the  language.  AVe  are  making  now  something  like  a  dictionary. 
This  will  help  those  that  will  come  afterwards.  Since  my  arrival  here 
I  have  seen  the  Potawatomi  Chief  Caldwell.  He  is  a  Catholic  and 
wishes  to  have  a  Catholic  establishment  among  his  people.  If  we 
make  this,  as  I  have  promised  to  the  Department  by  order  of  our  Su- 
perior, several  Brothers  more  will  be  necessaiw.  Father  General  has 
recommended  the  Indian  Mission  to  Father  Verhaegen  in  a  particular 
manner."9 

A  log-cabin  was  immediately  fitted  out  as  a  chapel  and  on  the  next 
morning,  Corpus  Christi  day,  the  Holy  Sacrifice  was  offered  up,  in  the 
presence  of  the  wondering  Kickapoo.  All  seemed  to  augur  a  blessed 
future.  But  dark  clouds  soon  overshadowed  the  bright  prospects.  The 
Indian  Agent,  Major  Cummins,  took  an  unfriendly  attitude  towards 
the  missionaries :  Father  Van  Quickenborne  lay  sick  and  helpless  for 
a  month.  Then  rumors  came  that  the  Sioux  were  on  the  warpath,  that 
they  were  close  at  hand,  that  they  had  routed  the  soldiers  sent  from 
Fort  Leavenworth,  that  they  had  burnt  the  Sauk  village  and  that  they 
were  moving  fast  on  the  Kickapoo  villages  and  the  Fort.  It  was  but 
an  idle  rumor,  subsiding  as  quickly  as  it  had  started.10 

Father  Garraghan  gives  a  humorous  description  of  the  difficulties 
the  little  Jesuit  Community  encountered  in  making  their  retreat : 

"The  exercises  were  held  in  the  only  place  available,  Mr.  Pinson- 
eau's  log-cabin,  the  door  of  which  could  not  be  closed,  both  on  account 
of  the  sweltering  heat  and  in  deference  to  Indian  etiquette.  The  In- 
dians were  now  treated  to  a  novel  spectacle.  They  would  enter  the 
cabin,  sit  down  opposite  to  one  of  the  missionaries  as  he  was  engaged 
in  prayer,  with  their  gaze  riveted  upon  him,  and  without  so  much  as  a 
syllable  falling  from  their  lips,  and  then,  when  the  novelty  of  the  sight 
had  worn  off,  they  would  rise  and  leave.    One  day  while  the  retreat  was 


a     Van  Quickenborne  to  McSherry,  June  29,  1836,  Baltimore  Archives. 
10     "Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi, "  vol.  X,  p.  130. 


646  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

in  progress,  a  deputation  from  six  tribes  arrived  in  the  Kickapoo  vil- 
lage to  negotiate  a  friendly  alliance.  The  deputies  were  bent  on  seeing 
the  black-robes'  chapel  and  went  there  in  a  body,  arriving  during  the 
time  of  meditation.  They  first  stood  at  the  door,  eyeing  curiously  the 
furniture  and  praying  figures  within,  but  not  venturing  immediately 
to  enter,  for  with  all  the  members  of  the  missionary  party  present, 
there  was  scant  room  for  other  occupants.  In  the  end,  however,  one 
after  another  of  the  braves  stepped  over  the  threshold,  offered  his  right 
hand  to  the  Jesuits,  beginning  with  the  priests,  and  then  withdrew,  the 
whole  ceremony  taking  place  in  the  profoundest  silence.  During  the 
eight  days  that  the  missionaries  gave  themselves  up  to  prayer  and 
recollection,  no  Indian  ventured  to  interrupt  or  disturb  them.11 

Father  Van  Quickenborne 's  letter  of  October  10,  1836,  to  Father 
McSherry  tells  of  the  difficulty  that  arose  with  the  Indian  Agent,  Major 
Cummins. 

"Your  Keverence  will  be  somewhat  astonished  that  we  are  as  yet 
in  the  same  log-cabin  into  which  we  went  the  first  day  of  our  arrival. 
Soon  after  I  wrote  to  you  last  the  Agent  took  into  his  head  to  advise 
or  rather  to  order  us  to  stop  until  he  could  get  some  further  understand- 
ing. The  letter  I  brought  from  the  War  Department  requested  Gen. 
Clark,  and  Gen.  Clark  requested  the  Agent  to  give  me  all  necessary  aid 
towards  establishing  a  school  among  the  Kickapoo.  He  could  not  under- 
stand the  phrase.  However,  General  Clark,  to  whom  he  had  referred 
the  case  for  decision,  had  decided  that  this  phrase  is  imperative  and 
has  advised  the  Agent  punctually  to  comply  with  the  order  given. 
Since  that  the  Agent  has  changed  and  has  written  to  me  that  any 
assistance  he  can  afford  will  be  cheerfully  rendered.  We  have  been 
thus  stopped  for  about  two  months.  I  had  to  send  off  the  workmen  I 
had  engaged  and  break  the  contracts,  I  had  made,  and  pay  all  the  ex- 
penses. 

The  Kaskaskias,  Peorias,  Weas,  Piankeshaws,  whom  I  visited  two 
weeks  ago,  wish  to  have  a  resident  priest.  I  have  baptized  about  forty 
Indian  children  and  as  many  more  would  wish  to  be  baptized  but 
being  grown  persons,  they  stand  in  need  of  instruction.  Father  Hoecken 
makes  great  progress  in  the  Indian  language ;  the  Indians  are  astonished 
at  it.  He  is  able  to  converse  with  them  almost  on  any  subject.  Upon 
the  whole,  the  persecution  we  have  suffered  has  been  of  service  to  us."12 

At  last  after  three  months  of  uncalled  for  delay,  Major  Cummins 
saw  his  way  "to  certify  that  under  the  authority  of  a  letter  from  the 
Officer  of  Indian  Affairs  of  September  2,  1835,  the  Catholic  Missionary 
Society  of  Missouri  has  erected  on  the  Kickapoo  lands  a  building  for  a 


11  "Litterne  Amiuae, "  quoted  by  Father  Garraghan,  1.  c,  p.  34. 

12  Van  Quickenborne  to  McSherry,  October  10,  1836,  Baltimore  Archives. 


The  Kickapoo  Mission  647 

school,  has  a  teacher  prepared  to  enter  upon  his  duties  and  that  there 
is  a  prospect  of  the  school  being  -well  attended  by  Indian  pupils."13 

But  the  promised  sum  of  $500  was  not  forthcoming  until  May  23rd 
of  the  following  year.  In  the  meantime  the  school-house  and  dwelling 
with  chapel  had  been  completed.  The  school-house  was  built  of  hewn 
logs,  one  story  high,  16x15  feet  in  extent,  with  one  window  and  one 
door  and  a  cabin  roof:  the  dwelling  was  a  two  story  block-house  49x18 
feet,  and  covered  with  shingles.  Father  Christian  Hoecken  was  the  first 
teacher  of  the  school,  with  about  twenty  children  in  attendance.  "The 
chapel  was  well  attended  on  Sunday,"  as  Father  Verhaegen  writes  to 
the  Fathers  of  the  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  in  1840,  "some 
few  are  received  into  the  Church,  and  many  in  fact  baptized."14  Father 
Van  Quickenborne  in  his  letter  of  18:55  writes  about  a  visit  he  paid 
to  the  Kaskaskia  Indians,  the  remnant  of  the  nation  that  had  been  con- 
verted to  the  Faith  by  Father  Marquette,  and  led  by  Father  Marest  to 
the  site  of  the  City  that  was  to  immortalize  their  tribal  name.  Of 
this  visit  an  elegant  writer,  probably  Archbishop  Kenrick  wrote  in  the 
"Catholic  Cabinet:" 

"In  1835  the  Rev.  Father  Van  Quickenborne  paid  a  missionary 
visit  to  the  Miamis,  on  the  north  fork  of  the  Osage  River.  They  are 
the  small  remnants  of  four  once  powerful  nations,  the  Kaskaskias, 
the  Peorias,  the  Weas  and  the  Piankeshaws.  He  was  received  by  them 
with  great  joy;  and  many  of  them,  having  been  baptized  in  their  in- 
fancy by  the  priests  who  attended  the  old  French  village  in  Illinois, 
showed  unfeigned  readiness  to  enroll  themselves  anew  under  the  stand- 
ard of  the  Cross.  They  seemed  to  be  indifferently  pleased  with  the  Meth- 
odist station,  established  among  them,  and  willingly  promised  to  return 
to  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  among  whom  the  Jesuit  missionaries  had 
so  successfully  labored  during  the  early  part  of  the  last  century.  An 
old  woman,  whose  gray  hair  and  bent-up  form  showed  that  she  had 
belonged  to  by-gone  times,  crawled  up  to  the  missionary,  grasped  his 
hand  with  a  strong  expression  of  exultation  and  jjronounced  him  to  be  a 
true  black-gown,  sent  to  instruct  her  hapless  and  neglected  nation.  She 
had  lived  at  least  a  score  of  winters  longer  than  any  other  of  her 
tribe,  but  yet  she  distinctly  remembered  to  have  been  prepared  for  her 
first  communion  by  one  of  the  Jesuits  who  attended  the  nourishing 
mission  of  Kaskaskia,  His  name  she  eould  not  bring  to  mind,  but 
described  his  dress  and  features  in  a  manner  to  show  what  a  deep  im- 
pression this  recollection  of  her  early  youth  continued  to  make  on 
her  mind.  She  also  gave  a  description  of  the  old  church  of  Kaskaskia ; 
recited  her  prayers  and  sang  a  Canticle  in  the  language  of  the  tribe. 


13     Indian  Office  Eecords. 

n     Verhaegen   to    IV    Council    of    Baltimore.      Draft   in    Archives    of    St.    Louis 
Archdiocese. 


648  History  of  llu    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

She  told  the  missioner  thai  her  constant  prayer  had  boon  that  her  tribe, 
now  exiled  and  almost  extinct,  might  have  the  happiness  to  see  a  true 
blackgown  among  them.  She  congratulated  those  around  her  on  the 
occasion  and  cried  out  like  Simeon  that  her  eyes  had  seen  him  now, 
and  that  she  was  ready  to  mix  her  bones  with  those  of  her  fathers. 
Her  death,  which  took  place  a  few  days  after,  was  a  great  loss  to  the 
missioner.  As  she  was  the  only  person  who  knew  the  prayers  in  the 
Indian  Language,  and  the  only  one  who  appeared  to  have  kept  herself 
untainted  by  the  general  depravity  of  those  by  whom  she  was  sur- 
rounded."15 The  entire  tribe  of  the  Kaskaskias  now  numbered  only 
sixty  souls. 

In  June  1837,  Father  Verhaegen  made  an  official  visitation  of 
the  Kickapoo  Mission,  and  gave  a  delightful  account  of  his  experiences 
to  Father  McSherry.  He  left  St.  Louis  on  the  14th  of  June  and  arrived 
at  the  village  on  the  eve  of  the  feast  of  St.  Aloysius.  His  boat  struck  sev- 
eral snags  and  scraped  a  few  sand-bars  in  the  river,  but  without  any 
damage.  The  good  Father's  enthusiasm  over  the  beauty  and  fertility 
of  Missouri  now  breaks  forth  in  the   following  prose-poem : 

"I  did  not  know,  my  dear  Father,  that  the  state  of  Missouri  pos- 
sessed such  a  prodigious  quantity  of  fertile  soil.  I  regret  that  you  were 
not  with  me ;  you  would,  I  am  sure,  have  been  pleased  with  the  truly 
enchanting  picture  which  both  sides  of  the  river  present  to  the  travel- 
lers. Do  not  speak  of  the  farms  situated  on  the  bluffs  between  St,  Louis 
and  St.  Charles;  good  as  they  are.  when  compared  with  those  of  Mary- 
land, on  which  you  pointed  out  some  prairie  grass  to  me,  as  we  rolled 
along  on  the  cars,  they  sink  into  insignificance,  when  contrasted  with 
the  lands  of  our  Upper  Missouri.  When  I  was  in  the  East  the  beauties 
and  improvements  of  which  I  do  intensely  admire,  I  anxiously  looked 
for  one  respectable  tree  and  one  eminently  fruitful  spot,  but  in  vain ; 
in  Missouri,  I  am  now  more  convinced  than  ever,  trees  and  spots  of 
the  kind  are  so  numerous  that,  in  order  to  avoid  seeing  them,  one 
must  fly  to  Maryland.  What  shall  I  say  of  the  beauties  of  nature  to 
the  eye?  I  thought  that  the  lofty  rocks  and  sublime  hills  which  the 
canal  and  railroad  between  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg  afforded  to 
my  sight  could  not  be  equalled  by  any  prospect  in  the  'West ;  but  even 
in  those.  Missouri  is  not  surpassed  by  the  East.  I  know  your  Rever- 
ence thinks  I  am  enthusiastic  in  my  account.  I  pardon  the  impression 
under  which  you  labor,  because  to  any  one  who  has  not  seen  Missouri, 
my  description  must  appear  incredible.     Veni  et  vide."16 

Father  Vorhaegen  then  gives  an  intimate  description  of  the  land- 
ing which  is  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  from  the  Mission  house. 
"Father  Van  Quickenborne  having  been  informed  of  my  arrival  by 


15  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  vol.  I,  pp.  407  and  408. 

16  Verhaegen  to  MeSherry,  Baltimore  Archives. 


The  Kickapoo  Mission  649 

a  courier,  came  to  see  me  on  board  the  boat,  and  I  accompanied  him 
to  the  Indian  village  on  horseback.  The  site  of  the  building  is  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  that  could  be  selected.  In  the  rear  the  land  is 
well  timbered.  On  the  right  the  chief  has  his  village,  and  the  ground 
is  cleared;  on  the  left  lives  the  Prophet  with  hills  on  which  Ft.  Leav- 
enworth stands.  Our  missionaries  have  a  field  of  about  fifteen  acres 
on  which  they  raise  all  the  produce  which  they  want.  They  are 
about  five  miles  from  the  Fort  and  have,  of  course,  every  necessary 
opportunity  to  procure  at  that  post  such  prov  -  -  -  their  indus 
cannot  yield.  Many  of  the  Indians  among  whom  they  live  are  well 
disposed  toward  the  Catholic  religion  and  several  of  them  have  ex- 
pressed a  desire  of  being  instructed.  However,  most  of  them  are  still 
averse  to  a  change  of  their  superstitious  practices  and  vicious  man- 
ners. Of  the  1000  souls  that  constitute  both  villages,  hardly  thirty 
regularly  attend  church  on  Sundays.  Many  come  to  see  us  on  week 
days  and.  by  the  instruction  which  they  receive  during  the-  -  ts,  are 
insensibly  to  be  prevailed  upon  to  come  to  hear  the  word  of  God.  Father 
Van  Quickenborne  has  made  but  little  progress  in  the  Kickapoo  language. 
He  labors  under  many  disadvantages  and  at  his  age  he  will  never  con- 
quer them ;  but  Father  Hoecken  speaks  the  Kickapoo  admirably  well. 
The  savages  call  him  the  Kickapoo  Father,  a  compliment  which  no 
Indian  easily  pays  to  a  missioner — to  be  entitled  to  it  he  must  speak 
his  language  well.  When  I  was  at  the  Kickapoo  village.  I  assisted  at  one 
of  Father  Hoecken 's  instructions.  The  sound  of  his  horn  drew  about 
forty  to  the  chapel  at  11  A.M. ;  but  all  did  not  enter  it  at  the  ap- 
pointed time.  They  are  a  set  of  independent  beings :  they  will  have 
their  own  way  in  everything  to  show  that  they  do  not  act  from  com- 
pulsion. There  were  in  the  chapel  benches  enough  to  accomodate  a 
hundred  persons ;  some  few  preferred  them  to  the  floor.  They  all 
kept  silence  well  and  behaved  modestly.  The  Father  in  surplice  knelt 
before  the  altar  and  intoned  the  Kyrit  E  son  of  the  Litany  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  the  choir,  consisting  of  Father  Van  Quickenborne.  the 
three  Brothers  and  two  workmen,  joined  him.  and  the  whole  Litany  was 
sung  with  a  tone  of  variations  too  refined  for  my  ear.  Father  Fen- 
wick  himself  would  have  failed  in  an  attempt  to  keep  the  time  and 
hit  the  notes.  Such  performances  suit  the  Indians ;  happily  they 
love  and  admire  a  mixed  and  confused  kind  of  music.  The  instruc- 
tion lasted  upwards  of  half  an  hour.  I  heard  the  words  "piano/  'mane.' 
"iniquo.' — I  heard  'pas,'  'pasa.'  'pan.*  and  'Oikia'  and  I  was  tempted 
to  believe  that  the  Kickapoo  language  was  a  mixture  of  Latin  and 
Greek.  Unfortunately,  on  inquiry.  I  discovered  that  the  sounds  ex- 
pressed none  of  the  ideas  which  they  convey  in  other  languages.  In 
the  course  of  a  few  days  I  will.  Deo  dante.  write  to  my  good  Father 
Mulledy,  and  together  with  several  interesting  items  relating  to  the 
customs,  of  the  Indians  whom  I  have  visited,  I  will  send  him  the  Our 


650  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Father  and  the  Hail  Mary  in  their  language.  Father  Hoecken  has 
composed  a  grammar  and  is  now  preparing  a  dictionary  which  will  be 
of  great  advantage  to  such  as  will  henceforth  join  him  in  the  glor- 
ious work  which  we  have  commenced.  Much  good  can  be  done  among 
the  savages  west  of  the  state  of  Missouri.  The  Potawatomi  are  now 
on  their  way  to  the  land  which  they  have  to  inhabit.  They  are  more 
than  5,000,  in  number;  more  than  400  already  Catholics,  and  they 
(and  especially  their  chief  who  is  a  Catholic  also)  are  very  anxious 
to  have  a  Catholic  missioner  established  among  them.  I  must  beg  of 
your  Reverence  some  assistance  to  comply  with  the  request  of  those 
unhappy  people."17 

Yet  beautiful  as  the  country  undoubtedly  was,  the  spiritual  con- 
dition of  the  mission  was  not  very  promising.  The  Prophet  roused 
his  followers  to  unfriendly  demonstrations.  Even  the  head-chief 
Pashishi  assumed  a  hostile  attitude.  The  Indians,  like  the  children 
they  really  were  in  all  things,  save  age  and  innocence,  had  grown  weary 
of  the  mission  house.  Even  the  children  showed  no  interest  in  religion 
and  came  to  school  only  for  the  food,  and  the  presents  they  hoped 
to  receive  there.  Only  a  miracle  could  save  the  mission  from  further 
decay  and  death.  What  were  the  causes  of  this  sad  state  of  affairs? 
"Win-  was  Father  Van  Quickenborne's  Indian  mission  not  as  success- 
ful as  similar  efforts  in  South  and  Central  America  and  in  Cali- 
fornia? One  cause  may  be  traced  to  the  moral  degradation  of  the 
Indian  character  itself  that  followed  the  cruel  devastating  wars  of 
the  preceding  century.  Then  the  passion  of  the  Indian  for  strong 
drink  which '  rendered  him  incapable  of  receiving  the  pure  doctrines 
of  the  Catholic  religion ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  open  or  secret 
opposition  of  the  government  officials  and  of  the  Protestant  ministers 
established  at  the  station.  The  lack  of  adequate  means  to  carry  on 
the  mission  work  may  also  be  put  down  as  a  contributing  cause  of 
failure. 

"Had  the  Jesuit  missionaries  of  the  West  been  allowed  to  pursue 
their  plans  without  let  or  hindrance ;  or,  better  still,  had  they  received 
the  undivided  support  of  the  government  in  the  work  of  Christianization, 
these  numerous  and  once  powerful  tribes  would  now  form  large  and 
prosperous  communities  on  our  Western  prairies.  But  Catholic  efforts 
were  not  supported  as  they  should  have  been,  nay,  were  often  an- 
tagonized by  government  under  some  specious  plea  or  another.  Our 
Catholic  people,  too,  were  not  as  earnest  in  this  great  work  as  might 
have  been  expected  of  them.  Other  interests  seemed  to  be  more  urgent. 
Father  Verhaegen  in  his  appeal  to  the  Council  complains  of  this  lack 
of  means :  ' '  The  prospect  of  these  different  missions  with  respect  to 
the   salvation   of  souls  is  such   as  to   animate   the   missioner  with   the 


17     VerhaegeD  to  McSherry,  Baltimore  Archives. 


The  Kickapoo  Mission  651 

greatest  courage  in  the  midst  of  privation  and  labor.  But  we  cannot 
conceal  from  the  prelates  of  the  Council,  who  have  placed  these  mis- 
sions under  our  care,  that  their  successful  continuance  depends  upon 
other  encouragement  or  support  than  the  sweat  of  the  laborers.  These 
missions  have  hitherto  been  kept  up  by  remittances  from  Europe, 
namely,  from  the  Association  of  France  and  from  friends  in  Belgium 
and  Holland,  and  also  by  a  small  annual  allowance  made  by  the 
government — ;  the  last,  however,  is  not  extended  to  the  establishment 
at  Council  Bluffs.  These  resources  are  precarious,  it  may  indeed  be 
said,  that  they  nearly  failed  during  the  last  year.  It  then  becomes 
a  most  important  question,  what  shall  be  done  for  the  continuance 
of  the  Indian  missions?"18 

Father  Van  Quickenborne  was  recalled  and  sent  to  the  Residence  of 
St.  Francis  Assisi  at  Portage  des  Sioux  as  Superior,  in  place  of  Father 
Peter  Verreydt  who  succeeded  him  in  the  Kickapoo  Mission.  Towards 
the  end  of  1837,  rumors  came  that  many  perhaps  all,  of  the  Kickapoo 
tribe  were  preparing  for  another  migration,  to  the  Red  River.  In 
regard  to  this  probable  movement  Father  Verhaegen  wrote  to  the 
Secretary  of  War :  ' '  Considering  the  manners  and  the  inconstancy 
of  the  Indian  tribes,  I  think  that  to  effect  any  lasting  good  among 
them,  it  is  necessary  that  those  who  labor  among  them,  should  conform  as 
much  as  possible  to  their  way  of  living  and  that  expensive  buildings 
should  not  be  constructed  on  their  lands  before  they  are  permanently 
settled  on  farms."10 

Owing  to  the  small  number  of  children  in  the  school  in  1839,  the 
Indian  Office  decided  to  discontinue  the  annual  allowance  of  $500. 
Father  Verhaegen  sent  a  strong  protest  to  Senator  Benton  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs.  The  protest  was  sec- 
onded by  Major  Pilcher,  the  St.  Louis  Superintendent  of  Indian 
Affairs,  and  had  the  intended  effect,  but  only  for  the  period  of  one 
year :  further  allowances  were  to  depend  on  the  success  of  the  school. 
Finally  Father  Verhaegen 's  strict  honesty  in  making  his  report  to  the 
Indian  Office,  brought  a  discontinuance  of  the  government  allow- 
ance of  the  princely  sum  of  $500,  which  the  very  presence  of  the 
missionaries  was  worth  to  the  government  at  least  a  hundred  times 
over.  When  at  last  Chief  Pashishi  with  twenty  families  who  had  been 
the  Fathers  mainstay  in  their  troubles  with  the  Prophet,  withdrew 
to  a  place  about  twenty  miles  distant  from  the  Missouri,  all  seemed 
to  be  over.  Yet  the  Jesuit  Missionaries  resolved  to  stay  even  if  all 
the  nation  were  to  move  away.  The  Jesuit  Residence,  being  in  such 
close  proximity  to  Fort  Leavenworth,  where  a  number  of  Catholic 
Irish  and  German  soldiers  were  glad  to  have  mass  and   the  ministry 


is     Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 
19     Indian  Office  "Records,  MS. 


(irii'  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

of  the  sacraments,  seemed  the  proper  center  for  missionary  efforts  in 
the  promising  settlements  of  Jackson,  Clay,  Clinton  and  Platte  Counties, 
in  western  Missouri.  But  the  situation  at  the  mission  grew  worse  and 
worse,  so  that  it  was  decided  to  suppress  it.  Father  Eysvogels  was 
directed  to  go  to  the  Potawatomi  on  Sugar  Creek. 

Ultimate  failure  is  the  verdict  the  wisdom  of  the  world  would 
readily  pronounce  on  Father  Van  Quickenborne 's  Indian  Missionary 
efforts.  But  considered  in  the  light  of  eternity,  they  bore  manifold 
fruit  of  everlasting  life  in  the  vast  number  of  Baptisms  administered 
and  souls  of  wayward  sinners  reconciled  to  God.  Then  there  is  the 
beautiful  bright  example  of  heroic  courage,  confidence  and  long-suffering 
patience  manifested  by  the  founder  and  his  associates  in  the  trying 
days  of  the  seemingly  hopeless  contest  with  the  powers  of  evil  in  high 
places  and  low. 

It  was  as  if  the  threatening  failure  of  the  Mission  had  at  last 
broken  his  stout  and  loving  heart,  for  a  short  while  after  his  recall, 
he  gently  resigned  his  unconquerable  spirit  into  the  hands  of  His 
Creator  and  Sovereign  Lord. 

AVhat  we  admire  most  in  Father  Felix  Van  Quickenborne  is  not 
his  dauntless  courage,  nor  his  tireless  energy,  nor  his  wonderful  re- 
sourcefulness in  devising  means  to  accomplish  his  projects,  nor,  his 
quick  and  sure  recognition  of  opportunities.  All  these  were  truly 
great  and  admirable  elements  of  his  character.  But  the  trait  that 
characterized  him  best,  and  formed  the  bond  that  united  them  all 
and  directed  them  to  one  grand  end,  was  his  entire  submission  of 
will  to  the  will  of  God.  Father  Felix  Van  Quickenborne,  the  Founder 
of  the  Missouri  Province  of  the  Society,  will  live  on  in  history  as  one 
of  our  greatest  men.  He  was  the  representative  of  the  active  life  in 
religion,  whilst  Father  De  Andreis,  of  blessed  memory,  was  the  em- 
bodiment of  the  life  of  contemplation.  Both  have  accomplished  much 
for  the  Church,  the  one  with  his  missionary  labors,  the  other  with 
his  prayers  and  the  fruit  of  his  contemplations,  but  the  greatest  work 
of  both  is  the  beautiful,  holy,  Christ-like  characters  they  formed  under 
the  influence  of  divine  love  and  grace. 


Chapter  26 
THE  POTAWATOMI  MISSION  OP  COUNCIL  BLUFFS 


Before  1838  two  great  bands  of  the  Potawatomi  had  been  re- 
moved beyond  the  Mississippi  and  assigned  new  homes  along  the  boundary 
of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  here,  as  Father  Verhaegen,  S.  J.,  the 
Provincial  of  the  Jesuits,  informs  the  Fathers  of  the  Provincial  Council 
assembled  at  Baltimore,  May  3rd,  1840:  "A  second  mission  (after  the 
Kickapoo  station)  was  established  in  1838  among  the  Potawatomi 
on  the  Missouri  River,  near  Council  Bluffs,  about  five  hundred  miles 
west  of  the  Kickapoo  station.  Two  Fathers  and  two  lay  brothers  com- 
menced this  establishment  on  the  31st  of  May  of  the  same  year.  On  their 
arrival  they  received  from  the  chief  four  log  cabins  for  a  school,  dwell- 
ing and  other  purposes,  and  from  the  United  States  officer  a  block 
house  (24  feet  square),  which  serves  as  a  chapel.  One  of  the  Fathers 
devotes  four  hours  every  day  to  the  instruction  of  the  children  in  the 
Christian  doctrines;  the  other  makes  frequent  excursions  among  the 
neighboring  tribes,  and  according  to  his  report,  has  baptized  many  chil- 
dren. Nearly  two  hundred  adults  have  been  admitted  to  the  holy  com- 
munion— the  practice  of  bigamy  has  been  in  a  great  measure  removed, 
etc.  The  accounts  from  this  station  are  of  the  most  cheering  character 
and  describe  in  glowing  terms  the  happy  disposition  of  thousands  of 
these  poor  children  of  the  forest,  particularly  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren. ' n 

The  "Two  Fathers"  were  the  celebrated  Peter  De  Smet  and  his 
companion,  Felix  Verreydt,  one  of  the  brothers  was  Andrew  Mazella, 
the  other  George  Miles.  These  "Prairie  Potawatomi"  were  a  mixture 
of  various  tribal  remnants,  the  Potawatomi  predominating  and  giving 
their  name  to  the  entire  people.  One  of  these  leaders  was  the  celebrated 
half-breed  chief,  Billy  Caldwell,  from  Chicago,  who  had  helped  to  found 
the  first  church  in  the  city  under  Father  Saint  Cyr.  The  block  house 
given  to  the  missionaries  by  Colonel  Kearney  was  originally  built  as  a 
fort,  but  as  the  troops  had  departed,  there  was  no  need  of  a  fort,  and 
so  it  was  converted  into  a  church,  the  only  church  in  Council  Bluffs 
for  a  number  of  years.  It  was  still  in  existence  in  1855.  The  mission 
was  placed  imder  the  protection  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  St.  Joseph. 

How  did  the  happy  result  come  about?  As  early  as  1835  Father 
Van  Quickenborne  had  busied  himself  in  Washington  to  obtain  an  ap- 


Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

•  (653) 


654  History   of   the    Archdiocese   of  St.    Louis 

propriation  for  the  proposed  Indian  school  at  Council  Bluffs;  but,  as 
the  Potawatomi  were  not  expected  to  arrive  on  their  reservation  for  at 
least  two  years,  the  request  was  not  granted.  After  Van  Quickenborne's 
death,  Father  Verhaegen,  the  Superior  of  the  Missouri  Mission,  had  re- 
newed the  application  and  fortified  it  with  the  following  petition  of  the 
Potawatomi : 

"To  his  Excellency,  the  Secretary  of  the  War  Department:  The 
petition  of  the  undersigned  chief  and  warriors  of  the  Potawatomi 
nation  respectfully  represent : 

1.  That  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  everything  necessary  for 
their  permanent  location  in  their  new  lands  will  be  procured  and  that, 
agreeably  to  the  benevolent  intentions  of  the  Government,  they  are 
disposed  to  better  their  situation  by  the  introduction  of  the  domestic 
arts  and  education  among  them. 

2.  That  a  school  being  necessary  for  the  instruction  of  their  chil- 
dren, they  wish  to  see  one  established  among  them  with  the  least  possible 
delay. 

3.  That  they  desire  this  school  to  be  conducted  by  missionaries  sent 
to  them  by  the  Catholic  Missionary  Society  of  Missouri,  because  many 
of  the  nation  have  embraced  the  Catholic  religion  and  will  by  this  ar- 
rangement be  enabled  to  enjoy  the  comforts  of  their  religion. 

4.  That  the  common  feeling  of  the  nation  is  in  favor  of  the  Cath- 
olic clergy  who,  speaking  the  English  and  the  French  languages,  can  fully 
second  the  execution  of  the  plan  which  the  Government  proposed  to 
itself  for  the  amelioration  of  their  nation." 

Signed  in  the  presence  of 

B.  D.  Moon,  Capt.  1st.  D. 

Wm,  McPherson 

B.  Caldwell 

B.  R.  Hunt,  Agt. 

Wa  Bon  Su 

Pierish  La  Claire 

(ten  signatures) 

Fountain  Blue  on  the  East  Side  of 

the   Missouri,    near   Council    Bluffs, 

13th  September,  1837.2 
As  even  this  powerful  appeal  elicited  no  reply  from  Washington, 
Father  Verhaegen  had  journeyed  to  the  Capital  and  after  a  tedious 
delay  obtained,  not  the  desired  government  allowance  for  the  proposed 
school,  but  the  Commissioner's  gracious  permission  "to  establish  a 
mission-post    among    the    Potawatomi    and    to    visit,    either    personally 


2     Files  of  Indian  Bureau,  Washington,  D.  C. 


The  Potawatomi  Mission  of  Council  Bluffs  655 

or  through  his  subordinates,  all  the  tribes  settled  within  the  limits  of 
the  Indian  territory." 

Father  Verhaegen  was  duly  thankful  for  the  favor,  and  at  once 
started  for  home  and,  trusting  in  Providence  for  the  necessary  funds, 
organized  the  Potawatomi  Mission  with  Fathers  Verreydt  and  Peter 
De  Smet  in  charge. 

Brother  Mazella  was  the  third  member  of  the  Mission.  General 
William  Clarke,  felt  delighted  at  the  fulfilment  of  his  long-cherished 
desire  that  the  Jesuits  should  undertake  the  Potawatomi  Mission. 

"Preparations  to  equip  and  send  off  the  missionary  party,"  says 
Father  Garraghan  "were  now  made  with  suprising  rapidity.  Only 
eight  days  had  elapsed  since  Father  Verhaegen 's  return  from  Wash- 
ington, when  he  left  St.  Louis,  May  23rd,  1838,  on  the  steamer  Howard, 
in  company  with  Fathers  De  Smet,  Helias,  Eysvogels  and  Brother  Claes- 
sens.  Of  the  party  Father  De  Smet  was  the  only  one  bound  for  Council 
Bluffs.  Father  Helias  was  on  his  way  to  the  vicinity  of  Jefferson  City, 
there  to  inaugurate  a  period  of  missionary  and  parochial  activity  ex- 
tending over  thirty -five  years.  Father  Eysvogels  was  to  replace  Father 
Verreydt  at  the  Kickapoo  village,  while  Brother  Claessens  was  to  re- 
place Brother  Mazella  at  the  same  post.  The  voyage  up  the  Missouri 
was  not  without  incident.  On  the  fourth  day  the  steamer's  engine 
broke  down,  with  the  result  that  the  engineer  had  to  leave  his  disabled 
craft  and  return  to  St.  Louis  to  repair  the  broken  fitting."3  After  a 
second  mishap  to  the  rickety  craft,  Father  Verhaegen  got  off  the  boat 
at  Independence,  while  Father  De  Smet  and  his  two  companions  were 
left  on  board  to  watch  the  baggage  and  continue  their  way  by  water 
as  far  as  Fort  Leavenworth.  From  Independence  Father  Verhaegen, 
having  purchased  a  horse,  made  his  way  by  land  to  Fort  Leaven- 
worth. He  arrived  there  four  days  after  leaving  the  steamer  and 
almost  at  the  same  moment  that  the  steamer  herself  put  in  at  the  Fort.4 
Leaving  Father  De  Smet  to  superintend  the  landing  of  the  party's  bag- 
gage, he  proceeded  with  Father  Eysvogels  and  Brother  Claessens  to 
the  Kickapoo  mission-house.  Early  the  next  morning  he  sent  a  horse  to 
the  Fort  for  Father  De  Smet,  but  the  latter,  in  his  eagerness  to  reach 
his  brethren,  had  started  off  on  his  own  account  only  to  lose  his  way 
in  the  tangled  woodland.  It  was  Father  De  Smet's  introduction  to 
the  perils  of  the  Indian  country.  Late  in  the  afternoon  he  found  him- 
self to  his  great  relief  at  the  mission-house,  only  about  five  miles  distant 
from  the  Fort.     The  account  which  he  wrote  to  Father  Verhaegen  im- 


3  Verhaegen 's  account  abridged  in  "Aimales  de  la  Propagation   de  la  Foi, " 
1838. 

4  Idem,  ibidem. 


656  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

mediately  on  his  arrival  at  Council  Bluffs  was  the  first  in  the  long 
series  of  descriptive  and  narrative  sketches  of  Indian  mission-life  that 
were  to  he  read  with  eager  interest  by  thousands  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic : 

"We  arrived  among  the  Potawatomi  on  the  afternoon  of  the  31st 
of  May. 

"Nearly  2,000  savages,  in  their  finest  rags  and  carefully  painted  in 
all  sorts  of  patterns,  were  awaiting  the  boat  at  the  landing.  I  had  not 
seen  so  imposing  a  sight  nor  such  finedooking  Indians  in  America:  the 
Iowas,  the  Sanks  and  the  Otoes  are  beggars  compared  to  these.  Father 
Verreydt  and  Brother  Mazella  went  at  once  to  the  camp  of  the  half- 
breed  chief,  Mr.  Caldwell,  four  miles  from  the  river.  We  were  far 
from  finding  here  the  four  or  five  hundred  fervent  Catholics  Ave  had 
been  told  of  at  the  College  of  St.  Louis. 

"Of  the  2,000  Potawatomi  who  were  at  the  landing,  not  a  single  one 
seemed  to  have  the  slightest  knowledge  of  our  arrival  among  them,  and 
they  all  showed  themselves  cold  or  at  least  indifferent  towards  us.  Out 
of  some  thirty  families  of  French  half-breeds  two  only  came  to  shake 
hands  with  us ;  only  a  few  have  been  baptized.  All  are  very  ignorant 
concerning  the  truths  of  religion ;  they  cannot  even  make  the  sign  of 
the  cross  nor  say  a  Pater  or  an  Ave.  This,  as  I  suppose,  is  the  cause  of 
their  great  reserve  toward  us.  They  change  their  wives  as  often  as  the 
gentlemen  of  St.  Louis  change  their  coats. 

"A  fortnight  after  we  arrived  we  discovered  one  single  Catholic 
Indian;  he  came  to  see  us  and  asked  our  blessing.  We  tried  to  get  him 
to  stay  with  us;  he  knew  his  prayers  well  and  could  serve  us  for  a 
catechist. 

"Mr.  (Caldwell)  though  far  advanced  in  years,  seems  to  be  a  very 
worthy  honest  man ;  he  is  well  disposed  towards  us  and  ready  to  assist 
us.  The  half-breeds  generally  seem  affable  and  inclined  to  have  their 
children  instructed  and  wre  receive  many  tokens  of  affection  from  the 
Indians  themselves;  they  come  to  see  us  every  day.  The  chief  has  given 
us  possession  of  three  cabins  and  we  have  changed  the  fort  which  Col. 
Kearney  has  given  us  into  a  church."5  The  zealous  Fathers  were  now 
ready  and  anxious  to  begin  the  work  of  converting  their  sadly  neglected 
flock  into  tolerably  good  Christians.  The  obstacles  to  be  overcome  were 
the  open  and  secret  machinations  of  the  medicine  men,  the  prevalence  of 
polygamy,  and  the  deadly  bane  of  drunkenness,  which  at  times  converted 
their  towns  into  images  of  hell.  The  passion  of  the  savages  for  strong 
drink  is  inconceivable. 


•r>     Chittenden  and  Richardson,  "Father  De  Smet's  Life  and  Travels,"  vol.  I, 
p.  158. 


The  Potawatomi  Mission  of  Council  Bluffs  657 

"They  give  horses,  blankets,  all,  in  a  word,  to  have  a  little  of  this 
brutalizing  liquid.  Their  drunkenness  only  ceases  when  they  have  noth- 
ing more  to  drink.  Some  of  our  neophytes  have  not  been  able  to  resist 
this  terrible  torrent,  and  have  allowed  themselves  to  be  drawn  into 
it.  "G  The  annuities  paid  to  the  poor  savages  were  the  occasions  of 
most  detestable  orgies. 

"In  all  directions,  men,  women  and  children  are  seen  tottering 
and  falling;  the  war-whoop,  the  merry  Indian's  song  cries,  savage  roar- 
ings, formed  a  chorus.  Quarrel  succeeded  quarrel.  Blows  follow  blows. 
The  club,  the  tomahawk,  spears,  butcher  knives,  brandished  together 
in  the  air."7 

Here  is  a  transcript  from  Father  De  Smet's  Journal: 

"June  3rd.  A  woman  with  child,  mother  of  four  young  children, 
was  murdered  this  morning  near  the  issue-house.  Her  body  presented 
the  most  horrible  spectacle  of  savage  cruelty ;  she  was  literally  cut  up. 

June  4th.  Burial  of  the  unhappy  woman.  Among  the  provisions 
placed  in  her  grave,  were  several  bottles  of  whiskey.  A  good  idea,  if 
all  had  been  buried  with  her. 

June  6th.  Rumor.  Four  Iowas,  three  Potawatomi,  one  Kickapoo 
are  said  to  have  been  killed  in  drunken  frolics. 

"I  know  from  good  authority  that  upwards  of  eighty  barrels  of 
whiskey  are  on  the  line  ready  to  be  brought  in  at  the  payment. 

No  agent  here  seems  to  have  the  power  to  put  the  laws)  in  execu- 
tion."8 

But  the  work  of  the  Missionaries  was  bearing  fruit  all  the  while 
in  spite  of  the  rampant  scandals.  "Our  congregation  already  amounts 
to  about  300,"  wrote  Father  De  Smet  in  July  1839.  "At  Easter  we 
had  fifty  candidates  for  the  first  communion.  I  recommend,  in  a  very 
special  manner,  these  poor  Indians,  that  they  maintain  their  fervor."9 

August  20,  1838,  Father  De  Smet  communicated  to  his  Superior 
in  St.  Louis,  Father  Verhaegen,  further  particulars  on  the  progress  of 
the  Mission : 

' '  I  think  I  told  you,  the  first  time  I  wrote  you,  that  I  had  already 
baptized  twenty-two  persons.  Today  the  number  of  those  upon  whom 
I  have  had  the  consolation  of  conferring  holy  baptism  amounts  to  seventy- 
six,  among  whom  I  reckon  thirty-four  adults  of  ages  from  twelve  to 
sixty  years.  I  am  sure  your  Reverence  would  be  touched  to  see  with 
what  fervor  these  good  Indians  assist  at  the  holy  sacrifice  and  with 
what  docility  they  listen  to  our  instructions.     For  my  part,  I  assure 


6  Chittenden  and  Richardson,  vol.  T,  p.  184. 

t  Ibidem,  vol.  I,  p.  3  71. 

a  Ibidem,  vol.  I,  p.  172. 

'■>  Ibidem,  vol.  T,  p.  184. 


658  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

you  that  I  see  the  work  of  God  in  it  and  that  I  feel  penetrated  with 
gratitude  toward  those  who  by  their  prayers  cease  not  to  obtain  for 
us  from  Heaven  these  unexpected  successes.  One  of  our  first  conquests 
for  Jesus  Christ  was  the  spouse  of  the  head  chief  of  the  Potawatomi 
nation.  She  enjoys  the  greatest  consideration  among  the  Indians,  and 
I  venture  to  hope,  that  her  example  will  have  a  great  influence  upon 
the  rest  of  her  compatriots.  Since  I  could  not  at  the  beginning  express 
myself  with  sufficient  facility,  I  was  obliged  for  several  weeks  to  make 
use  of  an  interpreter.  As  soon  as  I  found  her  well  enough  instructed 
and  disposed  I  admitted  her  to  the  sacrament  of  regeneration,  which  she 
received  with  all  signs  of  the  liveliest  faith  and  the  most  ardent  piety. 
Eight  other  persons,  who  had  imitated  her  example,  shared  her  happi- 
ness."10 

"My  companion,  Reverend  Father  Verreydt,  lately  visited  a  village 
belonging  to  the  mission,  where  they  promised  to  let  him  baptize  all  the 
little  children. 

"The  feast  we  have  just  been  celebrating  in  honor  of  the  assump- 
tion of  the  glorious  Queen  of  Heaven  will  never  be  forgotten  in  this  mis- 
sion; it  was  celebrated  in  a  poor  wooden  church,  but  I  can  assure  you 
that  no  place  in  the  world  ever  offered  a  more  consoling  spectacle  nor 
one  more  agreeable  to  the  Almighty  and  His  most  holy  Mother. 

' '  In  the  afternoon  of  that  day  I  baptized  eleven  adults  and  a  little 
Indian  girl  who  was  sick.  Three  of  these  adults  had  already  reached 
their  fiftieth  year;  five  were  twenty  and  three  about  fifteen  years  old. 
All  exhibited  during  the  ceremony  a  great  deal  of  piety  and  fervor. 
Afterward  we  sang  together  several  canticles  to  praise  and  bless  the 
Lord's  mercies.  At  the  close  of  the  ceremony,  four  couples  received 
the  nuptial  benediction  according  to  the  Catholic  rite.  All  who  were 
present  were  so  touched  with  what  they  had  seen  and  heard  that,  yield- 
ing to  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  demanded  urgently  to  be  in- 
structed."11 But  as  usual  in  the  work  of  reform,  the  children  were  the 
means  to  open  the  pathway  to  the  hearts  of  the  parents,  and  the  ground- 
work to  success. 

Schools  for  the  Potawatomi  children  were  maintained  by  the 
missionaries,  but  without  government  subsidy.  "We  have  opened  a 
school,"  Father  De  Smet  informed  Father  Roothaan,  the  Jesuit  General, 
(in  Rome)  a  few  weeks  after  the  arrival,  "but  for  the  lack  of  larger 
quarters  we  are  only  able  to  receive  some  thirty  children.  Twice  a 
day  we  give  an  instruction  to  those  whom  we  are  preparing  for  bap- 
tism."12   The  Annual  Letters  for  1839  give  a  rather  glowing  account  of 


10  Chittenden  and  Eiehardson,  vol.  I,  p.  168. 

11  Idem,  Ibidem. 

12  Idem,  ibidem,  p.  16. 


The  Potawatomi  Mission  of  Council  Bluffs  659 

the  results  obtained  in  the  school:  "The  boys,  as  everybody  acknowledges, 
are  changed  into  entirely  new  beings.  People  marvel  to  see  so  many 
boys  studying  from  morning  to  night,  singing  hymns  composed  by  the 
missionaries,  reciting  the  rosary,  and  assisting  at  religious  instructions 
twice  a  day.  So  tenacious  is  the  memory  of  the  boys  that  they  can 
remember  prayers  heard  only  twice.  A  choir  made  up  of  forty  of  their 
number  sang  hymns  in  English,  French,  Latin  and  Potawatomi.  No 
other  school  except  the  Catholic  one  was  kept  on  the  reserve."13 

Sub-agent  Cooper's  report  dated  in  the  fall  of  1840  has  the  follow- 
ing :  ' '  Schools  there  are  none  here  under  the  authority  of  the  govern- 
ment. There  are  two  Roman  Catholic  priests  residing  within  my  agency, 
of  good  moral  character,  who  set  a  good  example  to  the  Indians  and  half- 
breeds.  They  have  a  chapel,  and  school  and  teacher,  and  have  several 
young  Indians  in  the  school,  who  are  coming  on  pretty  well."14 

Of  course,  a  Catholic  could  not  expect  much  more  from  a  govern- 
ment official  in  the  way  of  recognition  of  educational  and  charitable 
work  done  for  the  nation's  wards  without  any  assistance  from  the  na- 
tion 's  treasury.  Mere  toleration  and  a  supercilious  nod  of  approval  was 
thought  amply  sufficient.  Indeed  the  Jesuit  Fathers  did  not  need  the 
world's  approbation:  yet  it  would  have  been  a  gracious  act,  and  grace- 
fully received. 

Father  De  Smet's  graphic  account  of  the  sinking  of  a  Missouri  river 
steamer  within  sight  of  Council  Bluffs,  must  find  a  place  here,  as  it  shows 
the  loving  and  loveable  nature  of  the  man : 

"First,  I  will  narrate  to  you  the  great  loss  that  we  experienced 
towards  the  end  of  April.  Our  Superior  sent  us  from  St.  Louis,  goods 
to  the  amount  of  $500,  in  ornaments  for  the  church,  a  tabernacle,  a 
bell,  and  provisions  and  clothes  for  a  year.  I  had  been  for  a  long  time 
without  shoes,  and  from  Easter  we  were  destitute  of  supplies.  All  the 
Potawatomi  nation  were  suffering  from  scarcity,  having  only  acorns  and 
a  few  wild  roots  for  their  whole  stock  of  food.  At  last,  about  the  20th 
of  April,  they  announced  to  us  that  the  much-desired  boat  was  approach- 
ing. Already  we  saw  it  from  the  highest  of  our  hills.  I  procured  with- 
out delay,  two  carts  to  go  for  the  baggage.  I  reached  there  in  time  to 
witness  a  very  sad  sight.  The  vessel  had  struck  on  a  sawyer,  was  pierced, 
and  rapidly  sinking  in  the  waves.  The  confusion  that  reigned  in  the* 
boat  was  great,  but  happily  no  lives  were  lost.  The  total  damage  was 
valued  at  $40,000.  All  the  provisions  forwarded  by  Government  to 
the  savages  Avere  on  board  of  her.  Of  our  effects  four  articles  were 
saved ;  a  plough,  a  saw,  a  pair  of  boots  and  some  wine.     Providence 


ia     Annual  Letters  for  1839. 

14     Senate  Document  26th  Congress,  2nd  Session,  vol.  I,  p.  397. 


660  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

was  still  favorable  to  us.  With  the  help  of  the  plough,  we  were  enabled 
to  plant  a  large  field  of  corn ;  it  was  the  season  for  furrowing.  We 
are  using  the  saw  to  build  a  better  house  and  enlarge  our  church,  al- 
ready too  small.  With  my  boots  I  can  walk  in  the  woods  and  prairies 
without  fear  of  being  bitten  by  the  serpents  which  throng  there.  And 
the  wine  permits  us  to  offer  to  God  every  day  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the 
Mass,  a  privilege  that  had  been  denied  us  during  a  long  time.  We 
therefore,  returned  with  courage  and  resignation  to  the  acorns  and 
roots  until  the  30th  of  May.  That  day  another  boat  arrived.  By  the 
same  steamer,  I  received  news  from  you,  as  well  as  a  letter  from  my 
family  and  from  the  good  Carmelite  superior."15 

Prom  the  baptismal  and  marriage  registers  of  St.  Joseph's  Mis- 
sion Father  Garraghan  was  able  to  gather  data  concerning  the  ministry 
of  the  Fathers  during  the  three  years  that  the  Mission  was  maintained. 
The  baptisms  during  this  period  numbered  308.  The  first  recorded 
is  that  of  Cather  Bourbonne,  a  Potawatomi,  on  June  9th,  1838.  She 
is  the  first  person  whose  baptism  at  Council  Bluffs  is  attested-  by  docu- 
mentary evidence.  All  baptismal  entries  up  to  February  8th,  1840, 
are  in  Father  De  Smet's  handwriting.  Caldwell,  the  principal  business 
chief  of  the  nation,  was  god-father  to  John  Naakeze,  baptized  December 
29th,  1838,  at  the  age  of  approximately  102.  The  last  baptism  in  the 
mission  register  is  in  Father  Eysvogels'  hand  and  bears  date  July  17, 
1841.  The  first  entries  in  the  marriage  register  are  dated  August  15, 
1838.  On  that  day  Father  De  Smet,  joined  in  Christian  wedlock 
Pierre  Chevalier  and  Kwi-wa-te-no-lue,  and  Louis  Wilmot  (Ouilmette) 
and  Maria  Wa-wiet-wo-kue.  As  may  be  readily  surmised,  these  are  the 
earliest  certified  marriages  in  the  annals  of  Council  Bluffs.  The  mar- 
riage ceremonies  performed  by  Father  De  Smet  at  the  Mission  num- 
bered 20  in  all,  the  last  being  dated  January  5th,  1840.  After  a  stay 
of  several  months  at  the  Novitiate  whither  he  had  returned  from  his 
Indians,  broken  down  in  health,  Father  Christian  Hoecken,  was  at- 
tached to  St.  Joseph's  Mission  in  the  summer  of  1840.  Four  marriages 
are  credited  to  him  in  the  marriage  register  of  the  Mission,  the  earliest 
dated  August  6,  1840,  and  the  last  January  28,  1841. 1G 

At  the  close  of  his  article  on  the  "Potawatomi  Mission  of  Council 
•Bluffs"  Father  Garraghan  gives  a  concise  and  lucid  account  of  the 
last  days  of  the  Mission : 

"On  April  29th,  Father  De  Smet  took  passage  on  the  St.  Peter's,  a 
steamboat  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  then  making  its  annual  trip 


15  Chittenden  and  Eiehardson,  De  Smet,  vol.  I,  p.  184. 

16  Garraghan,  ' ' The  Potawatomi  Mission  of  Council  Bluffs, "  "St.  Louis  Cath- 
olic Historical  Eeview, "  vol.  Ill,  pp.  171  and  172. 


The  Potawatomi  Mission  of  Council  Bluffs  661 

to  the  Yellowstone  to  carry  supplies  to  the  Indians  and  bring  down 
their  furs  in  return.  He  had  planned  to  visit  the  Yankton  Sioux  in 
their  village,  some  360  miles  above  Council  Bluffs,  in  order  to  do  a  little 
missionary  work  among  the  tribe  and  attempt  to  establish  relations  of 
amity  and  peace  between  the  latter  and  the  Potawatomi,  who  ever 
since  their  arrival  at  Council  Bluffs,  had  lived  in  mortal  dread  of  their 
bellicose  neighbors  to  the  North. 

"Having  in  the  course  of  the  voyage  instructed  and  baptized  on 
board  the  steamer  a  woman  and  her  three  children  and  heard  the  con- 
fessions of  a  number  of  voyagers  bound  for  the  Rocky  Mountains,  Father 
De  Smet  arrived  May  11  at  the  Yankton  village.  Here  he  met  the  Yank- 
ton chiefs  and  warriors  in  council  and  was  hospitably  entertained  by  them 
at  a  feast,  at  which  he  took  occasion  to  discuss  with  them  the  princi- 
pal object  of  his  visit,  the  establishment  of  a  durable  peace  between  them 
and  his  spiritual  children,  the  Potawatomi. 

"His  efforts  met  with  success.  He  persuaded  the  Sioux  to  make 
presents  to  the  children  of  the  Potawatomi  warriors  they  had  killed  and 
to  agree  to  visit  the  Potawatomi  and  smoke  with  them  the  calumet  of 
peace.  In  the  evening  of  the  same  day  on  which  the  council  was  held 
he  explained  the  Apostle's  Creed  to  the  Indians  and  baptized  a  great 
number  of  their  children.  His  mission  thus  accomplished,  he  seized 
the  first  opportunity  of  returning  to  Council  Bluffs,  making  the  down- 
stream voyage  in  the  only  craft  he  found  available,  a  dugout,  or  hol- 
lowed-out  log,  ten  feet  long  by  one  and  half  wide.  Guided  by  two  skill- 
ful pilots,  and  traveling  from  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  sunset,  the 
frail  bark  covered  the  360  miles  to  Council  Bluffs  in  three  days. 

"In  the  summer  of  1839  there  arrived  at  Council  Bluffs  two  young 
Flathead  braves,  who  were  making  the  long  journey  from  their  home- 
land west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  St.  Louis  for  the  purpose  of  secur- 
ing Catholic  missionaries  for  their  tribe.  The  zeal  of  Father  De  Smet 
was  at  once  aroused  and,  disappointed  as  he  was  over  conditions  in  the 
Potawatomi  reserve  and  the  prospects  of  future  missionary  labor  in 
that  quarter,  he  eagerly  offered  himself  to  answer  the  signal  of  spiritual 
distress  that  came  at  this  opportune  moment  from  the  remote  Northwest. 
Father  Verhaegen,  the  Jesuit  Vice-Provincial  in  St.  Louis,  having  de- 
termined to  ascertain  first  what  the  prospects  held  out  by  the  new  mis- 
sionary field  thus  opened  up  to  his  Order,  dismissed  the  Flathead  dele- 
gates with  a  promise  that  a  missionary  would  be  dispatched  to  their 
tribe  on  a  prospecting  trip  early  in  the  coming  spring.  Father  De  Smet 
was  commissioned  to  undertake  this  trip,  arriving  in  St.  Louis  from 
Council  Bluffs  the  last  day  of  February  1840.  His  status  as  resident 
missionary  at  Council  Bluffs  thus  came  to  an  end  and  he  entered  upon 
that   period   of   intensive   missionary    effort   on   behalf   of   the    Oregon 


662  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Indians  with  which  his  career  is  most  closely  identified.  Father  De 
Smet  left  Westport  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  for  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains in  April  1840,  discharged  satisfactorily  the  purpose  of  his  visit 
to  the  Flatheads,  whom  he  found  eagerly  awaiting  the  advent  of  Catholic 
missionaries,  and  returned  home  by  the  Missouri  River,  making  a  stop 
in  November  at  Council  Bluffs  where  he  found  that,  during  his  absence, 
conditions  had  taken  on  a  more  discouraging  aspect  than  ever.17 

"The  very  night  of  our  arrival  among  our  Fathers  at  Council  Bluffs, 
the  river  closed.  It  would  be  in  vain  for  me  to  attempt  to  tell  what  I 
felt  at  finding  myself  once  more  amidst  our  brothers,  after  having 
travelled  2,000  Flemish  leagues,  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  dangers 
and  across  the  territories  of  the  most  barbarous  nations.  I  had,  however, 
the  grief  of  observing  the  ravages  which  unprincipled  men,  liquor-sellers, 
had  caused  in  this  budding  mission.  Drunkenness,  with  the  invasion 
of  the  Sioux  on  the  other  hand,  had  finally  dispersed  my  poor  savages. 
While  awaiting  a  more  favorable  turn  of  events,  the  good  Fathers 
Verreydt  and  (Christian)  Hoecken  busy  themselves  with  the  cares  of 
their  holy  ministry  among  some  fifty  families  that  have  had  the  courage 
to  resist  these  two  enemies.  I  discharged  my  commission  to  them  from 
the  Sioux,  and  I  venture  to  hope  that  in  the  future  there  will  be  quiet 
in  that  quarter."18 

In  the  Summer  of  1841  the  situation  of  Council  Bluffs  from  the 
view-point  of  missionary  endeavor  continued  to  be  distinctly  discourag- 
ing. Writing  in  July  to  Father  Van  Assche  at  Florissant,  Father 
Verreydt  dwells  on  the  conditions  which  were  to  result  in  a  few  weeks 
in  the  definite  abandonment  of  the  mission. 

' '  Our  people  here  like  us  very  much ;  but  they  do  not  want  to 
listen  to  our  good  counsel.  Getting  drunk  is  the  only  fault  they  have ; 
otherwise,  we  Avould  live  here  in  a  Paradise.  But  now,  in  the  condi- 
tion they  are,  it  is  indeed  very  disagreeable  to  live  among  them.  As  you 
are  at  home  in  the  charming-business,  could  your  Reverence  not  give 
me  a  means  to  make  fellows  here  sober  men  and  sober  women ;  for 
women,  as  well  as  men,  get  tipsy  whenever  they  have  a  chance.  Oh,  my 
friend,  it  looks  very  bad  to  see  these  poor  creatures  often  like  hogs 
wallowing  in  the  mud.  I  think  you  have  done  very  well  not  to  have 
come  out  to  these  frontier  places,  where  almost  everybody  is  trying 
to  delude  and  impose  upon  these  poor  creatures.  Liquor  is  brought 
in  here  in  whole  cargoes,  which  reduces  our  Indians  to  extreme  poverty, 
which  is,  as  you  know,  the  mother  of  all  vice.     Such  is  our  position 


17     Garraghan,  op.  cit.,  p.  3  72. 

is     Chittenden  and  Richardson,  De  Smet,  vol.  I,  p.  358. 


The  Potawatomi  Mission  of  Council  Bluffs  663 

here.  You  may,  of  course,  pray  hard  for  us  all.  We  cannot  help  it ; 
patience  will  not  cure  the  evil,  I  fear."19 

The  United  Nation  or  the  Prairie  Potawatomi,  had  thus  signally 
disappointed  the  hopes  once  entertained  of  their  advancement  in  the 
ways  of  upright  and  Christian  living.  On  the  other  hand,  their  kins- 
men of  Sugar  Creek,  the  Potawatomi  of  Indiana  or  the  Forest  Pota- 
watomi of  whom  we  shall  give  an  account  in  our  next  chapter,  were 
steadily  advancing  to  the  condition  of  an  orderly  and  edifying 
Christian  community. 

The  conclusion  was  accordingly  reached  to  abandon  Council  Bluffs 
as  a  center  of  resident  missionary  endeavor  and  transfer  the  Fathers 
stationed  there  to  Sugar  Creek.  In  pursuance  of  instructions  received 
from  St.  Louis,  Father  Verreydt  and  Christian  Hoecken,  together 
with  Brothers  Mazzella  and  Miles  bade  farewell  to  Council  Bluffs  in 
August  1841  and  journeyed  to  Sugar  Creek,  which  they  reached  on 
the  29th  of  that  month.  Thenceforth  the  Iowa  Potawatomi  were 
without  spiritual  aid  except  for  an  occasional  visit  of  Father  Christian 
Hoecken  from  Sugar  Creek.  In  April  1842,  the  latter  administered 
four  baptisms  at  Council  Bluffs.  In  November  1844,  he  administered 
twenty  more  at  the  same  post,  all  to  Indians  or  half-breeds.  In  May, 
1846,  he  was  again  with  the  United  Nation,  baptizing  on  this  occasion 
thirty-eight  infants  and  a  dying  squaw.  This  was  apparently  the  last 
visit  of  a  Catholic  priest  to  Council  Bluffs  before  the  closing  of  the 
Potawatomi  reserve.  Two  years  later  the  Indians  were  removed  to 
their  new  lands  on  the  Kansas  River  assigned  them  under  the  treaty  of 
1846,  where  they  were  united  with  the  Sugar  Creek  division  of  the 
tribe  and  came  again  under  the  spiritual  care  of  Jesuit  missionaries. 


lo     Verreydt  to  Van  Assche,  July  2,  ]841,  Archives  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


(  '  1 1 APTER  27 

THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  OREGON  MISSIONS 


Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1831,  a  delegation  of  four  Indians 
from  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  reached  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  Their 
language  was  different  from  all  the  Indian  dialects  with  which  the 
inhabitants  had  some  acquaintance.  Yet,  as  these  visitors  gradually 
made  themselves  understood,  it  was  learnt  that  they  had  come  to  obtain 
religious  teachers  for  their  people,  the  Flat-Head  and  Nez  Perce  tribes 
near  the  Pacific  Ocean.  They  visited  the  Catholic  Cathedral  and  at- 
tended divine  service  with  all  possible  reverence.  Owing  to  the  change 
of  climate  and  the  unwonted  life  in  a  city,  these  children  of  the 
wilderness  grew  ill ;  tAvo  of  them  were  baptized  on  their  death  bed 
by  Fathers  Roux  and  Saulnier  of  the  Cathedral,  and,  were  buried  with 
all  the  rites  of  the  Church.  The  other  two  started  in  the  Spring  of 
1832,  on  their  return  voyage,  but  only  one  reached  his  home,  as 
the  other  died  on  the  way.  These  are  the  simple  facts  of  the  occur- 
rences, similar  in  many  ways  to  numerous  other  delegations  sent  to 
St.  Louis  by  the  Indian  tribes  round  about  for  the  purpose  of  obtain- 
ing a  Black-Robe  as  their  guide  and  teacher.  Yet  this  visit  is  specially 
remarkable  in  our  early  annals,  not  only  on  account  of  the  vast 
distance  these  seekers  after  God  had  traveled,  but  even  more  so  on 
account  of  the  great  and  lasting  results  it  eventually  matured  in 
the  Catholic  missions  of  Oregon.  There  is  another  point  of  interest 
connected  with  this  embassy,  namely  the  legendary  embellishment  it 
has  found  up  to  the  present  day,  in  the  Protestant  missionary  story 
of  the  saving  of  Oregon  for  the  Union,  or  as  it  is  called  by  later 
historical  writers,  "the  Marcus  Whitman,  legend."1 

The  legendary  story  takes  account  of  the  facts  as  we  have  re- 
lated them  with  one  exception.  Not  for  Black-Robes,  Catholic  mission- 
aries, did  the  Flat-Head  and  Nez  Perce  come  from  the  far-away 
Pacific  slope,  but  for  the  Book,  the  Book  of  Heaven,  the  Bible.  And 
if  they  asked  Governor  Clark  for  a  missionary,  it  was  not  a  Catholic 
priest  they  desired  but  a  Protestant  preacher.  After  two  had  died, 
and  been  buried  in  the  Cathedral  Cemetery,  the  two  remaining  delegates 
were  entertained  at  a  banquet  by  General  Clark;  at  which,  the  Old 
Chief,  a  Nez  Perce,  is  introduced  as  delivering  the  following  lament. 
"T  came  to  You,  the  Great  Father  of  the  "White  Men,  with  but  one 
eye  partly  opened.  I  am  to  return  to  my  people  beyond  the  mountains 
of  snow  at  the  setting  sun,  with  both  eyes  in  darkness,  and  both  arms 


i     Abbreviated  from  my  Account  of  the  Flathead  and  Nez  Perce  Delegation  to 
St.  Louis,  1831-1839,  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  II,  pp.  183  ss. 

(664) 


The  Beginnings  of  the  Oregon  Missions  665 

broken.  I  came  for  teachers  and  am  going  back  without  them.  I 
came  to  You  for  the  Book  of  God.  You  have  not  led  me  to  it.  You 
have  taken  me  to  Your  big  house,  where  multitudes  of  Your  children 
assemble,  and  where  Your  young  women  dance  as  we  do  not  allow 
our  women  to  dance,  and  You  have  taken  me  to  many  other  big  houses 
where  the  people  bow  down  to  each  other  and  light  torches  to  worship 
pictures.  The  Book  of  God  was  not  there.  And  I  am  to  return  to  my 
people  to  die  in  darkness."2 

This  parting  speech  of  the  Nez  Perce  chief,  was  first  published 
by  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Spalding  in  the  Walla-Walla  Statesman,  February 
16th,  1866,  about  thirty-four  years  after  the  supposed  event.  In  1833, 
we  find  the  Lament  beautifully  amplified  and  Indianized  in  the  Rev. 
William  Borrow 's  "Oregon":  "I  came  to  You  over  the  trail  of  many 
moons  from  the  setting  sun."  .  .  .  and  so  on  in  the  vein  of  Brand 
and  Logan  "My  people  sent  me  to  get  the  white  man's  Book  from 
Heaven."  "You  took  me  where  they  worship  the  Great  Spirit  with 
candles,  and  the  Book  was  not  there  .  .  .  You  made  my  feet  heavy 
with  burdens  of  gifts,  and  my  moccasins  will  grow  old  in  carrying 
them,  but  the  Book  is  not  among  them." 

In  William  Mowry's  book  (Marcus  Whitman  and  the  Early  Days 
of  Oregon,  1901),  the  romantic  address  is  printed  in  full  as  an  authentic 
fact  of  history,  thus  leading  Edwin  Eeels  to  make  the  dramatic 
statement:  "These  were  the  words  that  saved  Old  Oregon  and  the 
Pacific  Northwest  to  the  government  of  the  United  States."3 


2  Cf.  Johnson,  C.  T.,  "The  Evolution  of  a  Lament,"  in  "Washington  His- 
torical Quarterly,"  vol.  II,  No.  3. 

3  Cf.  Johnson,  op.  eit.  The  historian  is  often  called  upon  to  cut  down  the 
tangled  undergrowth  of  legendary  stories  and  time-honored  propaganda  in  order  to 
make  room  for  the  field  or  garden  of  true  history.  F.  H.  Hodder,  of  the  University 
of  Kansas,  does  this  in  a  very  able  article  in  ' '  The  Mississippi  Valley  Historical 
Review,"  for  March  1922,  under  the  title  "Propaganda  as  a  Source  of  American 
History. ' '  We  too  subscribe  the  few  words  with  which  Mr.  Hodder  cuts  down  the 
luxuriant  tale,  ' '  How  Whitman  saved  Oregon  for  the  Union. ' ' — ' '  I  can  barely  allude 
to  the  most  extraordinary  achievement  of  propaganda  in  our  history  and  that  is  the 
general  acceptance  of  the  claim  that  Marcus  Whitman  saved  Oregon — a  claim  which 
Professor  Edward  G.  Bourne  and  Mr.  William  I.  Marshall  disproved  twenty  years 
ago,  but  which  is  nevertheless  still  rampant  in  certain  sections  of  the  country.  In 
its  extreme  form  the  story  claimed  that  Whitman  reached  Washington  just  in  time  to 
prevent  Webster  from  trading  Oregon  to  Ashburton  for  a  ' '  codfishery, ' '  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  Whitman  did  not  visit  Washington  until  a  year  after  the  Ashburton 
Treaty  was  concluded.  It  is  popularly  believed,  as  a  result  of  the  campaign  slogan 
"fifty-four  forty,"  that  all  of  Oregon  was  in  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States.  Seven  times  the  United  States  had  offered  to  settle  the  Oregon 
boundary  upon  the  line  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel  and  as  often  Great  Britain  had 
stood  for  the  line  of  the  Columbia  River.  We  could  not  therefore  reasonably  claim 
anything  north  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel  and  Great  Britain  could  not  claim  anything 
south  of  the  Columbia.  The  only  part  of  Oregon  really  in  dispute  was,  therefore, 
between  the  Columbia  and  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  and  that  part  of  Oregon  Whitman 
never  reached. ' ' 


666  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

I  have  dwelt  at  greater  length  on  the  so-called  Indian  Lament 
because  it  has  been  used  by  Protestant  writers  to  clinch  the  argument 
in  favor  of  the  view  that  the  purpose  of  the  Flat-Head  and  Nez  Perce 
delegation  to  St.  Louis  was  to  obtain  teachers  of  the  Protestant  brand 
of  Christianity,  together  with  their  book,  the  Bible,  and  not  what 
Bishop  Rosati  offered  them,  Catholic  missionaries,  and  the  Holy  Mass. 

Now  what  are  the  real  facts  of  the  case?  Or  what  are  the 
historical  grounds  for  the  Catholic  version  of  this  interesting  episode 
in  our  missionary  annals?  Joseph  Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  was 
a  most  exact  and  painstaking  recorder  of  contemporary  events.  In 
his  Letter  Book  for  1831,  he  notes  under  date  of  December  31,  that 
he  had  sent  a  letter  to  Mgr.  Pelagaud,  of  Lyon,  with  information  in 
regard  to  two  savages,  Tetes  Plattes,4  baptized  and  subsequently  buried 
in  St.  Louis. 

This  letter  was  published  in  the  Annals  of  the  Association  of  the 
Propagation  of  the  Faith.  Under  date  of  December  31,  1831,  Bishop 
Rosati  wrote  as  follows: 

"Some  three  months  ago  four  Indians,  who  live  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains  near  the  Columbia  River  (Clark's  Fork  of  the  Columbia) 
arrived  at  St.  Louis.  After  visiting  General  Clark,  who,  in  his 
celebrated  travels  has  visited  their  nation  and  has  been  well  treated 
by  them,  they  came  to  see  our  church  and  appeared  to  be  exceedingly 
well  pleased  with  it.  Unfortunately,  there  was  not  one  who  under- 
stood their  language.  Sometime  afterwards  two  of  them  fell  danger- 
ously ill.     I  was  then  absent  from  St.  Louis. 

"Two  of  our  priests  visited  them  and  the  poor  Indians  seemed  to 
be  delighted  with  the  visit.  They  made  signs  of  the  cross  and  other 
signs  which  appeared  to  have  some  relation  to  baptism.  The  Sacrament 
was  administered  to  them;  they  gave  expressions  of  satisfaction.  A 
little  cross  was  presented  to  them.  They  took  it  with  eagerness,  kissed 
it  repeatedly  and  it  could  be  taken  from  them  only  after  death.  It 
was  truly  distressing  that  they  could  not  be  spoken  to.  Their  remains 
were  carried  to  the  church,  and  their  funeral  was  conducted  with  all 
the  Catholic  ceremonies.  The  other  two  attended  and  acted  very  be- 
comingly. We  have  since  learned  from  a  Canadian,  who  has  crossed 
the  country  which  they  inhabit,  that  they  belong  to  the  nation  of 
Flat-Heads,  who  as  also  another  called  Black  Feet,  had  received  some 
notions  of  the  Catholic  religion  from  two  Indians  who  had  been  to 
Canada,  and  who  had  related  what  they  had  seen,  giving  a  striking 
description  of  the  beautiful  ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  worship  and 
telling  them  that  it  was  also  the  religion  of  the  whites.  They  have 
retained  what  they  could  of  it,  and  they  have  learned  to  make  the 
Sign  of  the  Cross  and  pray.    These  nations  have  not  yet  been  corrupted 


4     Flat-head  Indians. 


The  Beginnings  of  the  Oregon  Missions  667 

by  intercourse  with  others.  Their  manners  and  customs  are  simple 
and  they  are  very  numerous.  Mr.  Condamine  (Rev.  Matthew  Con- 
damine  was  one  of  Bishop  Rosati's  clergy  attached  to  the  Cathedral) 
has  offered  himself  to  go  to  them  next  spring  with  another.  In  the 
meantime  we  shall  obtain  some  further  information  of  what  we  have 
been  told  and  of  the  means  of  travel. '  '5 

The  Book  of  Sepultures  1781-1832,  of  the  St.  Louis  Cathedral, 
contains  the  entries  of  Baptisms  and  Burials  of  the  two  members  of 
the  delegation,  the  one  signed  by  Benedict  Roux,  the  other  by  Edmond 
Saulnier. 

General  Clark,  in  company  with  Meriwether  Lewis,  was  among 
the  first  white  men  that  came  to  the  country  about  the  Columbia 
River,  September  1805.  At  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing,  1831- 
1832,  he  was  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  in  the  West.  He  was 
a  man  of  untarnished  honor,  and  highly  respected  by  all.  His  interest 
in  the  Indians  was  generous  and  unselfish.  Our  Flat-Head  and  Nez 
Perce  delegation  called  on  him,  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  enjoyed 
his  hospitality.  The  death  of  the  two  members  occurred  at  his  house. 
Let  us  hear  what  General  Clark  has  to  say  on  the  purpose  of  the 
embassy.  As  we  have  not  his  direct  testimony  on  the  matter,  we 
must  elicit  it  from  the  testimony  of  others.  William  Walker  Jr.,  a 
halfbreed  of  the  Wyandotte  nation,  member  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
and  government  Indian  Agent,  came  to  St.  Louis  in  1832  and  called 
on  his  chief,  General  Clark.  Being  told  of  three  Indians  from  the 
West  lying  ill,  in  another  room,  he  visited  them  at  General  Clark's 
request  and  learnt,  as  he  himself  states,  that  they  had  come  3000  miles 
on  foot  (should  be  2000  miles  on  horse  back)  to  consult  their  Great 
Father  on  very  important  matters. 

William  Walker  professes  to  give  General  Clark's  account  of  the 
motives  that  brought  the  Flat-Heads  and  Nez  Perce  to  St.  Louis.  He 
does  not  say  that  they  came  to  get  the  "Book"  meaning  the  Bible, 
but  rather  to  find  out  the  truth  about  what  they  had  heard  concerning 
the  Christian  religion.  From  other  sources  we  know,  that  General 
Clark  sent  them  to  the  Catholic  Cathedral  for  further  information. 
He  is  quoted  by  Protestant  authorities  as  saying :  ' '  The  cause  of  the 
visit  of  the  Indians  was :  Two  of  their  number  had  received  an  education 
at  some  Jesuitical  School  in  Montreal,  Canada,  and  had  returned  to 
the  tribe,  and  endeavored,  as  far  as  possible,  to  instruct  their  brethren 
how  the  whites  approached  the  Great  Spirit.  A  spirit  of  inquiry  was 
aroused,  a  deputation  was  appointed,  and  a  tedious  journey  of  three 
thousand  miles  was  performed  to  learn  for  themselves  of  Jesus  and 
Him  crucified."6 


5     Cf.  Palladino,  "Indian  and   White  in  the  Northwest,"  Baltimore,  1894. 
o     E.  W.  Sehon,  Letter  to  "Christian  Advocate,"  May  10,  1833.  Cf.  C.  Goodman, 
' '  Trans-Mississippi  West. ' ' 


668  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

There  are  some  who  attribute  the  first  knowledge  of  the  Christian 
religion  among  the  Nez  Perce  to  Pierre  C.  Pambrun,  a  Koman  Cath- 
olic. This  gentleman  certainly  did  spread  the  gospel  among  the  Indians 
of  Oregon  but  does  not  seem  to  have  prior  claims  to  the  two  Indians 
of  whom  both  Bishop  Rosati  and  General  Clark  give  testimony. 

But  whatever  persons,  White  or  Indian,  were  instrumental  in 
bringing  the  earliest  knowledge  of  the  Christian  religion  to  the  tribes 
on  the  Columbia  River,  it  is  plain  that  to  them,  Christianity  meant 
Catholicity,  and  furthermore,  that  their  instructions  had  fallen  on  good 
ground.  Bancroft  in  the  History  of  Oregon  has  a  long  note  in  further 
elucidation  of  the  acknowledged  fact,  that  the  Flat-Heads  were  in 
the  habit  of  placing  a  wooden  cross  at  the  head  of  the  graves  of  their 
dead.  He  also  gives  a  number  of  religious  ideas  and  practices  of  the  na- 
tives: "It  will  be  remembered,"  says  Bancroft,  "that  the  Dalles  people 
observed  Sunday  as  a  holiday,  in  the  manner  of  the  Catholic  Church 
...  So  well  advanced  in  the  Christian  religion  were  they  (the  Flat- 
Heads,  Nez  Perces  and  their  neighbors),  according  to  Bonneville,  that 
they  would  not  raise  their  camps  on  Sunday,  nor  fish,  hunt  or  trade  on 
that  day,  except  in  case  of  severe  necessity,  but  pass  a  portion  of  the 
day  in  religious  ceremonies,  the  chiefs  leading  the  devotions  and  after- 
wards giving  a  sort  of  sermon  upon  abstaining  from  lying,  stealing, 
cheating  and  quarrelling,  and  the  duty  of  being  hospitable  to  strangers. 
Prayers  and  exhortations  were  also  made  in  the  morning  on  week 
days  .  .  .  Besides  Sundays  they  likewise  observe  the  cardinal  holidays 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church."  Of  the  Flat-Heads  John  Wyeth,  a 
companion  of  Captain  Bonneville,  says:  "I  have  never  known  an  in- 
stance of  theft  among  them,  neither  have  I  known  any  quarrelling  nor 
lying  .  .  .  They  have  a  mild,  playful,  laughing  disposition,  and  this 
is  portrayed  in  their  countenances.  They  are  polite  and  unobstrusive. 
With  all  their  quietness  of  spirit,  they  are  brave  when  put  to  the 
test  and  are  an  overmatch  for  an  equal  number  of  Black  Feet,  their 
inveterate  enemies."  All  these  traits  had  been  observed  among  the 
Flat-Heads  and  Nez  Perce  long  before  any  missionary  Catholic  or 
Protestant,  had  been  seen  among  them,  and  find  their  best,  I  may 
say  their  only  satisfactory  explanation  in  the  fact  that  as  early  as 
1816,  Catholic  Iroquois  had  instructed  them,  as  best  they  could,  in 
the  tenets  and  practices  of  the  Catholic  religion.7 

We  have  seen  from  the  testimony  so  far  adduced  that  two  of 
the  St.  Louis  party  of  four  Flat-Heads  and  Nez  Perce  received  Bap- 
tism at  the  hand  of  the  priests  of  the  St.  Louis  Cathedral  and,  having 
died,  were  buried  with  the  Catholic  rites.  What  became  of  the  two 
remaining  members  of  the  embassy?  In  1841  there  appeared  the 
celebrated  work  of  George  Catlin,  Letters  and  Notes  on  the  Manners, 


i     Bancroft,  "History  of  Oregon,"  vol.  I,  pp.  116-118. 


The  Beginnings  of  the  Oregon  Missions  669 

Customs  and  Conditions  of  the  North  American  Indians,  written  during 
the  eight  years  of  travel  from  1834-1839.  Letter  No.  48,  in  Volume  II 
refers  to  these  Indians,  who  as  Catlin  states,  "were  a  part  of  a  delega- 
tion that  came  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  St.  Louis  a  few  years 
since  to  enquire  for  the  truth  of  the  representation  which,  they  said, 
some  white  men  had  made  amongst  them,  that  our  religion  was  better 
than  theirs,  and  that  they  would  all  be  lost,  if  they  did  not  embrace 
it,  Two  old  and  venerable  men  of  this  party  died  in  St.  Louis,  and 
I  traveled  2000  miles  (companion  of  these  two  young  fellows)  toward 
their  own  country,  and  became  much  pleased- with  their  manners  and 
dispositions.  The  last  mentioned  of  the  two  died  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Yellowstone  River  on  his  way  home,  with  disease  he  had  contracted 
in  the  civilized  district ;  and  the  other .  one,  I  have  since  learned, 
arrived  safely  among  his  friends,  conveying  to  them  the  melancholy 
intelligence  of  the  deaths  of  all  the  rest  of  the  party ;  but  with  as- 
surances, at  the  same  time,  from  General  Clark  and  many  Reverend 
gentlemen  that  the  report  which  they  had  heard  was  well  founded, 
and  that  missionaries — good  and  religious  men — would  soon  come 
amongst  them  to  teach  this  religion,  so  that  they  could  all  understand 
and  have  the  benefits  of  it.  When  I  first  heard  the  report  of  the 
object  of  this  extraordinary  mission  across  the  mountains  I  could 
scarcely  believe  it,  but  on  conversing  with  General  Clark  on  a  later 
occasion,  I  was  fully  convinced  of  the  fact,"8 

It  will  be  seen  that  George  Catlin 's  report  of  what  he  heard  from 
the  two  surviving  members  of  the  Nez  Perce  and  Flat-Head  Indian 
delegation,  agrees  substantially  with  that  of  Bishop  Rosati,  except 
that  the  first  bringers  of  Gospel  tidings,  according  to  Rosati,  were  "two 
Indians;"  according  to  Catlin,  "some  white  men;"  but  this  differ- 
ence is  not  necessarily  contradictory,  but  rather  complementary,  in 
as  far  as  some  of  the  Indians  may  have  first  heard  of  the  Christian 
religion  from  some  Catholic  woodranger  or  trader,  whilst  others  de- 
pended for  their  information  on  their  Iroquois  friends  from  Canada. 
But  the  first  deputation  having  failed  in  its  attempt  to  get  a  Mission- 
ary from  St.  Louis,  a  second  and  then  a  third  one  was  sent,  and  finally 
obtained  the  desired  object  of  the  Flat-Heads  and  Nez  Perce.  Of 
these  three  visits  both  Father  Verhaegen,  the  Superior  of  the  Jesuits, 
and  Bishop   Rosati  have  left  us  interesting  accounts : 

The   Bishop's   letter   is   dated   St.    Louis,    October   20,    1839,    and 
addressed  to  the  Father  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  at  Rome : 
' '  Reverend  Father  : 

Eight  or  nine  years  ago  (1831)  some  of  the  Flat-Head  nation  came 
to  St.  Louis.  The  object  of  their  journey  was  to  ascertain  if  the  re- 
ligion spoken  of  with   so  much   praise  by  the   Iroquois  warriors   was 


s     Catlin,  op.  citato. 


670  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  SI.  Louis 

in  reality  such  as  represented,  and  above  all,  if  the  nations  that  have 
white  skins  had  adopted  and  practiced  it.  Soon  after  their  arrival 
in  St.  Louis  they  fell  sick  (two  of  them),  called  for  a  priest  and 
earnestly  asked  to  be  baptized.  Their  request  was  promptly  granted 
and  they  received  the  holy  baptism  with  great  devotion.  Then  holding 
the  crucifix  they  covered  it  with  affectionate  kisses  and  expired. 

"Some  years  after  (1835)  the  Flat-Head  nation  sent  again  one 
of  the  Iroquois  nation  to  St.  Louis  (Old  Ignace).  There  he  came  with 
two  of  his  children,  who  were  instructed  and  baptized  by  the  Fathers 
of  the  College.  He  asked  missionaries  for  his  countrymen  and  started 
with  the  hope  that  one  day  the  desire  of  the  nation  would  be  accom- 
plished, but  on  his  journey  was  killed  by  the  infidel  Indians  of  the 
Sioux  nation. 

"At  last,"  continued  Bishop  Rosati,  "a  third  expedition  (left- 
handed  Peter  and  Young  Ignace)  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  after  a  voyage 
of  three  months.  It  was  composed  of  two  Christian  Iroquois.  These 
Indians,  who  talk  French,  have  edified  us  by  their  truly  exemplary 
conduct  and  interested  us  by  their  discourses.  The  Fathers  of  the 
College,  have  heard  their  confessions  and  today  they  approached  the 
holy  table  at  High  Mass  in  the  Cathedral  church.  Afterwards  I  ad- 
ministered -to  them  the  sacrament  of  Confirmation  and  in  an  address 
delivered  after  the  ceremony  I  rejoiced  with  them  at  their  happiness 
and  gave  them  the  hope  to  have  soon  a  priest. 

"They  will  depart  tomorrow:  one  of  them  will  carry  the  good  news 
promptly  to  the  Flat-Heads ;  the  other  will  spend  the  winter  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Bear  River  and  in  the  spring  he  will  continue  his  journey 
with  the  missionary  whom  we  will  send  them.  Of  the  twenty-four 
Iroquois  who  formerly  emigrated  from  Canada  only  four  are  still  living. 
Not  only  have  they  planted  the  faith  in  those  wild  countries,  but  they 
have  besides  defended  it  against  the  encroachment  of  the  Protestant 
ministers.  When  these  pretended  missionaries  presented  themselves 
among  them,  our  good  Catholics  refused  to  accept  them.  "These  are 
not  the  priests  about  whom  we  have  spoken  to  you,"  they  would  say 
to  the  Flat-Heads,  "They  are  not  the  blackrobed  priests  who  have 
no  wives,  who  say  Mass,  who  carry  the  crucifix  with  them."  For  the 
love  of  God  my  Very  Reverend  Father,  do  not  abandon  these  souls ! '  '9 

The  Jesuits  of  St;  Louis  nobly  responded  to  this  appeal  of  the 
Bishop,  as  Father  Verhaegen  indicates  in  his  Report  to  the  Prelates 
assembled  in  Council  at  Baltimore  in  May,  1830 : 

"We  had  it  in  contemplation  to  open  a  new  mission  among  the 
Flat-Head  Indians  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  During 
the  administration  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  (Rosati)  a  deputy 
from  them  arrived  in  St.  Louis  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  a  priest. 


a     Complete  Letter  in  Palladino,  op.  cit.,  pp.  31  and  32. 


The  Beginnings  of  the  Oregon  Missions  671 

This  deputy  died  shortly  after  his  arrival  at  this  place.     In  1835,  a 
second  deputation  of  a  father  and  his  two  sons,  reached  the  University 
of  St.  Louis.     We  could  not,  at  that  time,  entertain  the  project,  on 
account  of  the  paucity  of  our  numbers  and  the  limited  means  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Superior  of  Missions.     We  therefore  beheld  with  the 
deepest  regret  the  deputies  returning  to  their  remote  country  without 
having  accomplished  their  object.     In  the  month  of  October  1839,  a 
third  deputation  of  two  Indians,  arrived  at  the  University  having  the 
same  object  in  view.     Moved  by  the  ardent  desires  of  these   distant 
and  desolate  children,  who  called  so  perseveringly  for  those  who  might 
break  the  bread  of  life  to  them  we  resolved  to  gratify  their  wishes  and 
to  send  two  Fathers  in  the  Spring.     The  two  deputies  left  St.  Louis, 
full  of  joy  at  the  happy  prospect  one  of  them  remained  at  Westport, 
(now  Kansas  City)   to  await  the  arrival  of  the  Fathers,  the  other  re- 
turned to  the  nations  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  by  whom  he  had 
been  sent  to  report  to  them  the  success  of  his  mission  and  to  prepare 
a   band   of  warriors   with   whom   he   was   to   return   in   the    Spring  to 
meet  the  missionaries  and  his  companion  at  a  designated  point.     At 
the  opening  of  Spring,  the  time  appointed  for  the  fulfilment   of  our 
promise,  when  the  Caravan  of  the  Fur  Company  was  about  to  start 
for  the  mountains,  the  want  of  the  necessary  funds  rendered  it  im- 
possible for  us  to  send  two  Fathers.     The  scarcity  of  money  was  so 
great,   that   we   could   not   obtain,    or   loan,    the   small    amount   of   one 
thousand   dollars,   required   for   the   outfit.      In   consequence    of   these 
difficulties  we  were  enabled  to  send  only  one  Father.     He  left  us  on 
the  fifth  of  April  to  accompany  the  caravan  of  the  Fur  Company."10 
The  Jesuit  Father  was  the  celebrated  Peter  De  Smet,  "the  greatest 
Indian  Missionary   of  our   age,"   as  John   O'Kane   Murray   calls   him. 
He  was  at  the  time  missionary  to  the  Potawatomi  of  Council  Bluffs, 
where  he  met  the  third  delegation  of  the  Flat-Heads.    Father  De  Smet 
ascended  the  Missouri  River  in  a  steamboat,  and  after  ten  days  voyage 
reached  Westport  a  little  town  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas,  whence  he 
was  to  cross  the  American  desert  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  beyond.11 
The    missionary    wrote    a    graphic    account    of    the    various    scenes    he 
witnessed   on  this  picturesque   journey:   the  high  wooded   hills   along 
the   winding   Missouri,    the   magnificent   vistas   that   opened    at   every 
turn  of  the  river  and  the  wide  open  prairies  extending  for  miles  in 
all  directions,  filled  with  herds  of  buffalo;  then  the  buffalo  hunt,  the 
frightful  howling  of  wolves,  feasting  on  the  carcasses  of  the  buffalos 
that  had  been  left  to  them   by  the   hunters;   after  that  the  veritable 
desert    of   sand    and   volcanic   scoriae,    extending   to    the    foot    of    the 
mountains;   and   the   slow   ascent  of   the  great   divide  to  the   summit 


i"     Verhaegen  to  the  Council,  May  3,  1840,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese, 
ii     Chittenden  and  Richardson,  De  Smet,  vol.  I,  pp.  200  ss. 


672  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

covered  with  petrifactions ;  lastly  the  passage  through  the  mountain 
fastnesses  to  the  Wind  River  region  where  the  missionary  met  a  party 
of  Shoshones,  who  rode  up,  three  hundred  strong,  in  full  gallop,  but 
in  good  order,  dashed  into  the  midst  of  the  camp  ;  Father  De  Smet 
made  known  to  them  the  motive  of  his  visit,  and  announced  to  the 
deeply  interested  warriors  the  principal  points  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. "Blackgown,"  one  of  the  chiefs  answered,  "your  words  have 
entered  our  hearts:  they  will  never  go  out  from  them."  Yet,  as  they 
were  about  to  make  war  on  the  Black  Feet,  their  hereditary  foes, 
this  good  resolution  was  not  likely  to  produce  lasting  results. 

Here  also  occurred  the  first  meeting  with  a  band  of  Flat-Heads 
who  were  to  escort  the  missionary  to  their  people.  "Our  meeting  was 
not  that  of  s.trangers  but  of  friends : ' '  wrote  Father  De  Smet,  ' '  it 
was  like  children  running  to  meet  their  father  after  a  long  absence."1-' 
On  July  4th,  the  missionary  resumed  his  travels  with  his  Flat-Head 
band :  ten  Canadians  also  volunteered  to  accompany  him.  A  good 
Fleming,  Jean  Baptist  de  Velder,  an  old  grenadier  of  Napoleon,  offered 
his  services  on  the.  journey.  On  the  10th  of  July,  the  party  reached 
the  headwaters  of  the  Columbia  River,  and  following  the  mountain 
stream  they  at  last  came  to  the  Camp  of  the  Flat-Heads  and  Pend 
d'Oreilles.  It  contained  about  1600  souls.  All  expressed  their  joy, 
the  elders  by  shedding  tears,  the  young  men  by  leaps  and  shouts  of  hap- 
piness. The  old  chief,  called  in  his  language,  "Big  Face,"  received 
the  long  expected  apostle  with  liveliest  cordiality. 

"Blackrobe,  you  are  welcome  in  my  nation.  Today  Kyleeyou 
(the  Great  Spirit)  has  fulfilled  our  wishes.  Our  hearts  are  big,  for 
our  great  desire  is  gratified.  You  are  in  the  midst  of  a  poor  and  rude 
people,  plunged  in  the  darkness  of  ignorance.  I  have  always  exhorted 
my  children  to  love  Kyleeyou.  We  know  that  everything  belongs  to 
Him,  and  that  our  whole  dependence  is  upon  His  liberal  hand.  From 
time  to  time  good  white  men  have  given  us  good  advice,  and  we  have 
followed  it;  and  in  the  eagerness  of  our  hearts,  to  be  taught  every- 
thing that  concerns  our  salvation,  we  have  several  times  sent  our 
people  to  the  great  Blackrobe  at  St.  Louis  (the  Bishop)  that  he  might 
send  me  a  Father  to  speak  with  us.  Blackrobe,  we  will  follow  the 
words  of  your  mouth."13 

"Every  morning  at  daybreak,"  as  Father  De  Smet  tells  us,  "the 
old  chief  was  the  first  to  rise ;  then  mounting  a  horse  he  rode  up 
and  down  the  camp  to  harangue  his  people.  This  is  a  custom  he 
has  always  observed,  and  I  think  it  has  kept  these  Indians  in  the 
great  unity  and  admirable  simplicity  that  are  observed  among  them. 
These    1,600    persons    thanks    to    his    fatherly    care    and    good    advice, 


12  Chittenden  and  Bichardson,  vol.  I,  p.  220. 

13  Chittenden  and  Bichardson,  vol.  I,  p.  224. 


Tin   Beginnings  of  I  in   Oregon  Missions  673 

seemed  to  form  but  a  single  family,  in  which  order  and  charity  reigned 
in  a  truly  suprising  manner.  "Come,  courage,  my  children"*  he  cried, 
"open  your  eyes.  Address  your  first  thoughts  and  words  to  the  Great 
Spirit.  Tell  Him  that  you  love  Him.  and  ask  Him  to  take  pity  on  you. 
Courage !  for  the  sun  is  about  to  appear,  it  is  time  you  went  to  the  river 
to  wash  yourselves.  Be  prompt  at  our  Father's  lodge,  at  the  first 
sound  of  the  bell;  be  quiet  when  you  are  there;  open  your  ears  to 
hear  and  your  hearts  to  hold  fast  all  the  words  that  he  says  to  you." 
Then  he  would  administer  fatherly  rebukes  for  anything,  he  and  the 
other  chiefs  had  observed  that  was  out  of  order  in  their  conduct  the 
day  before.  At  the  voice  of  this  old  man,  whom  all  love  and  respect 
like  a  tender  father,  they  would  hasten  to  arise ;  all  would  be  in  motion 
in  the  village,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  banks  of  the  river  would  be 
covered  with  people. 

When  all  were  ready,  I  rang  the  bell  for  prayer,  and  from  the 
first  day  to  the  last  they  continued  to  show  the  same  avidity  to  hear 
God's  word.  Their  eagerness  was  so  great  that  they  would  run  to  get 
a  good  place;   even  the  sick  got  themselves  carried  thither."14 

As  the  Indians  removed  their  camp  to  Henry's  Lake  one  of  the 
principal  sources  of  the  Columbia  River,  Father  De  Smet  accompanied 
them.  On  July  24th,  they  crossed  the  mountain  to  Red  Rock  Lake, 
the  ultimate  source  of  the  Missouri.  Here  the  Flat-Heads  laid  in  their 
winter  supply  of  buffalo  meat.  Father  De  Smet  accompanied  their 
four  hundred  horsemen  on  their  hunting  expedition.  August  27th, 
was  set  by  the  missionary  for  his  departure  for  St.  Louis.  All  the 
nation  was  assembled,  in  silent  sorrow.  The  Father  performed  the 
morning  prayer  with  them  amid  the  sobs  of  the  women  and  children. 
Then  promising  once  more  that  he  would  return  to  them,  he  started 
on  the  homeward  trail,  accompanied  by  a  small  body  guard  of  Indians 
and  his  faithful  Fleming.  For  several  days  the  journey  passed  through 
the  Yellowstone  Bottom,  where  the  party  met  several  bands  of  friendly 
Crow  Indians.  Coming  at  last  to  the  farthest  outpost  of  civilization,  a 
fort  of  the  Fur  Company,  Father  De  Smet  parted  from  his  faithful 
Flat-Heads,  and  started  for  Council  Bluffs  which  he  reached  on  Novem- 
ber 24th,  happy  to  find  himself  in  company  of  Fathers  Hoeeken  and 
Verreydt  once  more.  Departing  from  Council  Bluffs  on  December 
14th,  he  reached  his  brethren  in  St.  Louis  on  New  Year's  Eve  having 
completed  a  journey  of  2000  Flemish  leagues. 

Father  De  Smet  had  promised  his  dear  Flat-Heads  that  he  would 
return  to  them  in  the  Spring:  and  he  was  as  good  as  his  word.  The 
winter  he  spent  in  collecting  funds  for  the  proposed  mission.  The 
good  people  of  Philadelphia  and  New  Orleans,  were  the  main  con- 
tributors to  the  noble  cause.    Pittsburg  and  St.  Louis  were  good  seconds. 


14     Chittenden  and  Richardson,  vol.  I,  p.  22.". 

Vol.  1—22 


674  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

The  fellow  laborers  alloted  to  Father  De  Smet  were  five :  Father 
Nicholas  Point  of  La  Vendee,  Father  Gregory  Mengarini,  recently 
sent  from  Rome  in  answer  to  Bishop  Rosati's  appeal,  and  the  lay- 
brothers  William  Claessens,  Charles  Huet  and  Joseph  Specht.  On  April 
23rd,  the  missionary  band  left  St.  Louis  for  Westport,  and  passing 
through  the  lands  of  the  Shawnees  and  Delawares,  they  visited  the 
Kansas  Indians.  White  Plume,  the  great  chief  of  Father  Lutz's  days, 
gave  them  a  hearty  greeting.15 

It  was  on  the  Festival  of  the  Assumption  that  Father  De  Smet's 
party  met  the  vanguard  of  the  Flat-Heads.  With  renewed  vigor  the 
entire  party  pushed  on  until  from  a  promontory  on  the  mountain 
pass  they  could  descry  the  Oregon  country  in  all  its  Spring-time  beauty. 
At  last  they  came  within  sight  of  the  camp,  and  the  head  chief,  Big 
Face,  hurried  out  to  meet  them,  and  to  introduce  them  to  his  people. 
"This  evening,"  says  Father  De  Smet,  "was  certainly  one  of  the 
happiest  of  my  life."  After  many  prospecting  excursions,  and  long 
and  serious  consideration,  the  banks  of  the  Bitter  Root  River  were 
chosen  as  the  site  of  the  principal  missionary  station.  The  buildings 
were  put  up  by  the  brothers  according  to  the  plans  of  Father  Point 
The  Indians  were  employed  in  cutting  stakes  for  enclosing  the  en- 
tire settlement.  Baptisms  in  great  numbers  were  administered,  mar- 
riages were  solemnized  or  validated,  instructions  were  given  regularly: 
neighboring  tribes  sent  petitions  for  missionaries  to  visit  them,  the 
Catechism  was  translated  into  the  Flat-Head  tongue,  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty  persons  were  being  prepared  for  first  Communion.  The 
Mission  of  St.  Mary  was  the  name  of  the  new  foundation.  It  was 
but  the  beginning  and  promise  of  a  glorious  future.16 

It  was  a  strange  coincidence,  yet  one  of  the  benign  dispensations 
of  Divine  Providence  that,  whilst  this  great  work  for  the  upbuilding 
of  the  Church  of  God  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  was  carried  on 
from  St.  Louis,  a  similar  expedition  was  sent  out  from  Canada  to  the 
Oregon  coast.  Archbishop  Signay  of  Quebec  in  1838,  appointed  Father 
Francis  Norbert  Blanchet,  Vicar  General  of  Oregon,  and  gave  him 
Father  Modestus  Demers  as  his  companion.  Both  set  out  for  Fort 
Van  Couver,  reaching  it  November  24th,  of  the  same  year.  Father  De 
Smet  paid  a  visit  to  him  on  his  return  from  Europe  around  Cape 
Horn,  bringing  a  number  of  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  from  Namur,  for 
an  Indian  school.  In  the  meantime  Father  Peter  De  Vos,  and  Adrian 
Hoecken,  brother  of  Christian  Hoecken  and  Brother  McGean  had  joined 
the  missionaries  at  St.  Mary's.     With  this  change  of  jurisdiction  the 


15     For  White  Plume,  ef.  Chittenden  and  Kiehardsbn,  op.  cit.,  pp.  283  and  284. 
Hi     For  nn  account  of  St.  Mary's  Mission,  see  Chittenden   and  Kichardson,  op. 
cit.,  pp.  315  ss. 


The  Beginnings  of  thi   Origan  Missions'  675 

Oregon  Missions  ceased  to  form  a  part  of  St.  Louis  diocese.  In  1843, 
(Dec.  1st.)  Oregon  became  a  Vicariate  Apostolic  with  Bishop  Francis 
Norbert  Blanchet  in  charge. 

It  would  be  a  most  pleasant  task  to  sketch  the  origin  and  the 
early  triumphs  and  vicissitudes  of  the  Oregon  missions :  yet  that  subject 
is  a  very  wide  one,  and  has  been  ably  treated  by  such  historians,  as 
Father  Palladino,  Bishop  Blanchet,  Father  Van  Rensselaer  Ronan,  Chit- 
tenden and  Richardson,  and  by  the  Founder,  Father  De  Smet  himself. 
These  authors  give  us  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  grandest  missionary 
work  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  its  religious,  social,  economical  and 
political  aspect.  In  regard  to  its  civilizing  influence  I  would  quote  the 
generous  words  of  a  man,  who  for  many  years  held  the  highest  position 
of  honor  and  trust  our  State  could  confer,  and  whose  name  is  enrolled 
among  the  truly  great  men  of  the  nation,  Senator  George  G.  Vest.  He 
had  been  appointed  a  member  of  a  Special  Committee  sent  out  to 
investigate  the  Indian  Reservations  in  the  "West.  On  May  12th,  1884, 
the  question  as  to  the  appropriation  for  the  schools  came  up  in  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  the  Senator  from  Missouri  made  his  report 
in  an  impressive  speech,  from  which  this  quotation  it  taken : 

"In  all  my  wanderings  in  Montana  last  summer  I  saw  but  one 
ray  of  light  on  the  subject  of  Indian  education  .  .  .  the  system  adopted 
by  the  Jesuits  is  the  only  practical  system  for  the  education  of  the 
Indian,  and  the  only  one  that  has  resulted  in  anything  at  all." 

Realizing  that  there  was  an  anti-Catholic  feeling  at  the  bottom 
of  the  opposition  to  the  Jesuit  Schools,  Senator  Vest  thought  proper 
to  state  his  own  position  in  regard  to  the  Catholic  religion : 

"The  Jesuits  have  elevated  the  Indian  wherever  they  have  been 
allowed  to  do  so,  without  interference  by  bigotry  and  fanaticism  and 
the  cowardice  of  insectivorous  politicians,  who  are  afraid  of  the  A.  P.  A., 
and  the  votes  that  can  be  cast  against  them  in  their  districts  and  their 
states.  They  have  made  him  a  Christian,  and,  above  even  that,  they 
have  made  him  a  workman,  able  to  support  himself  and  those  de- 
pendent upon  him.  Go  to  the  Flat-Head  Reservation  in  Montana  and 
look  from  the  cars  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  and  you  will 
see  the  result  of  what  Father  De  Smet  and  his  associates  began  and 
what  was  carried  on  successfully  until  the  A.  P.  A.  and  the  cowards 
who  are  afraid  of  it,  struck  down  the  appropriation. 

Go  through  this  reservation  and  look  at  the  work  of  the  Jesuits, 
and  what  is  seen  .'  You  find  comfortable  dwellings,  herds  of  cattle 
and  horses,  intelligent  self-respecting  Indians.  I  have  been  to  their 
houses  and  found  under  the  system  adopted  by  the  Jesuits,  that  after 
they  have  educated  these  boys  and  girls,  and  they  had  intermarried, 
the  Jesuits  would  go  out  and  break  up  a  piece  of  land  and  build  them 
a  house,  and  that  couple  became  the  nucleus  of  civilization  in  the 
neighborhood.     They  had  been  educated   under  the  system  which  pre- 


676  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

vented  them  from  going  back  to  the  tepee  after  a  day's  tuition.  The 
Jesuits  found  that  in  order  to  accomplish  their  purpose  of  teaching 
them  how  to  work  and  depend  upon  themselves,  it  was  necessary  to 
keep  them  in  school,  a  boarding  school  by  day  and  night,  and  to  allow 
their  parents  to  see  them  only  in  presence  of  brothers  or  the  nuns. 

I  wish  to  say  now  what  I  have  said  before  in  the  Senate,  and  it 
is  not  the  popular  side  of  the  question  by  any  means,  that  I  did  not 
see  in  all  my  journey  which  lasted  for  several  weeks,  a  single  school 
that  was  doing  any  educational  work  worthy  the  name  of  educational 
work,  unless  it  was  under  the  control  of  the  Jesuits." 


Chapter  28 
THE  POTAWATOMI  MISSION  OF  SUGAR  CREEK 


The  very  year  of  the  foundation  of  the  Potawatomi  Mission  near 
Council  Bluffs  was  to  witness  the  third  great  immigration  of  Potawa- 
tomi, mostly  Catholics,  coming  from  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Joseph's, 
on  the  southern  shore,  of  Lake  Michigan.  Let  us  hear  what  Father 
Verhaegen  has  to  say  about  this  matter : 

"In  the  same  year  (1838),  six  hundred  Catholic  Potawatomi 
from  Indiana,  who  were  accompanied  in  their  removal  by  the  late  Rev. 
Father  Petit,  on  reaching  their  destination  were  transferred  by  him  to 
the  care  of  one  of  our  Fathers.  Their  location  is  on  the  banks  of 
Sugar  Creek,  about  seventy  miles  southwest  of  the  Kickapoo  station. 
This  is  the  most  flourishing  of  all  the  Indian  missions  and  realizes  the 
accounts,  which  we  read  of  the  missions  of  Paraguay. 

A  letter  of  the  missioner,  received  in  January  last,  states  that  on 
Christmas  one  hundred  and  fifty  approached  the  sacred  table  and  all 
who  could  be  spared  from  domestic  duties  assisted  with  great  devotion 
at  the  three  solemn  Masses,  the  first  at  midnight,  the  second  at  daybreak 
and  the  third  at  10 :30.  There  is  but  one  Father  at  present  at  the 
station,  and  as  his  presence  is  almost  always  required  among  his  six 
hundred  Catholics,  he  cannot  make  frequent  excursions  to  the  neigh- 
boring tribes.  His  catechists,  however,  perform  this  duty  for  him,  and 
often  return  with  several  adults  ready  to  receive  baptism.  The  details 
of  this  mission  would  form  a  lengthy  and  interesting  article,  we  cannot 
properly  find  place  in  a  mere  report."1 

St.  Joseph's  Mission,  on  the  St.  Joseph  River,  at  South  Bend, 
Indiana,  was  founded  by  Father  Claude  Allouez  S.  J.  before  1711 ;  for, 
at  that  period  Father  John  Chardon,  S.  J.  became  his  successor. 
It  wras  then  known  as  the  Miami  Mission.  The  nation  of  the  Pota- 
watomi is  noteworthy  in  our  literary  history  as  having  given  to 
Longfellow  the  matter  of  his  Hiawatha.  Their  traditions  were 
first  recorded  by  Father  De  Smet  in  his  Oregon  Missions.  The 
"  Pontonatomies, "  as  spelled  by  French  writers,  were  mentioned  since 
1639:  In  1641  they  were  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie's,  fleeing  before  the  Sioux; 
in  1668  they  were  all  on  the  Potawatomi  Islands  in  Green  Bay.  In  1721 
the  bulk  of  the  nation  was  still  on  their  islands ;  one  band  was  at  Detroit, 


Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

(677) 


678  History  of  tht   Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

another  on  the  St.  Joseph's  River   (South  Bend,  Indiana)   These  latter 
are  the  people  led  to  the  West  by  Father  Petit.2 

Their  last  missionary  of  the  pre-banishment  Jesuits  was  Father 
De  la  Moriuie,  who  was  forced  to  seek  shelter  at  the  mission  of 
Kaskaskia  and  for  a  while  attended  the  newly  founded  Church  of  Ste. 
Genevieve,  until  he  with  the  members  of  the  Illinois  Mission  was  ban- 
ished from  the  country  in  1763.  The  mission  was  reopened  in  1830  by 
the  venerable  Father  Stephan  Badin,  and  a  large  number  of  converts  were 
made  among  the  Indians. 

His  successor  Father  Louis  Deseilles  having  died  at  the  altar  of 
Ste.  Marie  du  Lac,  among  his  dear  Indians,  was  in  turn  succeeded  by 
Father  Benjamin  Marie  Petit,  the  last  of  the  Indian  Missionaries  in 
Indiana.  Father  Petit  was  born,  at  Rennes  in  France,  April  8th,  1811, 
attended  the  college  of  his  native  city  for  the  study  of  law,  and  had 
already  attained  the  position  of  advocate  when,  in  1835,  Bishop  Simon 
Brute,  of  Vincennes,  arrived  at  Rennes  and  confirmed  the  hopeful  young 
man  in  his  determination  to  become  a  missionary  in  America.  Arriving 
at  Vincennes  in  1836,  the  youthful  Petit  was  raised  to  the  priesthood 
in  October  1837.  His  first  and  only  appointment  was  to  the  Indian 
mission  in  the  region  around  South  Bend,  Indiana,  where  he  remained 
until  September  1838.  Hence,  Father  Petit  accompanied  the  Potawa- 
tomi  on  their  exile  to  the  Far  West,  and  died  on  his  homeward 
journey  in  St.  Louis,  February  10th,  1839,  not  cpiite  twenty-eight 
years  old,  but  full  of  merit. 

Father  Petit 's  arrival  among  the  Potawatomi,  brought  forth 
shouts  of  joy  from  the  Indians:  "We  were  as  orphans  and,  as  it  were, 
in  darkness,  but  you1  come  among  us  and  we  live."  Full  of  holy  zeal 
the  young  missionary  shared  with  joy  the  poverty  and  anguish  of  his 
people  over  whom  a  heavy  doom  was  lowering.  That  very'  year  of  his 
coming,  1837,  was  to  witness  the  barbarous  expulsion  of  the  Forest 
Potawatomi,  as  his  Indians  were  called,  from  their  native  haunts. 
"I  shall  have  to  level  the  altar  and  the  church  to  the  ground  and 
bury  the  cross  which  overshadows  their  tombs  to  save  it  from  profana- 
tion," he  cried  out  in  the  anguish  of  his  heart.  And  then  he  recalls 
the  beautiful  Christian  traits  of  his  forlorn  people : 

"At  sundown  the  whole  congregation  assembled  for  catechetical 
instruction  and  night  prayer.  Many  of  them  had  the  practice  of  frequent 
communion,  but  since  the  death  of  Father  Deseilles  until  my  coming 
they  had  to  be  content  with  spiritual  communion.  I  have  already 
baptized  eighteen  converts  and  solemnized  seven  marriages.  Their  zeal 
for  religion  is  most  beautiful  to  witness.    They  will  leave  their  homes 


2     Cf.  "Wisconsin  Historical  Collection,"  vol.  Ill,  p.  136. 


The  Potawatomi  Mission  of  Sugar  Creek  679 

to  visit  and  instruct  anyone,  no  matter  how  far  away,  of  whom  they 
have  learned  that  he  had  desired  to  become  a  Christian."3 

In  his  letter  to  Bishop  Brute,  dated  July  9th,  1838,  Father  Petit 
speaks  of  his  joy  at  finding  himself  able  to  understand  and  speak  the 
language  of  his  people ;  and  at  the  end  of  his  letter  expresses  a  desire  to 
be  permitted  to  accompany  them  to  their  new  destination.  Since  Easter, 
1838,  he  had  baptized  one  hundred  and  two  Indian  converts.  At  length 
the  sad  day  of  parting  arrived.  On  September  14th,  1838,  Father 
Petit  writes : 

"I  have  read  my  last  Mass  at  Chicsipe-Outipe.  After  Mass  my 
dear  little  chapel  was  stripped  of  all  its  ornaments,  and  I  gathered 
my  children  around  me  for  the  hour  of  departure.  I  shed  tears,  my 
Indians  cried  aloud ;  it  was  heart-rending.  We,  a  dying  mission,  prayed 
for  the  prosperity  of  the  other  missions  and  sang : 

"In  thy  protection  do  we  trust, 
0  Virgin,  meek  and  mild." 

"The  leader's  voice  was  broken  with  sobbing;  but  few  could  carry 
the  song  to  its  end.  I  had  to  leave.  It  is  very  sad  for  a  missionary 
to  witness  the  death  of  what  he  had  loved.  A  few  days  later  I  learned 
that  the  Indians,  in  spite  of  their  peaceful  dispostion,  had  been  attacked 
and  made  prisoners  of  war.  Under  pretence  of  a  council  they  had  been 
brought  together,  when  suddenly  they  were  surrounded  by  the  military, 
800  in  number,  and  put  under  restraint.  The  government  at  the  same 
time  extending  an  invitation  to  me  to  accompany  them  to  their  des- 
tination, as  the  separation  from  their  priest  was  one  of  the  reasons 
of  their  unwillingness  to  depart.  I  answered  that  I  could  do  nothing 
without  consent  of  my  Bishop,  and  that  he  had  refused  permission, 
in  order  to  remove  all  suspicion,  that  the  church  authorities  had 
consented  to  the  harsh  measures  adopted  by  the  government.  But  the 
dispensation  of  Providence  is  wonderful.  Bishop  Brute  was  expected 
at  Logansport  on  September  7th  to  dedicate  the  new  church;  and  on 
the  same  day  my  Indian  children  were  to  camp  near  Logansport  on 
their  way  to  the  Mississippi.  On  the  morning  of  September  5th,  the 
Bishop  entered  my  room  at  South  Bend  and  asked  me  to  accompany  him 
to  Logansport.  I  was  quiet  as  a  man  who  does  not  move  under  an 
oppressive  weight.  We  departed  together.  On  the  way  we  learned 
that  the  Indians,  who  were  urged  on  to  quicker  movement  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  had  a  number  of  sick  people  with  them;  several  of 


3  Petit  to  Brute.  The  letters  of  Father  Petit  to  Bishop  Brute  were  published 
iu  vol.  VII  of  the  "Annales  de  1 'Association  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  for 
August.  They  were  translated  into  German  for  Father  Theodore  Bruenner's  "Kirchen- 
geschichte  Quincy's, "  1887.     The  English  Translation  is  our  own. 


liSO  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

them  (in  the  wagons  having  already  died  of  heat  and  thirst.  These 
reports  were  Like  a  dagger  piercing  my  heart.  The  Bishop  now  gave 
his  consent  that  I  join  the  Indians  on  their  sad  exodus;  on  condition, 
however,  that  1  return  as  soon  as  another  priest  could  be  provided. 
I  feared  at  firsl  thai  I  would  not  be  permitted  to  enter  the  camp  with- 
out special  permission.  All  the  Indians,  however,  came  out  to  receive 
my  blessing.  The  Americans  were  surprised  at  this.  "This  man,"  said 
the  General  "has  greater  influence  here  than  I".  I  had  free  entrance 
everywhere. 

"On  the  afternoon  of  September  9th  Bishop  Brute,  came  to  the 
camp  and  confirmed  twenty  of  my  people.  It  was  a  beautiful  day  of 
triumph  for  the  Catholic  Faith.  On  the  following  day  I  brought  my 
luggage  from  South  Bend,  and  am  now  on  the  march  to  found  a  new 
mission  for  my  barbarians,  400  miles  to  the  west."4 

Why  the  military  acted  so  harshly  in  carrying  out  the  sufficiently 
harsh  measures  of  the  government  is  not  clear,  except  on  the  supposition 
that  some  of  them  were  far  more  barbarous  than  the  barbarians  them- 
selves, these  gentle  children  of  the  one-time  wilderness.  But  these 
Indians  were  Catholics  and,  therefore,  their  sufferings  passed  unoticed 
by  the  great  world.  On  November  13th,  1837,  Father  Petit  continues 
his  report  to  Bishop  Brute.  His  letter  is  dated  from  Osage  River, 
Indiana  County  (Kansas):  "On  September  12,  I  returned  to  Logans- 
port  having  to  catch  up  with  the  emigrants  at  Lafayette,  but  the  march 
was  accelerated  so  much,  that  I  did  not  see  them,  even  from  afar,  until 
I  came  to  Danville.  They  were  marching  along  the  right  bank  of  the 
river,  whilst  the  wagon  train  followed  on  the  left  bank.  It  was  Sunday, 
September  16th.  I  had  just  arrived,  when  a  Colonel  rode  up  for  the 
purpose  of  selecting  the  location  for  a  camp.  Shortly  afterward  I  saw 
my  Christians  approaching  through  the  heat  of  midday,  amid  a  cloud  of 
dust  and  surrounded  by  the  soldiery  urging  them  on  to  renewed  effort. 
Then  came  the  wagon  tram  with  the  numerous  sick  and  the  children 
and  women  heaped  pellmell  on  the  carts.  The  camp  was  about  half  an 
hour's  walk  from  the  city,  and  in  a  little  more  than  that  time  I  was 
with  them.  It  was  a  heart-breaking  spectacle.  Sick  and  dying  people 
everywhere ;  almost  all  the  children  Avere  in  a  state  of  utter  exhaustion 
and  unconsciousness.  The  General  expressed  his  pleasure  at  seeing  me, 
and  gallantly  offered  me  a  chair,  the  only  one  he  had.  This  was  the 
first  night  spent  under  a  tent.  Early  next  morning  the  sick  Indians 
were  placed  in  the  wagons;  all  the  others  mounting  their  horses.  Just 
before  starting,  Judge  Polk,  the  commander-in-chief,  came  up  and  offer- 
ed me  a  saddle  horse  which  the  government  had  hired  from  an  Indian, 


4     Petit  to  Brute,  September  14,  1838. 


The  Potawatomi  Mission  of  Sugar  Creek  681 

but  the  Indian  approached  and  said:  "My  Father,  I  give  you  the 
horse,  saddled  and  bridled  as  it  is."  We  then  started  for  a  new  camp, 
when  a  longer  rest  was  promised  us.  At  my  request  the  authorities 
set  at  liberty  the  six  Indian  chiefs,  who  had  Until  now  been  treated  as 
prisoners  of  war.  The  order  of  march  was  now  as  follows :  The  U.  S. 
Flag  was  carried  at  the  head  of  the  column  by  a  dragoon,  followed 
by  some  of  the  chief  officers;  then  came  the  wagon  train  of  the  General 
Staff,  then  the  wagons  used  by  the  Indian  chiefs.  After  that  came 
250  to  300  horses,  with  men,  women  and  children,  riding  in  single  file 
after  the  manner  of  the  Indians,  under  guard  of  dragoons  and  volunteers, 
who  continually  urged  on  the  cavalcade  with  bitter  words  and  taunts. 
Now  came  about  40  wagons  with  the  luggage  of  the  Indians,  and  the 
sick  Indians  crowded  on  top  of  the  luggage.  Here  the  poor  creatures 
lay,  continually  shaken  up,  under  a  canvas  cover  that  was  intended 
to  shelter  them  against  the  heat  of  the  sun,  but  served  only  to  deprive 
them  of  fresh  air ;  literally  buried  alive  under  the  burning  cover.  A 
few  of  them  died  under  the  torment.  We  encamped  about  .six  miles 
from  Danville.  Then  I  had  the  happiness,  for  two  successive  days,  to 
say  holy  Mass  surrounded  by  my  children.  I  administered  the  holy 
sacrament  to  several  in  preparation  for  death  and  baptized  a  few 
infants  and,  when  we  left  this  camp  after  our  two  days'  rest,  we  left 
behind  six  graves  with  crosses  at  their  head.  At  Danville  the  General 
gave  furlough  to  his  little  army,  and  departed.  He  had  promised  to 
do  so  immediately  after  my  advent.  Soon  Ave  found  ourselves  on  the 
vast  prairies  of  Illinois,  moving  from  one  camp  to  another  under  a 
broiling  sun  against  which  there  was  no  shelter;  they  are  immeasurable 
like  the  ocean,  and  the  eye  wearies  itself  to  discover  a  tree  in  its 
immensity.  No  drop  of  water  is  to  be  found  there.  The  journey  was 
a  real  torment  for  the  poor  sick,  some  of  whom  died  almost  every  day 
from  exhaustion  and  fatigue.  But  all  this  misery  did  not  prevent  us 
from  reciting  our  night  prayers  in  common,  and  the  Americans,  who 
were  led  by  curiosity  to  visit  us  were  astonished  to  find  so  much  piety 
among  so  many  trials.  It  frequently  happened  that  some  fifteen  to 
twenty  Indians  sat  around  a  fire  before  a  tent  that  was  illumined  by  a 
single  wax  candle,  singing  hymns  and  reciting  the  rosary  all  night ;  it 
meant  that  one  of  their  friends  had  died,  and  his  corpse  lay  now  in  the 
tent.  Thus  they  showed  him  their  love  and  honor.  On  the  following 
morning  a  grave  was  dug,  the  sorrowing  family,  without  a  tear  in  their 
eyes,  however,  remained  at  the  place  after  the  others  had  departed; 
the  priest  blessed  the  grave  and  cast  the  first  shovelful  of  clay  on  the 
poor  coffin;  then  a  mound  was  raised  over  the  dead  and  a  little  cross 
placed  upon  it.  On  some  Sundays,  when  the  lack  of  drinking  water  forced 
us  to  march  on,  a  time  of  grace  of  two  hours  was  granted  to  me,  during 


682  Histonj  of  I  he  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

which  I  might  perform  my  religious  duties.  The  Indians  attended 
holy  Mass,  during  which  they  sang  their  hymns  so  sweetly,  that  all 
visitors  were  filled  with  wonderment.  To  my  taste,  some  of  their  songs 
had  a  very  beautiful  melody.  I  then  preached  a  sermon  on  the  Gospel, 
requested  all  to  recite  the  Rosary  on  the  way  and  gathered  my  belong- 
ings. The  tents  were  struck,  the  horses  were  mounted,  and  on  we  marched 
to  the  next  encampment.  As  a  rule  there  was  no  marching  on  Sundays. 
The  morning  prayers  and  an  instruction  preceded  the  Mass.  Vespers 
were  chanted  in  the  Indian  tongue.  Then  came  the  Rosary  and  a 
brief  sermon ;  the  latter  I  sometimes  preached  in  Indian  without  an 
interpreter.  The  respect  shown  me  by  Catholics  along  the  way  is 
above  praise.  .  . 

"I  was  again  attacked  by  fever,  about  two  or  three  days'  journey 
this  side  of  the  Illinois  River.  Here  an  old  Frenchman  came  to  the 
camp  and  made  me  promise,  with  many  importunities,  to  take  a  few 
days'  rest  at  his  home.  The  next  morning  he  came  with  a  wagon  to 
convey  me  away,  but  I  had  to  decline  the  invitation  for  fear  I  might 
not  be  able  to  catch  up  with  my  emigrants  if  I  remained  behind. 
When  we  arrived  at  Naples,  where  we  crossed  the .  Illinois  River,  a 
Protestant  gentleman  who  had  been  married  to  a  Catholic  French- 
woman at  Vincennes,  and  who  had  heard  that  there  was  a  sick  priest 
among  the  Indians,  came  to  offer  me  his  home  for  the  time  of  my  stay. 
I  accepted  this  invitation  and  through  the  great  care  lavished  upon  me, 
I  got  rid  of  the  fever.  At  Naples  I  took  the  stage  coach  and  hurried 
on  to  Quincy.  There  I  found  a  German  priest,  Father  Brickwedde, 
and  a  German  Congregation,  who  all  received  me  with  indescribable 
affection.  The  same  friendly  treatment  was  accorded  to  me  by  some 
Catholic  Americans  and  by  a  few  of  the  most  prominent  Protestants 
of  the  city.  When  the  Indians  arrived  at  Quincy,  the  inhabitants, 
Avho  had  seen  other  emigrating  tribes  pass  through  their  city,  could 
not  contain  their  admiration  of  the  modesty,  the  quiet  and  good  be- 
havior of  our  Christians.  A  Catholic  lady,  accompanied  by  a  Protestant 
friend,  made  the  sign  of  the  cross.  Immediately  the  Indian  women 
ran  up  to  her  and  grasped  her  hand  and  shook  it  most  heartily.  The 
Protestant  lady  tried  also  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  but  made  a 
poor  showing  at  it.  One  of  the  Indian  women  approached  her  saying, 
"You  nothing,"  And  she  was  right.  .  .  "5 

At  Quincy  the  Indians  crossed  the  Mississippi  and  wandered  from 
camp  to  camp  through  Northern  Missouri,  ever  westward  across  the 
Missouri   boundary    to   the    headwaters    of    the    Osage    River,    in    the 


5     Petit  to  Brute,  November  13,  1838. 


The  Potaivatomi.  Mission  of  Sugar  Creek  683 

present  State  of  Kansas,  then  but  a  part  of  the  vast  Indian  Territory. 
Father  Petit 's  letter  comes  to  a  conclusion: 

"One  day's  journey  from  the  Osage  River  I  was  met  by  Father 
Hoecken,  S.  J.  He  speaks  both  the  Potawatomi  and  the  Kickapoo 
languages.  He  told  me  of  his  purpose  to  leave  the  land  of  the  Kickapoo 
and  to  take  up  his  abode  among  my  Christians.  Thus  Your  Grace 
will  see  that  your  purpose  as  well  as  mine  is  attained.  Your  Grace 
sought  nothing  but  the  honor  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  these 
poor  Christians;  I  sought  nothing  else.  Having  departed  on  September 
4th,  we  arrived  November  4th.  The  number  of  our  Indians  at  their 
departure  amounted  to  800 ;  some  have  deserted  and  many  died.  I 
do  not  think  there  were,  at  our  arrival,  more  than  650  souls."0 

Father  Petit  fell  sick  once  more ;  the  effects  of  the  fever  and  the 
terrible  privations  and  hardships  were  partly  counteracted  by  the  tender 
care  of  Father  Hoecken.  On  January  2,  1839,  Father  Petit  started  for 
Vincennes,  but  was  again  taken  ill  on  the  way,  and  died  at  St.  Louis, 
a  martyr  to  duty,  as  Bishop  Brute  called  him,  cheered  and  comforted 
by  the  pious  care  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  and  the  visits  of  Bishops 
Rosati  and  Loras.    His  death  occurred  on  February  11th,  1839. 

A  temporary  chapel  was  raised  near  the  banks  of  the  river,  called 
Potawatomi  Creek.  After  the  departure  of  Father  Petit,  Father 
Hoecken  remained  with  these  Indians  for  a  time  alone,  until  the  Rev. 
Father  P.  Aelen  joined  him  as  his  assistant,  April  26th,  1839.  On  May 
10th,  the  entire  multitude  of  the  faithful  removed  to  the  river  commonly 
called  Sugar  Creek,  but  renamed  by  us  St.  Mary's  Creek,  there  to 
have  their  permanent  home.  A  new  church  was  erected  in  this  place 
under  the  title  "Conceptio  Beatae  Mariae  Virgins.'"  Father  Hoecken 
adds  a  note  to  this  report  as  follows : 

"The  Indians  under  my  care  are  of  good  disposition  and  fervent, 
some  of  them  were  confirmed  by  Bishop  Brute  before  their  western  migra- 
tion. But  as  they  come  from  Indiana,  they  were  never  under  the  decrees 
of  the  Sacred  Synod  of  Trent  (i.  e.  the  Ne  Temere  Decree)  concerning 
marriages,  consequently  they  are  not  subject  to  the  proclamation  of  the 
banns.  Besides,  the  Indian  mode  of  contracting  marriage  is  altogether 
different  from  that  of  other  nations;  and  lastly  they  do  not  like  to  have 
their  names  proclaimed  in  church,  because  they  are  very  much  inclined 
to  bashfulness,  so  much  so,  that  at  times  they  can  scarcely  speak,  so 
shamefaced  they  are."7 

The  holy  death  of  Father  Petit  obtained  for  the  new  Potawatomi 
Mission  a  house  of  the  Sacred  Heart.    Mother  Duchesne,  who  had  been 


Petit  to  Brute. 

Hocken  to  Rosati,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


•  >*■!  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

deeply  moved  by  this  narrative,  wrote  as  follows  to  .Mother  Barat: 
"On  the  frontier  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  not  far  from  the  towns  of 
Portland,  Liberty  and  Independence,  there  is  a  good  tribe  of  Indians, 
banished  from  Indiana,  and  for  the  most  part  Christians;  a  holy  Breton 
priest,  M.  Petit,  devoted  himself  to  these  poor  people;  his  life,  was  worn 
out  in  their  service,  and  he  has  died  like  a  saint  in  the  college  of  St. 
Louis.  His  dear  flock  he  committed  to  the  care  of  a  Jesuit  Father, 
who  has  since  been  to  see  us. '  's 

Mother  Duchesne,  whose  real  motive  in  coming  to  America  was  to 
serve  God  in  the  conversion  of  the  children  of  the  far  western  wilderness, 
but  whose  holy  desire  was  ever  frustrated  by  other  more  imperious  calls 
of  duty,  now  at  last  in  her  old  age  saw  her  opportunity.  She  begged 
Bishop  Rosati.  who  was  then  in  France,  to  intercede  with  Mother  Barat 
for  this  last  favor,  that  she  might  be  permitted  to  go  to  the  Potawatomi 
Indians  on  Sugar  Creek.  "If  I  did  not  know  You,  "the  saintly  Bishop 
answered,"  I  should  say,  it  was  too  much.  But  I  do  know  you  and  so 
I  say:  Go.  Follow  your  inspiration,  or  rather  the  voice  of  God.  He  will 
be  with  you.""  On  the  feast  of  the  Epiphany  1841  she  made  a  formal 
application  on  the  subject  to  her  Superiors : 

"If  we  had  only  four  hundred  piastres  to  begin  with,  she  wrote 
to  Mother  Gallitzin  we  could  go  in  the  spring.  Our  large  houses 
in  Louisiana  might  really  look  on  that  little  sum  as  a  trifle  in  compar- 
ison with  the  great  expenses  of  their  buildings,  which  might  well  spare 
something  of  their  beauty  for  the  glory  of  God  and  in  order  to  provide 
what  is  indispensable  for  our  poor  Indians."10 

Father  De  Smet  collected  the  four  hundred  piastres  and  handed 
them  to  the  Mother  Visitor  for  the  enterprise.  The  matter  of  a  new 
House  in  the  far  west  was  decided,  only  the  question  as  to  whether  the 
venerable  Mother  Duchesne  in  her  feeble  state  of  health  should  take 
part  in  the  venture,  remained  undecided  until  Mother  General, 
the  venerated  Mother  Barat,  wrote:  "It  was  on  account  of  the  savages 
that  Mother  Duchesne  felt  inspired  to  undertake  this  work  of  founding 
the  Order  in  America."  Mother  Duchesne's  letter  of  thanks  to  Mother 
General  overflowed  with  holy  joy  and  hope : 

"There  are  half-castes  there  who  are  saints,  and  great  saints  also 
among  the  savages.  A  spirit  exists  in  that  mission  unknown  elsewhere. 
The  faith  of  these  simple  Christians  is  such  that  it  reminds  one  of 
the  early  days  of  the  Church."11 


s  Baunard-Fullerton,  "Mother  Philippine  Du  Chesne,"  p.  358 

o  Kosati  to  Mother  Du  Chesne. 

io  Baunard-Fullerton,  "Mother  Du  Chesne,"  p.  361. 

11  Baunard-Fullerton,  op.  cit.,  p.  361. 


The  Potawatomi  Mission  of  Sugar  Creek  685 

Madame  Lucille  Mathevon,  Superior  of  St.  Charles,  offered  herself 
for  the  service  of  the  new  foundation,  and  was  appointed  its  first 
Superior.  Madame  O'Connor,  an  Irish  nun  that  spoke  both  English 
and  French,  volunteered  to  join  the  Mission,  as  also  did  Louisa  Amyot, 
a  Canadian  sister.  Mother  Duchesne  was  growing  weaker  and  weaker, 
the  doctor  said,  that  she  was  in  constant  danger  of  death.  It  almost 
seemed  a  duty  to  prevent  her  departure  on  the  long  and  tiresome 
voyage.  But  Father  Verhaegen,  who  was  to  be  at  the  head  of  the 
traveling  party,  insisted  upon  it,  that  Mother  Duchesne  was  to  be 
accepted.  "If  she  cannot  work,"  he  said,  "She  will  forward  the 
success  of  the  mission  by  her  prayers."  Presents  of  money  and  linen 
came  in  from  various  houses  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  The  departure  for 
Sugar  Creek  took  place  by  boat  on  the  Feast  of  the  Apostles  Peter  and 
Paul.  Four  days  afterwards  the  party  landed  at  Westport :  the  rest 
of  the  journey  was  made  in  wretched  carriages  over  still  more  wretched 
roads :  but  at  last  on  July  9th,  1841,  they  reached  the  territory  of  the 
Potawatomi.    Their  village  stood  eighteen  miles  farther  west. 

Early  the  next  morning,  as  the  caravan  started  on  the  last  lap  of 
the  journey,  the  eyes  of  the  Sisters  were  treated  to  a  spectacle,  such 
as  they  had  never  seen  or  ever  dreamt  of.  Groups  of  Indians  on 
horseback  were  stationed  at  intervals  on  the  road  to  show  the  way, 
and  suddenly,  at  the  entrance  of  a  boundless  prairie,  a  band  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  Indians  appeared,  riding  horses  magnificently  capari- 
soned, and  waving  above  the  many-colored  plumes  of  their  head-dresses 
red  and  white  flags.  In  the  midst  of  this  cavalcade  the  carriages  of  the 
nuns  drove  on,  the  men  of  the  tribe  executing  all  sorts  of  figures,  and 
firing  guns  in  the  air.12 

When  at  last  the  cavalcade  arrived  at  the  mission  house,  and  all 
were  seated  on  benches  in  the  open,  Father  Verhaegen  presented 
Mother  Duchesne  to  the  wondering  savages,  saying:  "My  children, 
here  is  a  lady  who  for  thirty-five  years  has  been  asking  God  to  let  her 
come  to  You."  The  chief's  wife  then  addressed  Mother  Duchesne  and 
her  companions:  "To  show  You  our  joy,  all  the  women  of  the  tribe, 
married  and  unmarried,  will  now  embrace  You.  "Mother  Duchesne 
and  the  others  Sisters  graciously  accepted  the  compliment  in  the  spirit  in 
which  it  was  offered."13 

Sugar  Creek  presented  a  remarkable  contrast  with  the  neighboring 
Indian  settlements.  ' '  Half  of  the  people  here, ' '  Mother  Duchesne  wrote, 
"are  Catholics,  and  live  in  a  separate  village  from  the  heathens, 
who  are  being  gradually  converted.    When  once  they  have  been  baptized, 


12  Cf.  Baunard-Fullerton,  op.  cit.,  p.  365. 

13  Baunard-Fullerton,   p.   366. 


lisii  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Lams 

they  leave  off  stealing:  and  drinking;  all  the  houses  are  left  open,  but 
nothing  is  ever  stolen.  The  Potawatomi  assemble  every  morning  for 
prayers,   Mass,    and   instruction,   and    the   same   for   night  prayers."14 

A  t  first  the  Sisters  lived  in  a  hut  given  them  by  one  of  the  Indians. 
They  opened  their  school  on  July  19th,  the  Feast  of  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul.  The  church  was  near  by.  In  August  their  house  was  completed 
and  occupied.  Father  Aelen  gave  them  two  cows,  a  horse  and  a  pair  of 
oxen:  and  so  the  new  institution  was  in  working  order.  Fifty  girls 
frequented  the  school. 

"As  soon  as  we  could,"  Madame  Mathevon  says,  "we  taught  our 
Indians  the  prayers  of  the  Church,  and  especially  the  Litany  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  as  it  is  sung  on  Sundays  after  Vespers. 
Soon  our  cabin  could  not  hold  all  our  scholars,  and  we  made  a  large 
room  with  green  branches.  Our  children  are  very  intelligent,  and 
understand  easily  all  Ave  teach  them.  They  are  as  handy  as  possible 
with  their  fingers."15 

This  new  surroundings  of  piety  and  poverty  seemed  to  give  new 
strength  to  Mother  Duchesne.  She  wrote  to  her  sister :  ' '  My  health 
has  much  improved  here,  I  have  gained  strength,  my  sight  is  clearer, 
and  in  spite  of  my  seventy-three  years,  I  enjoy  the  use  of  all  my 
faculties."10 

It  was  not  the  renewal  of  bodily  health  and  vigor,  but  rather  the 
spirit  triumphant  over  all  the  ills  of  life.  Yet  the  Superior  feared  that 
the  austerities  of  the  missionary  calling  were  undermining  what  was 
left  of  health  and  vigor,  and  felt  bound  to  recall  her  to  the  quiet  and 
calm  of  St.  Charles.  But  even  here  she  continually  thought  about  her 
dear  savages.  Ten  years  were  here  added  to  her  span  of  existence, 
full  of  prayer  and  patient  suffering,  though  no  longer  of  labors.  Her 
beloved  houses  of  St.  Charles  and  Florissant  Avere  threatened  with 
suppression.  But  the  danger  was  averted.  She  rejoiced  to  see  the 
good  work  that  had  been  begun  by  her  in  1818  spread  far  and  wide 
in  America  and  even  beyond  its  bounds:  and  yet  she  could  sincerely 
confess  her  life  a  failure:  "I  myself  have  never  succeeded  in  any 
of  my  labors :  but  God  gave  me  the  grace  to  rejoice  in  the  success  of 
others."17 

The  servant  of  God  died  on  November  1852,  in  the  83rd  year  of 
her  life.  Father  Aelen  in  his  report  of  1839  to  Bishop  Rosati  contains 
the  following  information  on  the  distribution  of  the  Catholic  Indians 
under  his  care : 


!■*  Baunard-Fullerton,  ]>.  3(>G. 

is  Baunard-Fullerton,  p.  307. 

10  Ibidem,  p.  369. 

1"  Baunard,  "Madam   Barat,"  German  translation,  p.  572. 


The  Potawatomi  Mission  of  Sugar  Creek  687 

"The  Potawamoi  Mission  south  of  the  Mer  des  Cynes  (Lake  of 
the  Swans)  sometimes  called  Osage  River.  This  mission  extends  itself 
to  all  the  various  bands  of  that  nation,  scattered  all  over  their  lands. 
Some  of  the  faithful  live  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Mer  des  Cygnes ;  a 
considerable  number  on  both  banks  of  the  socalled  Potawatomi  Creek, 
and  about  400  in  a  southward  direction  on  the  banks  of  the  so-called 
Sugar  Creek.  Here  is  the  residence  of  the  attending  clergyman,  the 
Rev.  H.  G.  Aelen,  S.  J.,  and  a  church  under  the  invocation  of  the 
Bl.  V.  M.  This  mission  is  very  flourishing,  and  no  less  than  60  adults 
have  been  baptized  during  the  last  eight  months,  or  from  the  time  that 
the  nation  has  begun  to  settle  on  their  lands."18 

From  this  flourishing  center  the  Ottawas  and  Miamis  were  reg- 
ularly visited  by  Father  Aelen,  and  the  Kickapoo  Station  by  Father 
Eysvogels,  who  also  took  into  his  circuit  the  rising  towns  of  Liberty 
and  Plattsburg.  Father  Hoecken,  not  content  with  securing  the  spiritual 
interests  of  his  people,  endeavored  also  to  elevate  their  social  condition, 
by  inspiring  them  with  a  love  of  honest  labor.  He  extended  his 
missionary  excursions  to  the  Sioux,  Ricarees,  Mandans,  and  Assiniboines 
of  whom  he  baptized  about  four  hundred." 

After  1848  the  mission  among  the  Osages  was'  renewed  under  the 
title  of  St.  Francis  Hieronymo  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  John  Shoenmakers 
and  John  Bax,  with  the  Sisters  of  Loretto  conducting  the  school.  In 
that  year  the  Chicago  Potawatomi,  or  the  United  Nation  of  the 
Ottawa,  Chippewa  and  Potawatomi,  were  removed  from  Council  Bluffs 
and  settled  on  their  lands  on  the  Kansas  River  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Sugar  Creek  Mission.  The  mission  was  blessed  with  extraordinary 
good  results.  When  the  old  Indian  Territory  in  1851,  was  erected  into 
a  Vicariate  Apostolic  under  the  Jesuit  Bishop  John  Baptist  Miege, 
the  Potawatomi  Mission  became  his  Episcopal  residence. 

Father  Christian  Hoecken,  who  thus  received  through  Father  Petit 's 
consecrated  hands,  the  heritage  of  the  earlier  Jesuit's  treasure  of 
Catholic  souls,  and  who  was  privileged  to  introduce  the  saintly  Mother 
Duchesne  to  the  fervently  desired  Indian  Mission,  was  born  in  Upper 
Brabant,  and  was,  at  this  time,  only  twenty-eight  years  of  age.  He  was 
the  companion  of  Father  Van  Quickenborne  in  founding  and  conducting 
the  Kickapoo  Mission.  At  the  suppression  of  this  first  Indian  estab- 
lishment west  of  the  Mississippi  he  was  transferred  to  the  Potawatomi 
Mission  on  the  Osage  River  and  on  Sugar  Creek.  He  spoke  the  lan- 
guages of  both  tribes,  the  Kickapoo  and  the  Potawatomi  and  understood 
their  manners,  prejudices  and  predilections.  The  Indians  conceived  a 
profound  veneration  for  him.  "He  was,"  as  Father  De  Smet  testifies, 


is     Aelen 's  Report  to  Bishop  Rosati,  1839. 


(iss  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

"To  all  (if  them,  their  father  in  Christ,  their  physician  in  illness,  their 
counsel  in  difficulties,  their  sincere  and  faithful  friend.  When  he  could 
share  anything  with  his  poor  neophytes,  he  rejoiced  with  all  the  sim- 
plicity (if  a  child.  His  only  consolation  was  to  be  among  them."10  He 
died  of  cholera  on  the  19th  day  of  June  1851,  on  the  great  journey 
undertaken  in  company  (if  Father  De  Smet  to  the  Great  Desert.  Both 
were  attacked  by  the  virulent  disease,  but  Father  De  Smet  recovered. 
Father  Hoecken,  "the  martyr  of  duty,"  as  Father  De  Smet  called  him, 
was  buried  near  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Sioux  River,  but  later  on  brought 
to  Florissant.  There  his  mortal  remains  repose  near  the  grave  of  the  last 
Jesuit  Missionary  of  the  Illinois,  Father  Sebastian  Meurin.  Archbishop 
Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  in  a  brief  obituary  published  in  the  Shepherd 
of  the  Valley,  thus  sums  up  the  noble  character  of  Father  Christian 
Hoecken:  "The  qualities  winch  most  distinguished  him  amid  his  labors 
and  privations  were  his  admirable  frankness,  his  simplicity,  his  sound 
judgment,  and  ever-joyous  and  peaceful  disposition  of  mind  and  heart, 
and  an  imperturable  contentment,  which  the  author  of  this  notice  has 
never  found  to  the  same  degree  in  any  individual."20 


i»     De  Smet ,  "Western  Missions  and  Missionaries;"  p.  65. 
20     "Shepherd  of  the  Valley,"  July,  1851. 


Chapter  29 
EARLY  CHURCH-FOUNDATIONS  IN  CENTRAL  MISSOURI 


The  succession  of  counties  west  of  St.  Louis  and  Jefferson,  along 
the  windings  of  the  muddy  Missouri.  Franklin,  Gasconade,  then  compris- 
ing Osage.  Maries,  Gasconade,  and  lastly  the  County  of  Cole,  the  proud 
possessor  of  the  State  Capital,  Jefferson  City,  formed  the  favorite 
missionary  field  of  the  Jesuits  in  Missouri  after  the  establishment  of 
their  University  in  the  chief  city  of  the  State.  Of  course,  their  labors 
extended  to  a  far  wider  territory,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river.  But 
the  district  circumscribed  here  was  a  compact  and  almost  homogeneous 
unit,  in  as  far  as  the  Church  was  concerned;  most  of  the  early  settlers 
being  one  in  religion  and  nationality :  Catholic  emigrants  from  Bavaria, 
Baden,  the  Rhineland,  Westphalia,  and  Hanover.  Westphalia  in  what 
is  now  called  Osage  County  was  for  a  time  the  center  of  the  various 
missions. 

"The  Germans  are  most  numerous  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jefferson 
City,"  wrote  Father  Verhaegen  in  1837.  "People  have  assured  us  there 
are  almost  fifty  Catholic  families  there.  They  are  pious  and  in  better 
circumstances  than  those  of  Washington."1 

This  was  the  colony  of  Catholic  Westphalians  and  Rhinelanders 
from  Northern  Germany,  that  in  1835  had  formed  a  settlement  on  the 
Big  Maries,  a  tributary  of  the  Osage  River.  Some  of  the  immigrants 
Avere  men  of  classical  education,  as  Dr.  Bruns,  Mr.  Bartmann  and  others. 
One  of  their  number.  Mr.  Hesse,  made  a  valuable  map  of  the  Maries 
County  settlements,  and  a  book  on  "Western  North-America." 

As  a  village  grew  up  they  named  it  Westphalia.  A  Catholic  priest, 
Rev.  Henry  Meinkmann,  came  among  them  with  a  party  of  Rhinelanders, 
but,  being  debarred  from  holding  services,  for  lack  of  credentials,  em- 
ployed his  time  and  talent  in  teaching  school.  When  Father  Verhaegen 
in  1837  paid  a  visit  to  the  colony,  he  inquired  into  the  circumstances  of 
Father  Meinkmann 's  case  and  reported  them  to  Bishop  Rosati :  "Father 
Henry  Meinkmann  of  the  diocese  of  Minister  in  Germany  was  ordained  in 
1829,  at  Lucerne  in  Switzerland.  For  three  years  prior  to  his  coming  to 
America  in  1836,  he  exercised  the  ministry  at  Capellen  and  at  Hinsbeck 
in  Minister.  On  relinquishing  this  post  lie  obtained  commendatory  letters 
from  the  cure  of  Hinsbeck:  but  on  soliciting  a  document  of  like  tenor 
from  the  Vicar-General  of  the  diocese  of  Minister,  was  assured  bv  thai 


i     Verhaegen  to  Rosati,  November  17.  l.s.'!7.  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

(689) 


690  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

official,  apparently  in  good  faith,  that  no  credentials  other  than  those 
furnished  by  the  cure  of  Hinsbeck  would  be  found  necessary  in  America. 
Father  Meinkmann  applied  to  Bishop  Rosati  for  faculties  in  April  1837, 
but  received  a  curt  refusal,  because  he  coidd  not  show  dimissorial  letters 
from  the  Bishop  of  Miinster.  All  that  the  poor  priest  could  do  was  to 
go  with  his  party  of  immigrants  and  to  wait  until  the  clouds  should  be 
cleared  away.  Father  Helias  thought  well  of  him;  calling  him  "that 
Israelite  in  whom  there  is  no  guile. 

"The  Germans  of  Westphalia,"  wrote  Father  Verhaegen  to  the 
Bishop,  "said  many  fine  things  about  the  good  priest  of  whom  Father 
Helias  speaks :  but  those  of  more  influence  among  them  observed  to 
me  that  he  would  not  suit,  as  he  could  not  wield  over  them  the  authoritj7 
and  influence  which  the  Sacred  Ministry  requires  and  this  for  the 
reason  that  he  has  resided  so  long  among  them  without  the  usual  powers 
of  a  priest,  merely  as  a  school-teacher,  etc. '  '2 

In  the  meantime  Father  Meinkmann  had  received  his  canonical 
exeat  from  the  diocese  of  Miinster :  whereupon  Bishop  Rosati  granted 
him  faculties  for  "Westphalia  Settlement  as  resident  pastor.  A  small 
wooden  chapel  was  then  erected  on  the  north  side  of  the  Maries  River, 
and  dedicated  to  St.  John  the  Baptist. 

But,  as  Father  Verhaegen  had  intimated  to  the  Bishop,  Father 
Meinkmann 's  stay  at  Westphalia  Settlement  was  foredoomed.  He  was 
unable  to  maintain  his  priestly  dignity,  having  been,  for  so  long  a  time, 
deprived  of  priestly  faculties.  For  an  entire  year  he  had  said  no  Mass. 
The  Westphalians  expressed  doubt  about  his  ordination :  his  own  Rhine- 
land  friends  defended  him  as  best  they  could.  Dissension  was  rife, 
as  Father  Meinkmann  continued  to  hold  divine  services  under  Bishop 
Rosati 's  orders.  The  mischief  had  been  done,  and  there  was  no  way 
of  reinstating  the  innocent,  though  rather  imprudent  priest,  in  the  love 
and  confidence  of  the  people.  In  the  quarrels  between  the  hard-headed 
Westphalians  and  the  light-hearted  Rhinelanders,  Father  Meinkmann 
naturally  took  sides  with  the  latter.  This  sealed  his  doom  in  West- 
phalia. Bishop  Rosati  appointed  him  to  the  new  colony  of  Washington 
in  Franklin  County,  and  offered  the  mission  of  Westphalia  to  the  Jesuit 
Fathers.  Westphalia  was  to  be  the  center  of  the  Missions  in  Central 
Missouri.  The  Jesuits  readily  accepted  the  offer,  April  23rd,  1838.  For 
some  weeks  after  his  transfer,  Father  Meinkmann  remained  in  West- 
phalia and  Loose  Creek.  His  new  field  of  labor  was  a  settlement  of 
Hanoverians.  The  place  had  been  visited  by  the  Jesuit  Father  Chris- 
tian Hoeken  in  1835,  but  Father  Meinkmann  was  its  first  resident  priest. 
A  small  chapel  of  logs  was  built  there  soon  after  his  arrival.     On  July 


2     Verhaegen  to  Bosati,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Early  Church-Foundations  in  Central  Missouri  691 

20,  1838,  Father  Meinkmann  received  the  "Major  Faculties"  which 
included  the  power  of  dispensing  in  some  matrimonial  impediments, 
for  Washington  and  Marthasville,  now  know  under  the  name  of  Dut- 
zow,  in  Warren  County  on  the  north  side  of  the  Missouri  River.3 

The  origin  of  Washington  dates  back  to  October  12th,  1833,  Avhen 
the  first  German  Catholic  emigrants  from  Belm  and  Osterkappeln, 
near  Osnabrueck,  arrived.  There  were  twelve  families,  men,  women 
and  children,  amounting  to  about  sixty  persons,  that  sailed  from  Bremen 
to  New  Orleans.  The  excessive  heat  of  the  Southland  and  the  mosquito 
plague  led  them  on  to  St.  Louis.  Illinois  now  became  their  objective 
and  they  engaged  passage  up  the  Illinois  River.  But  on  the  very  day 
they  were  to  depart  the  boat  sank.  There  was  another  large  boat  ready 
for  departure,  though  not  for  the  Illinois  Country.  Its  pathway  lay 
up  the  Missouri.  Quickly  deciding  the  question  of  their  future  home,  the 
little  colony  started  for  Marthasville  on  the  Missouri,  of  which  newly 
founded  town  they  had  read  a  glowing  account  in  Gottfried  Duden's 
book. 

The  Captain  of  the  boat,  however,  advised  them  to  settle  on  the 
southern  bank  of  the  River,  where  a  certain  Mr.  Owens  would  be  very 
helpful  to  them.  The  advice  seemed  good  to  the  weary  pilgrims.  At 
the  landing  place  they  found  shelter  for  the  night  in  the  ware-house 
of  a  local  trader.  Mr.  Owens  offered  them  his  smoke  house  for  a  tem- 
porary dwelling.  A  few  frame-houses  were  speedily  put  together,  and 
the  nucleus  of  a  town  graced  the  river  bank.  During  the  winter  the 
men  of  the  new  colony  found  employment  with  neighboring  farmers. 
The  early  American  settlers,  invariable  a  hospitable  people,  received 
the  German  arrivals  with  great  kindness.  This,  and  the  beauty  of  the 
American  forest  soon  made  the  exiles  feel  at  home  in  their  new  sur- 
roundings. Within  a  few  months  all  had  taken  up  a  forty-acre  claim 
and  began  farming  on  their  own  lands.  Within  two  years  all  were  well 
established  and  fairly  prosperous.  Letters  went  out  to  the  folks  at 
home ;  a  second  colony  arrived  and  was  placed  in  the  neighborhood. 
All  that  was  wanting,  was  a  church  and  resident  priest.  The  Jesuit 
missionaries  came  to  the  colony  at  longer  or  shorter  intervals.  In  the 
meantime  the  good  people  kept  alive  the  Faith  by  family-prayers  and 
the  service  of  their  chanter  and  sacristan,  Henry  Niemann.  But  now 
they  were  promised  a  resident  priest  in  the  person  of  Father  Henry 
Meinkmann,  the  founder  of  the  Church  of  Westphalia,  where  Father 
Helias  took  possession  in  May  1838.  Father  Meinkmann  remained  at 
Westphalia  with  Father  Helias  until  June  1838.     Then  he  removed  to 


3  Letters  of  Meinkmann  to  Rosnti.  in  Msgr.  Holweck  's  Article  in  "Pastoral- 
Bl.'itt, "  Vol.  56,  No.  5.  Helias  to  Verhaegen  and  Verhaegen  to  Rosati,  Archives  of 
St.  Lonis  Archdiocese. 


692  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Washington  where  the  colonists  had  buiH  a  log-church.  It  was  not  before 
Father  Busschots  time  that  the  new  Congregation  was  named  St.  Francis 
Borgia.4 

Father  Meinkmann's  career  at  Washington  was  not  of  long  dura- 
tion. Sonic  indiscretions,  innocent  in  their  nature,  but  hurtful  to  his 
good  name,  were  brought  to  the  ears  of  his  Bishop.  lie  himself  was 
ill  with  the  usual  fever  of  a  new  country;  Bishop  Rosati  on  his  great 
confirmation  trip  in  1838  kept  clear  of  the  last  station  on  his  way, 
Washington,  and  hurried  home.  In  his  Diary  the  Bishop  placed  the 
following  entry  under  date  of  October  17 : 

"Wednesday,  about  noon,  Ave  came  to  the  town  of  Union.  From  this 
place  I  had  intended  to  go  to  the  town  of  Washington,  and  administer 
Confirmation  in  the  church  of  St.  Francis  Regis.  But  it  would  have 
been  very  difficult  on  account  of  the  river,  to  bring  the  children  to- 
gether and  instruct  them  in  one  or  two  days,  therefore  we  continued  to 
journey  in  the  public  conveyance.  In  the  Parish  of  St.  Francis  Regis 
there  are  about  sixty  Catholic  families  from  Germany.  Father  Meink- 
mann  is  their  pastor."5  On  November  25th  1839,  the  Bishop  gave  the 
Parish  of  Washington  to  the  Jesuits  and  appointed  the  Belgian  Father 
Busschotts  to  the  place.  Father  Meinkmann  received  permission  to  return 
to  Germany.  But  Germany  was  out  of  reach  for  lack  of  means :  hence 
Father  Meinkmann  asked  permission  to  build  a  chapel  in  Marthasville 
for  the  twenty-five  Catholic  families  living  in  the  neighborhood.  The 
Superior  of  the  Jesuits  however,  wrote  to  the  Bishop  stating,  that  he 
had  no  objection  to  the  plan,  but  could  not  promise  to  take  over  the 
place  if  a  church  were  built  there,  as  the  people  were  unable  to  support 
a  resident  priest. 

Father  Meinkmann's  request  was  not  granted,  but  within  a  short 
time  he  was  sent  by  Vicar-General  Verhaegen  to  the  new  German  Parish 
on  the  western  boundary  of  the  State.  "This  is  the  Parish  of  Deep- 
water  in  Henry  County,  now  called  Germantown.  The  first  settlement 
on  Deepwater  Creek  was  made  in  1836,  by  the  Walbert  and  Schmedding 
families,  the  advance  guard  of  a  large  colony  of  Hanoverian  Catholics. 
On  their  way  they  had  stopped  for  a  while  with  their  countrymen  al- 
ready settled  in  Warren  County,  and  there  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Father  Meinkmann."6 


■*  For  information  on  Washington,  cf.  in  "Amerika,"  St.  Louis,  April  20, 
1923.  G.  Duden's  book,  mentioned  above,  was  one  of  the  most  influential  means  of 
bringing  German  settlers  to  Missouri. 

5  Eosati's  Diary. 

6  Holweck,  1.  c,  p.  68.  Garraghan,  S.  J.,  "The  Mission  of  Central  Missouri," 
in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Keview, "  vol.  II,  p.  158  s. 


Early  Church-Foundations  in  Central  Missouri  693 

On  his  arrival  at  Deep-water  in  1840  two  log-houses  were  built,  one 
to  serve  as  a  church  and  the  other  as  pastoral  residence.  After  two 
years  the  Congregation  acquired  another  site  and  erected  a  better  church 
thereon.  This  also  was  a  log-structure,  but  had  a  frame  spire  fifty  feet 
high.  The  land  was  donated  by  the  Schmedding  family.  Father  Meink- 
mann  soon  grew  weary  of  the  sylvan  solitude  in  this  far  western  settle- 
ment, and  retired  for  a  time  to  Europe;  but  finding  himself  out  of  place 
in  the  old  world,  he  came  back  to  the  West.  It  was  at  Ferdinand, 
Indiana,  that  he  spent  the  last  five  years  of  his  life  in  pastoral  work, 
dying  August  25th,  1847. 

"The  project  of  a  Jesuit  residence  in  the  interior  of  Missouri," 
notes  Father  Gilbert  J.  Garraghan,  "had  been  under  consideration 
for  some  time  previous  to  the  visit  of  Father  Verhaegen  to  the  West- 
phalia emigrants  in  the  autum  of  1837.  The  eighteen  or  more  Catholic 
stations  scattered  along  both  sides  of  the  Missouri  River  as  far  as 
Boonville  above  Jefferson  City  were,  during  the  period  1828-1838,  visited 
four  or  five  times  a  year  by  the  Jesuits  of  St.  Charles  in  missionary 
circuits  averaging  from  four  to  six  weeks'  duration.  But  such  arrange- 
ment was  not  by  any  means  calculated  to  meet  effectively  the  spiritual 
needs  of  the  territory  in  question ;  it  was,  perforce,  provisional  only, 
pending  the  establishment  of  a  centrally  located  headquarters  for  the  mis- 
sionaries. Already  in  1836  the  author  of  the  Annual  Letters  of  the  Mis- 
souri Province  pointed  to  the  Catholic  settlement  of  eighty  souls  on  "St. 
Mary's  Creek,"  the  Westphalia  settlement  above  referred  to,  as  a  like- 
ly place  for  a  Jesuit  residence.  Partly,  therefore,  to  supply  the  spir- 
itual wants  of  the  growing  Catholic  emigrant  population  of  Osage  and 
Gasconade  Counties,  and  partly  to  secure  a  missionary  center  for  the 
Fathers  from  which  they  could  conveniently  attend  the  various  Cath- 
olic stations  of  Central  Missouri,  Father  Verhaegen,  with  the  consent 
of  Bishop  Rosati,  decided  to  open  a  residence  on  Maries  Creek.  April 
23rd,  1838,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Superior  with  his  official  advisers,  it 
was  determined  that  "Father  Helias  and  Brother  Morris  be  sent  to 
the  station  generally  known  as  Westphalia  settlement  near  Jefferson 
City."7 

Father  Mary  Ferdinand  Benedict  Ghislain  Helias  de  Huddeghem, 
to  give  the  apostle  of  Central  Missouri  his  full  designation,  was  born 
on  the  3rd  of  August  1795,  at  Ghent  in  Flanders.  The  family  was  of 
the  old  Flemish  nobility  and  staunchly  Catholic.  The  boy  Ferdinand 
attended  the  College  at  Roulers  and  then  the  College  Montrouge,  in 
France.     When  Fathers  Nerinckx,  in  November  1815,  came  to  Ghent, 


i     Biographical  notices  by  Father  Helias  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 
Holweck,  "Ferdinand  de  Huddghen,"  in  "  Pastoral-Blatt, "  Vol.  53,  Xo.  3. 


694  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  young  enthusiast  resolved  to  accompany  him  to  the  American  Mis- 
sion. But  the  elder  Helias  refused  permission.  When  the  Society  of 
Jesus  was  reestablished  in  1814,  young  Helias  joined  them  as  a  student 
and  on  October  7th,  1817,  as  a  member.  Ferdinand  again  requested 
to  be  sent  to  America,  and  once  more  met  a  refusal.  Having  been  sent 
to  Brieg  in  Switzerland  for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  his  theological 
studies  he  spent  twelve  years  of  his  life  amid  the  glorious  mountain 
scenery.  It  was  here  that  Ferdinand  Helias  learnt  to  speak  and  write 
German.  In  Pentecost  week,  1824,  he  received  the  orders  of  deaconship 
and  priesthood  and  celebrated  his  first  mass  on  Corpus  Christi  day.  In 
February  1826,  he  accompanied  the  Provinicial  P.  Drach  to  Rome  and 
was  received  by  Pope  Leo  XII  in  private  audience.  In  1831  Father 
Helias  became  Professor  of  German  Language  and  Literature  at  the 
Jesuit  College  at  Freiburg  in  Switzerland.  Early  in  January  1833  came 
the  fulfilment  of  the  young  priest's  dearest  wish,  his  call  to  America. 
His  companions  of  the  voyage  were  Fathers  McSherry  and  Busschotts. 

On  St.  Ferdinand's  day,  May  30,  Father  Helias  said  his  first  mass 
on  the  soil  of  America.  Georgetown  in  Maryland  was  his  first  field  of 
activity  and  school  for  learning  English.  Then  the  German  missions 
near  Conewago,  Pennsylvania,  were  entrusted  to  his  care.  Gettysburg, 
Mount  St.  Ignace,  Petersburg  and  Conewago,  each  had  a  Sunday 's  visit 
once  a  month.  At  last  in  the  summer  of  1835,  came  the  long  desired  call 
to  the  wilds  of  Missouri.  Life  among  the  Indians  was  Father  Helias' 
ideal,  but  it  was  to  be  a  blessed  life  among  the  German  Catholics  of 
Central  Missouri. 

When  Father  Helias  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  August  25th,  1835,  he 
met  Father  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz,  his  fellow-novice  at  Brieg  in  Switzer- 
land. From  him  he  learnt  what  great  need  there  was  of  priests  that 
spoke  German.  There  was  the  chapel  of  St.  Aloysius  at  the  University, 
in  which  the  German  Catholics  of  the  North-side  were  wont  to  meet  for 
divine  service.  Father  Helias  gave  himself  entirely  to  the  care  for  their 
spiritual  wants  until  April  1838,  when  he  was  sent  by  his  Superior  to 
the  newly  established  residence  at  Westphalia,  and,  as  the  House-Chron- 
icle says,  "courageously  accepted  the  task  imposed  upon  him,  an  arduous 
one,  withall,  as  there  are  heart  burnings  and  discussions  to  be  healed, 
before  any  good  can  be  accomplished  among  the  people."8 

Father  Helias  made  the  journey  up  the  Missouri  in  company  of 
Father  De  Smet  S.  J.,  the  renowned  Indian  missionary,  and  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  Verhaegen  and  Eysvogels.  But,  as  the  boat  proceeded  so  very 
slowly  and  met  so  many  mishaps,  Father  Helias,  had  himself  and  his 
pony  put  ashore,  and  thus  proceeded  by  land  to  his  destination.     On 


8     Cf.  Lebroqui's  French  Life  of  Father  Helias,  published  in  Ghent,  1878. 


Early  Church-Foundation  in  Central  Missouri  695 

May  11th,  lie  arrived  at  the  Creole-settlement  Cote-Sans-Dessein,  op- 
posite the  mouth  of  the  Osage  Kiver.  The  village  was  much  reduced 
in  extent  since  the  visit  of  Father  De  La  Croix.  The  church,  dedicated 
to  St.  Joseph  had  been  swept  away  by  the  turbid  waves  of  the 
Missouri.  Only  the  cemetery  remained.  Father  Helias  said  his  thanks- 
giving Mass  in  a  private  residence,  and  then  crossed  the  river  to  what 
is  now  a  part  of  the  parish  of  Loose  Creek,  and  there  said  his  first  mass 
within  the  circle  of  his  eighteen  missionary  stations.  On  Sunday,  May 
13th,  he  took  formal  possession  of  the  church  of  St.  John  in  Westphalia 
Settlement.  A  plot  of  ground,  forty  acres,  was  obtained  from  Francis 
Geisberger,  and  laid  out  in  town-lots,  with  the  church  lot  in  the  center. 
On  July  27th,  Father  Busschotts  brought  along  from  Conewago  a  num- 
ber of  artisans.  Church,  school  and  residence  being  built,  Father  Helias 
and  Busschotts  began  their  missionary  labors  from  the  new  center,  Father 
Busschotts  attending  to  the  home-duties,  and  Father  Helias  making 
his  towns  on  horseback.  Regular  services  were  held  at  Westphalia,  where 
the  people  were  Low-Germans,  at  Loose  Creek,  the  home  of  the  Rhine- 
landers,  at  Rich  Fountain,  the  bulk  of  whose  parishioners  were  Bavarians, 
and  at  Taos  which  was  mainly  settled  by  Hanoverians  and  Belgians. 
When  in  October  1838  Bishop  Rosati  came  to  Westphalia,  he  conferred 
the  old  title  of  Cote-Sans-Dessein  church,  on  the  new  church  near  that 
vanishing  town,  and  called  it  St.  Joseph's.  Confirmation  was  administer- 
ed to  thirty-eight  members  of  the  parish.  The  Bishop  preached  in 
English.  Father  Busschotts,  who  acted  as  pastor  and  school  teacher  in 
Westphalia,  was  transferred  to  Washington,  Franklin  County,  on  Sep- 
tember 23rd,  1839,  as  successor  to  Father  Meinkmann.  Thus  Father 
Helias  was  left  alone  in  his  wide  missionary  field,  until  the  arrival  of 
Father  James  Cotting  in  1846. 

During  Father  Busschotts  stay  in  Westphalia  Father  Helias  suc- 
ceeded in  making  one  or  more  visits  to  all  the  stations  in  his  little 
Kingdom  of  eleven  counties  on  both  sides  of  the  Missouri  River.  In 
a  manuscript  account  compiled  by  him  in  1839,  the  tireless  missionary 
gives  a  census  of  the  Catholic  families  he  found  on  these  journeys.  On 
the  south  side  of  the  Missouri  there  were  at  Westphalia  :  Bernard  Bruns. 
Doctor  of  Medicine ;  Geisberg,  Brockmann,  Ottens,  Gramatica,  Walters, 
Schmitz,  Otto,  Debeis,  Eppenhoff,  Oldenlehre,  Huber,  Xacke,  Bartmann, 
Eck,  Knueve,  Zellerhoff,  Juchmann,  Bose,  Eckmeier,  Kolks,  Vennewald. 
Lueckenhoff.  Meierpeter,  Schuelen,  Krekel,  Dohmen,  Stiefemann, 
Hagenbrock,  Boessen,  Linnemann,  Goetzen,  Artzt,  Brockerhoff,  Kern, 
Wilhaupt,  Schwartze,  Hasslag,  Holtermann,  Sudhoff,  Borgmann.  Kuess. 

Jefferson  City:  J.  Schater,  Kolkmeyer,  Richters,  Hart,  Withnell. 
Hannen,  Buz,  Kramer,  Tellmann,  Monaghan,  Ryan,  Gilmar,  Corker. 
Bauerdick.  Brand.  Doherty. 


696  History  of  flic  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Loose  Creek:  Monnier,  Valentin,  Cordonier,  Briehaud,  Besson, 
Sa i tinier,  Stoffen,  Farrell,  Reed,  Bnrbus. 

French  Village:  Peter  Gonjon,  Louis  Goujon,  Angelica  Mercer, 
widow;  Gleizeur,  Picqucur,  Yincennes,  Denoyer,  Luison,  Leblanc. 

And  on  the  north  side  of  the  Missouri  River,  Cote-Sans-Dessein : 
Roye,  Faye,  Arnould,  Nicholas,  Kenand. 

Bailey's  Creek:  Log^don,  Simon  Welch,  Howard,  Folgs,  Kerpentin, 
Miller,  Heth. 

Portland:   Priestly  Gill. 

Hancock  Prairie:  Joseph  Shannon,  Thomas  Flood,  Anna  Catharina, 
widow  of  John  Pre  is. 

Columbia  :   Lynch  and  Kitt. 

Booneville :  Fuchs,  Weber,  Fis,  Pecht,  Fay,  Morey,  Dr.  Heart, 
Rockwie,  Briel. 

New  Franklin  :   Matthias  Simon. 

The  transfer  of  Father  Busschotts  to  Washington  had  relieved 
Father  Helias  of  the  immediate  care  of  the  stations  in  St.  Louis,  Frank- 
lin, Gasconade  and  Warren  Counties,  namely  Manchester,  Washington, 
Burbus,  Harry  Reeds  Settlement,  Bailey's  Creek,  Cadet  Creek  and 
Marthasville.y 

In  his  account  of  1838  Father  Helias  mentions  a  station  "across 
the  Osage  at  Herman  Nieters,  Liberty  Township"  as  having  twenty 
Catholic  families.  This  place  was  afterwards  named  Taos.  Here  Father 
Helias  built  his  second  church  in  Central  Missouri,  that  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier  (1840).  On  May  24th,  the  Feast  of  the  Ascension,  he  officiated 
at  French  Village,  and  the  day  after  at  Cote-SansJJessein.  Saturday 
he  was  at  Hibernia,  about  five  miles  northeast  of  Jefferson  City.  On 
Sunday  May  27th,  he  celebrated  mass  for  the  first  time  in  Jefferson 
City.    ' 

"Nowhere  was  he  given  a  heartier  welcome  than  in  Jefferson  City," 
writes  Father  Garraghan,  "The  Catholic  population  of  the  town  con- 
sisted of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  souls,  chiefly  German  and  Irish 
emigrants,  most  of  whom  were  employed  as  laborers  on  the  new  Capitol 
building  then  in  process  of  construction.  Father  Helias  spent  a  few 
days  among  these  good  people  and  afterwards  revisited  them  regularly 
once  a  month.  Before  the  close  of  1838,  sixteen  hundred  dollars  had 
been  collected  among  the  Catholics  for  a  church  and  school  to  be  placed 
under  the  invocation  of  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola.  Mr.  John  Withnell, 
architect  of  the  Capitol,  and  personally  known  to  Father  Helias,  offered 


9  MS.,  ' '  Notices  and  Letters  of  Father  Helias, ' '  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis 
Archdiocese.  Tor  Census,  cf.  "Missouri  Historical  Beview, "  vol.  V,  p.  85,  1915. 
The  article  was  written  by  Father  Joseph  H.  Schmidt. 


Early  Church -Foundation  in  Central  Missouri  697 

his  professional  services  for  the  new  edifice  at  a  nominal  charge.  The 
Irish  and  German  workmen  employed  on  the  Capitol  also  volunte  'red 
their  help.  The  only  difficulty  that  beset  the  venture  was  the  lack  of  a 
suitable  site."10 

At  last,  after  one  or  two  favorable  prospects  ended  in  disappoint- 
ment, a  proper  site  was  purchased,  and  a  frame  structure  was  erected 
under  the  invocation  of  St.  Ignatius  Loyola  and  dedicated  on  Easter 
Sunday  1843. 

During  this  tedious  interval  divine  service  was  held  "in  the  large 
hall  of  the  German  Boarding  House  of  Mr.  Henry  Haar." 

Bishop  Rosati,  assisted  by  Father  Verhaegen,  administered  Con- 
firmation in  Jefferson  City  on  October  1838.  "I  gave  confirmation  in 
the  Hall  of  an  Hotel  in  Jefferson  City  to  11  persons  on  a  week  day : 
there  are  two  hundred  Catholics,  not  yet  a  church,  but  we  have  begun 
to  make  arrangements  to  have  a  decent  one  in  stone.  Mr.  Withnell, 
who  is  building  there  the  Capitol,  very  kindly  received  us  in  his  house : 
he  will  be  of  great  service  in  the  building  of  the  church."11 

Jefferson  City  is  not  only  the  Capital  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  but 
also  the  home  of  the  State  Pentitentiary.  Father  Helias  was  the  first 
priest  to  say  Mass  before  the  convicts. 

Father  Garraghan  quotes  from  the  Annual  Letters  a  brief  account 
of  the  happy  death  of  one  of  Father  Helias'  convict  converts: 

"A  young  Englishman,  Henry  Lane  by  name,  of  aristocratic  con- 
nections and  a  one-time  college  student,  at  least  so  report  had  it,  was 
under  sentence  of  death.  His  desperate  antecedents  promised  small  hope 
of  any  spiritual  impression  being  made  upon  him.  Father  Helias,  how- 
ever, undertook  to  prepare  him  for  death  with  the  result  that  the  young 
man  underwent  a  complete  change  of  heart  and  went  to  his  fate  with 
the  most  edifying  sentiments  of  faith  and  repentance.  The  crowd  who 
gathered  to  witness  the  execution  looked  for  a  desperate  struggle  from 
the  criminal  when  brought  to  the  gallows.  To  their  surprise,  nothing 
of  the  kind  occurred.  On  the  contrary,  he  walked  to  the  scaffold  without 
handcuffs  and  with  a  crucifix  in  his  hand,  and  the  words  of  warning  which 
he  addressed  to  the  spectators  on  the  vice  of  drunkenness  brought  tears 
to  the  eyes  of  many.  The  breaking  at  the  last  moment  of  the  hangman 's 
rope  when  it  was  already  around  the  neck  of  the  condemned  man,  failed 
to  unnerve  him.  He  persevered  to  the  end  in  his  pious  sentiments,  the 
sacred  names  of  Jesus  and  Mary  rising  to  his  lips  in  the  brief  spell  of 
agony  that  preceded  death."12 


10  Garrnghan,   "The   Mission   of   Central   Missouri,"   "St.   Louis   Catholic  His- 
torical Eeview, "  vol.  II,  pp.  164. 

11  Rosati  to  Timon,  October  20,  1838,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

12  Litterae  Annuae,  1840,  apud  Garraghan,  1.  e. 


698  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Father  Helias  in  his  notes  complains  of  the  spirit  of  indifference 
obtaining  among  the  French  Creoles  of  Cote-Sans-Dessein  and  French 
Village,  but  the  strong  faith  and  spirit  of  sacrifice  among  the  other 
members  of  his  fold  is  constantly  on  his  lips.  Of  course,  the  pathway 
of  life  was  not  always  smooth  and  pleasant  among  these  sturdy  im- 
migrants from  various  parts  of  the  Fatherland.  There  were  bickerings 
and  misunderstandings  and  cross  currents  of  endeavor.  At  Taos  Father 
Helias  had  secured  ten  acres  of  land  for  the  church,  in  a  central  location 
for  the  German  farmers  and  began  to  lay  plans  for  the  erection  of  a 
temporary  structure.  A  small  party  of  parishioners,  however,  pressed 
a  demand  that  another  site,  nearer  to  their  habitations  should  be  bought 
from  the  Government.  The  place  chosen  by  Father  Helias  lay  within 
easy  reach  of  his  two  most  important  stations,  Westphalia  and  Jef- 
ferson City.  The  advocates  of  the  new  site  were  intent  upon  their  own 
convenience,  and  carried  the  case  to  Father  Verhaegen  the  Administrator 
of  the  Diocese  during  Bishop  Rosati's  absence.  Father  Helias  carried  his 
point  and  built  the  church  where  he  thought  it  would  serve  best  the 
purpose  he  had  in  view.  Soon  a  village  grew  up  around  the  church  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier.  For  a  time  it  was  known  as  Haarville,  but  as  the 
Post  Office  of  the  place  was  named  Taos,  the  village  also  assumed  the 
Spanish  designation  of  Taos.  Father  Helias  thus  described  the  place  in 
his  Memoirs ;  ' '  There  are  no  bilious  fevers  here  as  elsewhere,  the  parish 
buildings  are  more  pretentious  than  in  the  other  residences  established 
by  this  missionary ;  in  a  word,  the  place  makes  a  much  better  appearance. 
Moreover,  the  settlers  succeed  better  here  owing  to  the  nearness  of  the 
State  capital  and  of  the  railroad,  by  which  they  are  enabled  to  ship 
their  produce  to  all  points  in  the  state.  The  land  has  all  been  taken  up 
and  old  farms  sell  at  a  high  price,  while  the  soil  is  less  broken  up  and 
much  more  productive  than  on  the  other  side  of  the  Osage  Eiver.  "13 

The  great  parish  of  the  Bavarians  with  the  picturesque  name  of 
Rich  Fountain,  dedicated  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  was  organized  in  1840, 
but  received  a  mighty  increase  about  1842,  when  "two  hundred  and 
fifty  families, ' '  as  Father  Helias  states,  ' '  arrived  from  Bavaria  to  escape 
the  unjust  laws,  which  Bavarian  Liberalism  had  foisted  on  the  people  of 
that  Catholic  country.  Many  marriages  of  these  newcomers,  clandes- 
tinely contracted,  had  to  be  validated  by  Father  Helias.  In  the  course 
of  time  the  Parish  of  the  Sacred  Heart  became  "a  model  for  all  others," 
in  piety  and  regularity  of  life.14 


13  GarrnjJhrm,  1.  c,  p.  165. 

14  Helias  Memoirs,  p.  54. 


Early  Church-Foundation  in  Central  Missouri  699 

The  year  1841  brought  two  great  afflictions  to  the  Catholic  con- 
gregation under  Father  Helias'  care;  an  epidemic  spread  over  the 
entire  region  and  garnered  in  numerous  victims :  a  severe  drought 
lasting  for  months,  ruined  the  crops,  and  brought  the  people  to  the 
brink  of  starvation.  Day  after  day  Father  Helias  was  in  the  saddle 
riding  up  and  down  the  country  side,  to  comfort  the  dying,  and  to 
help  the  forsaken.15  The  Good  Shepherd's  kindly  efforts  were,  no  doubt, 
heartly  appreciated  by  his  widely  scattered  flock.  Yet,  there  were 
wolves  in  sheep-clothing,  intent  upon  scattering  the  sheep  by  attacking 
the  shepherd.  The  chronicles  of  those  early  days  often  dwell  upon  the 
doings  of  the  so-called  "Latin  farmers,"  men  more  obsessed  by  the  pride 
of  education,  than  possessed  of  education  itself.  Some  of  them  were 
infected  with  the  revolutionary  spirit,  that  spurned  all  control.  In 
general,  they  formed  "a  class  of  cultivated  men,  yet  frequently  unprac- 
tical, for  whom  manual  labor  proved  a  hard  school  of  experience."10 

Westphalia  seems  to  have  harbored  a  number  of  such  "Latin  far- 
mers, ' '  whose  unpractical  methods,  having  led  to  failure  in  their  private 
concerns,  were  to  be  extended  to  public  concerns  as  well.  Their  efforts 
were  not  unavailing,  in  sowing  dissension  between  pastor  and  people. 
Some  of  Father  Helias'  most  devoted  parishionersi  were  won  over  to  the 
side  of  the  malcontents.  What  the  trouble  was  about  we  have  no  means 
of  telling,  yet  the  rancor  in  the  hearts  of  so  many  of  his  people  against 
him,  who  had  done  nothing  but  good  to  them,  bore  heavily  on  his 
gentle  heart.  The  future  seemed  clouded  with  portents  of  coming  ruin. 
He  declared  that  the  only  hope  of  saving  the  Faith  in  Central  Missouri 
lay  in  the  two  parishes  of  the  Sacred  Heart  at  Rich  Fountain,  and  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier  in  Cole  County.  The  trouble  culminated  in  Father 
Helias  giving  up  his  post  at  Westphalia  and  retiring  to  St.  Louis,  after 
affixing  to  the  church  door  a  Latin  distich  of  his  own  composition : 

Ardua  qui  quaerit,  rubros  cur  currit  ad  Indos ; 
Westphaliam  veniat,  ardua  cuncta  dabunt.17 

Father  Helias 's  fears  were  not  realized  in  the  manner  and  extent 
he  entertained.  The  people  of  Westphalia  were  too  staunchly  Catholic 
at  heart  to  tolerate  a  schism.  The  loss  of  their  pastor  and  the  Latin 
inscription  affixed  to  the  Church-door  may  have  penetrated  the 
armor  of  pride  of  the  "Latin  farmers."  and  moved  the  people,  hard- 


15     Barnes'   "Commonwealth   of   Missouri." 

i«     Faust,  "The  German  Element  in  the  United  States,"  vol.  I,  p.  44L\ 
17     "Why  should  the  man  who  covets  hardships  hie  to  the  dusky,  Indies?     Let 
him  come  to  Westphalia  and  he  will  find  hardships  aplenty. ' ' 


700  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

headed  and  stubborn  as  they  were  by  nature,  to  better  thoughts.    But 
a  severe  visitation  seemingly  was  needed  to  bridge  over  the  ehasm. 

".Meanwhile."  says  Father  Ilelias'  narrative,  "the  church  of  St. 
Joseph  stands  deserted  and  closed  against  the  wolves,  a  reproach  to 
those  who,  though  of  the  number  of  the  sheep,  have  by  contentions, 
subtlety  of  speech,  and  ambition  for  things  beyond  them,  forced  the 
pastor  to  retire,  relunctantly  withal  and  for  only  a  brief  spell — but 
Westphalia  had  ceased  forever  to  be  a  residence."  And  after  these 
words  follows  the  colophon,  "Here  ends  the  sad  history  of  the  colony 
of  Westphalia,  founded  by  me.    May  11th,  1842.  "1S 


is     "Historia  Westphaliae, "  p.  27. 


Chapter  30 
FATHER  JOHN  TIMON,  VISITOR  OF  THE  LAZARISTS 


One  of  the  most  beautiful  friendships  recorded  in  our  early  Annals 
was  that  of  the  two  Lazarist  Fathers  John  Mary  Odin  and  John  Timon. 
Entering  the  Seminary  of  St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens  at  nearly  the 
same  time,  Odin  as  deacon,  Timon  as  theology  student,  Odin  became 
the  younger  man's  professor  in  Sacred  science.  Later  on,  both  were  sent 
on  a  missionary  tour  to  New  Madrid  and  Arkansas  Post,  Odin  as 
priest  and  Timon  as  sub-deacon.  Frequent  excursions  were  made  by 
Odin  and  Timon,  now  also  raised  to  the  priesthood  since  1825,  some- 
times far  to  the  south,  but  they  were  generally  in  a  wide  circle  around 
the  Seminary.  Their  names  are  inscribed  in  the  Baptismal  Records 
of  Kaskaskia,  English  Settlement  and  O'Hara's  in  Illinois,  as  well  as 
of  Cape  Girardeau,  Jackson,  St.  Michael,  Potosi  and  Old  Mines  in 
Missouri.  Their  activites  extended  over  a  territory  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles.  When  Father  Odin  became  acting  Superior  at  the 
Barrens,  Father  Timon  was  his  chief  and  often  sole  support.  During 
the  trying  years  of  Father  Tornatore's  administration  at  the  Barrens, 
Father  Timon  was  employed  in  various  missions  of  utmost  importance 
as  the  restoration  of  peace  and  good  order  in  the  Community,  and 
the  acquisition  of  the  Cape  Girardeau  property. 

In  September  1833,  Father  Odin  started  on  a  voyage  to  France, 
his  native  country,  whilst  Father  Timon  was  kept  busy  with  his 
manifold  duties  in  the  Seminary,  and  the  College,  as  well  as  in  the 
missionary  field  around  the  Barrens. 

Father  John  B.  Tornatore,  the  Superior,  was  a  learned  theologian 
and  most  exemplary  priest,  but  he  labored  under  two  great  disadvan- 
tages :  his  inability  to  learn  English,  and  his  lack  of  administrative 
ability.  A  general  assembly  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission  was 
held  at  Paris,  at  which  Father  Odin  assisted.  The  complaints  from 
America  were  ventilated,  and  it  was  decreed  that  the  American  Mission 
be  raised  to  the  status  of  a  Province,  and  that  Father  Odin's  dearest 
friend,  Father  John  Timon,  should  be  made  Visitor.  On  the  16th, 
day  of  November  1835,  the  decrees  arrived  at  the  Barrens,  causing 
mingled  feelings  of  joy  and  consternation  in  the  hearts  of  the  two 
men ;  for  the  letter  contained  the  additional  decrees,  that  the  College 
should  be  suppressed,  that  one  of  the  priests  should  be  expelled,  and 
that  the  Bishop  should  pay  six  hundred  francs  annually  for  each 
seminarian.  The  income  from  the  College  had  been  the  chief  financial 
resource  of  the  community;  its  suppression  meant  the  destruction  of 

(701) 
• 


701'  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St._  Louis 

the  Seminary  also.  And  Bishop  Rosati,  as  they  all  knew,  would  not 
consent  to  pay  such  a  large  sum  for  his  Seminarians,  as  the  new  de- 
cree demanded. 

Father  Timon,  at  first,  humbly  yet  firmly,  refused  to  accept  the 
office  of  Visitor  under  such  impossible  conditions;  and  at  last,  re- 
quested Father  Tornatore  to  keep  the  secret  until  a  meeting  of  the 
priests  of  the  Mission  could  bo  convened.  Father  Tornatore  assembled 
the  community  and  informed  them  of  the  change.  All  were  satisfied; 
only  Father  Timon  persisted  in  his  refusal  of  the  position.  He  visited 
his  old  friends  Dahmen  and  Borgna  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  Father  Bouillier 
at  old  Mines.  They  too  agreed  that  he  must  accept  the  appointment, 
and  Father  John  Timon  bowed  in  humble  submission  to  the  will  of 
his  superiors.  The  new  Visitor  certainly  had  sufficient  cause,  beside 
his  lowly  estimate  of  his  abilities,  to  refuse  the  high  and  difficult  office. 
The  Congregation  owed  about  60,000  francs,  and  had  but  few  and 
rather  uncertain  resources.  A  number  of  the  priests  of  the  mission 
had  gone  to  New  Orleans.  Many  of  the  College  students  were  in 
arrears  with  their  payments,  some  of  them  hopelessly  so.  No  wonder 
that  Father  Timon  hesitated  to  accept  what  was  literally  a  burden. 
Yet,  after  accepting  it,  he  never  looked  back  with  regret,  but  set  to 
work  resolutely  to  retrieve  the  Seminary's  former  rigor  and  glory. 

John  Timon  was)  the  man  fitted  for  the  great  work  of  renewing  the 
spirit  of  the  Congregation.  He  had  met  poignant  sorrow  and  disastrous 
failure  in  his  early  manhood,  whilst  earnestly  striving  after  the  things 
of  the  world :  but  every  loss  and  every  failure  had  proved  to  be  a 
stepping  stone  to  higher  things,  the  things  of  the  spirit.  And  here 
he  now  stood  on  an  elevation  he  had  never  dreamt  of,  and  here  too 
failure  was  staring  him  in  the  face ;  but  his  humble,  childlike  spirit 
said  within  him:  The  outcome  is  God's,  to  do  His  will  is  my  duty,  and 
to  do  it  as  well  as  I  can,  shall  be  my  constant  endeavor.1 

The  Visitor's  first  move  was  to  convoke  a  meeting  of  his  priests.  Their 
request  was  that  he  suspend  all  action  in  regard  to  the  College,  until 
the  Superior  General  could  be  informed  of  the  moral  impossibility 
of  its  suppression.  Father  Odin,  who  had  returned  from  France, 
joined  in  the  protest.  But  first  of  all,  the  cloud  of  discontent  that 
had  settled  on  the  fair  field  intrusted  to  his  care,  must  be  dissipated. 
Gently,  yet  firmly,  as  was  his  wont,  Visitor  Timon  restored  order  in 
the  Community  at  home,  and  brought  back  the  priests  that  had  gone 
to  New  Orleans.     The  Superior  General  rescinded  the  obnoxious  order 


1  For  the  facts  here  stated  cf.  "Tirnon's  Correspondence  with  Bishop  Eosati " 
as  gathered  by  Dr.  Souvay  of  Kenrick  Seminary.  The  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Arch- 
diocese contain  a  number  of  letters  and  reports  in  the  handwriting  of  Timon.  Of 
printed  sources  found  useful:  Deuther,  Charles  G.,  "The  Life  and  Times  of  Et. 
Eev.  John  Timon,  D.  D.,"  Washington,  D.  C,  1870. 


Father  John  Timon,  Visitor  of  the  Lazarists  703 

of  suppression  of  the  College.  The  Visitor's  excellent  business  sense 
found  ways  of  reducing  the  indebtedness.  Early  in  April  1836,  the 
two  old  friends,  Timon  and  Odin,  traveled  to  Cape  Girardeau  to  es- 
tablish the  new  Lazarist  Home ;  Timon  as  Visitor  had  the  honor  and 
pleasure  to  introduce  his  friend  to  the  people  of  St.  Vincent's  Parish 
as  their  Pastor.  Returning  from  Cape  Girardeau  to  the  Barrens,  the 
Visitor,  on  Sunday  April  17th,  preached  to  the  people  exhorting  them 
to  contribute  liberally  toward  the  work  of  completing  their  own  beauti- 
ful church. 

Although  Father  Timon  had  a  truly  filial  love  and  veneration  for 
Bishop  Rosati,  his  duty  as  Visitor  of  the  Lazarist  Province  led  him, 
at  times,  into  rather  lively  controversies  with  him.  As  members  of  a 
religious  community,  the  Fathers  should  lead  a  community  life:  yet  a 
number  of  them  lived  apart  as  parish-priests.  It  was  the  policy  of  the 
Congregation  to  withdraw  its  priests  from  isolated  stations  and  to  bring 
them  together  in  missionary  centers  from  which  they  were  to  visit 
the  surrounding  stations.  Thus  the  withdrawal  of  Father  Doutreluigne 
from  Cahokia  by  order  of  the  Visitor,  was  a  case  in  point,  and  the 
establishment  of  the  La  Salle  Missions  with  its  community  of  three  priests 
gave  an  exemplification  of  what  was  desired  by  the  Congregation  of 
the  Mission.  But  the  ideal  could  not  be  carried  out  in  all  the  Lazarist 
parishes,  without  disorder  and  real  harm  to  the  people.  The  number 
of  secular  priests  was  too  small  to  supply  all  the  stations  that  would 
become  vacant  if  the  policy  of  the  Congregation  were  carried  out  with- 
out regard  to  the  necessities  of  the  diocese.  In  a  letter  of  May  11th, 
1830,  the  Bishop  reminds  the  Visitor,  that  the  Superior  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Mission  may  make  choice  of  the  pastors  of  parishes 
belonging  to  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission,  but  he  must  apprise  the 
Bishop  of  it  and  propose  his  choice  to  him  for  approval.  "This  being 
well  understood  and  exactly  observed,  there  will  be  no  occasion  for  any 
misunderstanding,"2  concludes  the  letter.  The  Visitor  acquiesced,  but 
in  the  sequel  found  himself  obliged  to  refuse  to  accept  some  of  the 
parishes  and  missions  the  Bishop  requested  him  to  supply. 

In  the  Fall  of  1837  Visitor  Timon  sailed  for  France,  reaching  the 
Motherhouse  of  his  Congregation  in  Paris  on  the  16th  of  September.  Fa- 
ther Aladel,  the  Superior  General,  received  him  with  every  mark  of  respect 
and  affection,  and  presented  him  with  the  generous  sum  of  10,000  francs 
for  the  use  of  the  American  Province.3  Accompanied  by  a  number  of 
new  missionaries,  the  Visitor  set  sail  for  New  Orleans  on  October  15th, 
and  after  a  stormy  voyage  of  ten  weeks  landed  there  late  in  the  month 
of  December.     The  year  1837  witnessed  one  of  the  severest   financial 


2  Letter  Book  of  Rosati. 

3  Rosati 's  Diary. 


704  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

crises  of  our  history.  Father  Timon  displayed  his  usual  excellent  busi- 
ness sense,  in  so  placing  various  large  sums  of  money  entrusted  to  his 
care  by  European  friends  that  no  loss  was  sustained  by  anyone  con- 
cerned. The  most  precious  fruit  of  Father  Timon 's  visit  to  the  Mother- 
house  was  the  new  band  of  disciples  of  Christ  secured  for  the  American 
Mission.  From  France,  Italy  and  Spain  they  came,  a  Domenec,  Amat, 
Cercos,    Estany,   Burlando,   Giustinani,    Parodi  and   others. 

The  College  prospered,  the  missions  took  a  fresh  impulse,  converts 
were  becoming  more  numerous.  On  December  12th,  lS.'iS,  the  Visitor 
with  Fathers  Armangol,  Bouillier,  Tiernan,  Giustiniani  and  two  lay- 
brothers  met  Bishop  Blanc  of  New  Orleans  at  the  Church  of  the  As- 
sumption, and  began  the  new  Seminary:  Father  Bouillier  was  estab- 
lished as  the  Superior  of  the  Church  of  the  Ascension  at  Donaldsonville. 

Towards  the  end  of  1838,  the  Visitor  Timon  was  sent  to  examine 
into  the  condition  of  religion  in  the  newly  founded  republic  of  Texas. 
His  report  was  forwarded  to  Rome  by  Bishop  Blanc,  and  was  to  bear 
fruit  in  due  time.  During  all  these  distracting  labors  the  Visitor  made 
use  of  every  opportunity  to  promote  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  people 
he  met,  by  giving  missions,  hearing  confessions,  and  instructing  converts. 

It  was  in  1842  that  the  Seminary  was  removed  from  the  Barrens 
to  St.  Louis.  The  conclusion  of  the  First  Diocesan  Synod  of  St.  Louis 
was  to  be  marked  with  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  proposed 
Church  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity  in  Soulard's  Addition  on  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  city.  In  fact,  the  printed  report  of  the  Synod  states 
that  this  ceremony  had  been  held  with  all  the  members  of  the  Synod 
in  attendance  on  the  Bishop.4  But  Bishop  Rosati's  Diary  states  that, 
owing  to  a  severe  rain-storm,  the  corner-stone  laying  had  to  be  post- 
poned to  the  following  Sunday,  May  5th.  Although  most  of  the  priests, 
had  returned  to  their  respective  stations,  the  ceremony  was  performed 
according  to  the  prescriptions  of  the  Roman  Pontificial.  Father  John 
Timon  preached  a  sermon  in  English.  The  parchment  placed  in  the 
cavity  of  the  stone  contains  the  information  that  the  lot  on  which  the 
church  was  to  be  erected  was  generously  donated  by  the  pious  matron 
Julia  C.  Soulard,  and  that  the  diocesan  Seminary  was  to  be  built  on 
the  adjoining  lot.  The  inscription  concludes  with  the  significant  words 
of  Sacred  Scripture:  Nisi  Dominus  aedificaverit  domum,  in  vanum 
laboraverant  qui  aedificant  earn.  Pr.  126.  The  church  of  the  Most 
Holy  Trinity  was  never  completed :  the  materials  were  used  in  the 
erection  of  the  Seminary.  Lack  of  funds  was  the  main  cause  of  this 
failure. 

Services  were  held  at  Holy  Trinity  Chapel,  of  which  Father  Francis 
X.  Dahmen  CM.  had  charge.  The  Seminai-y  found  a  temporary  home 
in  the  Old  Soulard  Mansion.     The  Visitor,  who  was  also  Vicar-General 


4     The  First  Svnod  of  St,  Louis. 


Father  John  Timon,  Visitor  of  the  Lazarists  705 

of  the  diocese  resided  here  as  Superior :  the  staff  of  professors  consisted 
of  Fathers  C.  Amat  and  James  Tiernan.  In  1842  there  were  only  six 
theological  students  in  attendance  at  the  Seminary.  Under  the  direction 
of  the  Clercs  du  Saint  Viateur,  whom  Father  Timon  had  hrought  from 
Paris,  a  Preparatory  Seminary  for  the  education  of  boys,  who  intended 
to  embrace  the  ecclesiastical  state,  was  established  in  Carondelet.  From 
this  Little  Seminary  the  Theological  Seminary  was  to  draw  its  re- 
cruits.    The  charges  for  board  and  tuition  were  fixed  at  $100. 

St.  Mary's  College  at  the  Barrens,  in  1840,  was  under  the  presi- 
dency of  Rev.  Joseph  Paquin,  assisted  by  the  Lazarists  Hector  Figari, 
John  B.  Robert,  John  B.  Tornatore,  Michael  Domenech,  Mariano  Mailer, 
M.  Cercos  and  Stehle. 

A  man  of  such  untiring  zeal,  patient  prudence  and  practical  ideal- 
ism, could  not  fail  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  Roman  authorities,  as 
well  as  of  the  American  Bishops,  upon  him  as  a  fit  subject  for  episcopal 
honors. 

Bishop  Rosati,  amid  his  manifold  labors  and  cares,  sought  to  have 
the  Visitor  as  his  coadjutor,  and  on  September  7th,  received  a  papal 
bull  appointing  John  Timon  as  Bishop  of  Venesi,  and  Coadjutor  to  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis.5  But  the  humble  Lazarist  refused  to  accept  the 
appointment  and  would  not  be  moved  to  reconsider  his  refusal.  Bishop 
Rosati 's  fondest  hopes  were  blasted.  "You  know,  I  need  a  coadjutor," 
he  wrote  from  Kaskaskia  to  Bishop  Blanc  under  date  of  May  16th, 
1839,  "My  needs  surpass  my  strength.  I  cannot  finish  one  thing, 
before  I  am  compelled  to  commence  something  new.  I  must  be  my 
own  secretary,  my  Vicar-General,  my  Council,  for  they  that  are  named 
for  these  positions,  are  prevented  by  circumstances  to  fulfil  the  duties 
connected  with  them.  For  several  months  I  have  not  known  a  moment's 
rest.  I  rise  at  4  o'clock,  and  at  the  end  of  the  day,  I  am  obliged  to  put 
off  some  of  my  unfinished  work  to  the  next  day.  This  cannot  last 
much  longer.'"5  Owing  to  a  haunting  fear  that  he  might  possibly  come 
too  near  of  having  a  mitre  placed  on  his  head  unawares,  the  Visitor 
declined  to  assume  the  duties  of  administrator  of  the  diocese,  during 
the  Bishop's  absence.  In  consequence  the  Jesuit  Father  Verhaegen 
was  made  administrator. 

On  April  12th,  1840,  Father  Timon  was  appointed  Prefect  Apos- 
tolic of  Texas.  He  accepted  at  once  and  appointed  his  early  friend 
and  companion,  Father  John  Mary  Odin  sub-Prefect,  and  sent  him 
with  full  powers  to  administer  the  Church  in  that  great  state.  Father 
Doutreluigne  was  uiven  him  as  companion:  Of  the  missionary  labors 
of  the  two  faithful  friends  in  Texas,  we  cannot  here  give  an  account, 
as  lying  outside  of  our  province.     As  for  Father  Odin,  the  course  of 


•">     Rosati 's  Diary. 

C     Eosati  to  Blanc,  Letter  Book  of  Bishop  Rosati,  May  16,  1839. 


Vol.  1—23 


70G  History   of   the   A  relation  se   of  St.   Louis, 

events  brought  him  the  refusal  of  a  mitre,  that  might  have  been  to 
him  a  martyr's  crown  t hat  of  Detroit.  He  refused  the  appointment  to 
Detroit,  but  accepted  that  of  Vicar  Apostolic  of  Texas,  and  later  on, 
that  of  Archbishop  of  New  Orleans  in  succession  to  Bishop  Anthony 
Blanc. 

Father  Timon,  now  freed  from  engrossing  cares  of  the  Prefecture 
Apostolic  of  Texas,  continued  a  life  of  incessant  activity  as  Superior 
of  the  Lazarists  in  America  for  six  more  years,  until  on  the  5th  day 
of  September  1847,  he  received  the  appointment  as  first  Bishop  of  the 
See  of  Buffalo,  New  York.  His  humility  prompted  him  to  decline  the 
honor,  but  his  friends  urged  him  to  accept,  and  he  yielded  because  his 
duty,  as  Visitor  had  become  extremely  onerous.  He  was  consecrated  on 
October  17,  in  the  Cathedral  of  New  York  and  at  once  proceeded  to 
his  diocese.  Here  he  met  strenuous  opposition  from  the  trustees  of 
the  Cathedral,  but  surmounted  all  difficulties,  and  spent  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  life  in  building  up  his  diocese,  highly  regarded  by  the 
hierarchy  and  more  than  once  desired  as  coadjutor  in  more  important 
dioceses.    Bishop  Timon  died  at  Buffalo  on  April  16  1867. 7 

"Never  shall  I  forget,"  wrote  the  late  distinguished  Jesuit,  Father 
Smarius,  "the  days  of  the  missions  for  the  laity  and  of  the  retreats 
for  the  clergy,  which  I  had  the  pleasure  to  conduct  in  the  Cathedral 
at  Buffalo  during  the  three  or  four  years  previous  to  Bishop  Timon 's 
holy  demise.  The  first  to  rise  in  the  morning  and  to  ring  the  bell  for 
meditation  and  for  prayer,  he  would  totter  from  door  to  door  along 
the  corridors  of  the  episcopal  residence,  with  a  lighted  candle  in  his 
hand,  to  see  whether  all  had  responded  to  the  call  of  the  bell  and  be- 
taken themselves  to  the  spot  marked  out  for  the  performance  of  that 
sacred  and  wholesome  duty  .  .  .  And  then,  the  more  than  fatherly  heart, 
that  forgiving  kindness  to  repentant  sinners,  even  to  such  as  had  again 
and  again  deservedly  incurred  his  displeasure  and  the  penalties  of 
ecclesiastical  censures  or  excommunications.  'Father,'  he  would  say, 
'I  leave  this  case  in  your  hands.  I  give  you  all  power,  only  save  his 
soul.'  And  then,  that  simple,  child-like  humility,  which  seemed  wounded 
by  even  the  performance  of  acts  which  the  excellence  and  dignity  of 
the  episcopacy  naturally  force  from  its  subjects  and  inferiors.  How 
often  have  I  seen  him  fall  on  his  aged  knees,  face  to  face  with  one  or 
other  of  my  clerical  brethren,  who  had  fallen  on  theirs  to  receive  his 
saintly  blessing." 


"'  Deuther,  op.  cit.,  passim.  Like  St.  Paul,  Bishop  Timon  was  ;i  man  of  small 
stature,  a  little  over  five  feet  high;  he  was  of  a  combative  disposition  but  held  his 
temper  in  strict  obedience. 


Chapter  31 
THE  LA  SALLE  MISSION 


The  story  of  the  La  Salle  Mission  begins  with  the  visit  of  Father 
James  Marquette  to  the  village  of  the  Peorias,  a  branch  of  the  great 
nation  of  the  Illinois  in  1673,  on  his  return  from  the  voyage  of  explor- 
ation down  the  Mississippi  River.1  Here  the  first  baptism  was  admin- 
istered in  the  country  of  the  Illinois.  To  this  place  the  sainted  mis- 
sionary tried  hard  to  come  again  after  the  winter  of  1673-1674.  But 
he  was  prevented,  attacked  by  disease  and  detained  at  a  place  within 
the  present  site  of  Chicago.  His  faithful  Indians  ministered  to  him 
and  prayed  with  him  for  his  recovery;  and  in  Holy  Week,  1675  Father 
Marquette  was  once  more  with  his  beloved  Illinois  at  the  original  village 
of  the  Kaskaskia.  The  new  mission  was  placed  under  the  patronage 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  It  was  situated  on  the  Illinois  River 
at  the  foot  of  Starved  Rock,  upon  which  La  Salle  later  on  directed 
Tonti  to  build  Fort  St.  Louis.  This  place  remained  an  Indian  Mission 
long  after  the  Kaskaskia  Indians  had  migrated  southward  to  their  new 
home  between  thQ  Mississippi  and  Kaskaskia  Rivers,  where  the  Kaskaskia 
Mission  was  to  attain  such  wide  celebrity.  Fort  Creve  Coeur,  or  Broken 
Heart,  was  built  on  the  east  side  of  the  Illinois  River,  a  short  distance 
below  the  outlet  of  Peoria  Lake.  Here  the  Franciscan  Fathers,  and 
later  on  the  Jesuit  Fathers  labored  most  faithfully  for  the  conversion 
of  the  Indians  of  forest  and  prairie  until  the  suppression  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Jesus  in  all  French  possessions  in  1763  brought  disaster  to 
all  the  western  missions.  The  Black  Hawk  War  in  1832  finally  drove 
out  the  remnants  of  the  once  powerful  tribes  and  opened  the  country 
to  the  settlement  by  whites.  This  was  six  years  before  the  arrival  of 
the  missionary  Fathers  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  Fathers  John  Blasius 
Raho  and  Aloysius  John  Mary  Parodi.  The  outward  circumstance  that 
led  to  the  early  settlement  of  northeastern  Illinois  was  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  connecting  the  Great  Lakes 
with  the  river  system  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  Illinois  River 
was  navigable  from  Ottawa  in  La  Salle  County  to  its  mouth.  In  Indian 
times  the  headwaters  of  the  Illinois  River,  flowing  southeast,  and  of 
the  Chicago  River  emptying  in  Lake  Michigan,  were  connected  by 
a  portage,  a  trail  over  which  the  canoes  were  carried.  By  connecting 
the  two  rivers  and  deepening  and  widening  the  channel,  a  canal  would 
be  obtained  the  value  of  which  seemed  immeasurable.     The  work  began 


1     Shea,  J.  G.,  "Discovery  and   Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,"   Marquette's 
Narrative. 

(707) 


708  History  nf  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

simultaneously  at  Chicago  and  at  La  Salle  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1836. 
The  construction  of  the  canal  broughl  thousands  of  hardy,  industrious 
men  into  the  country,  about  three-fourths  of  whom  were  Irish  Catholics. 
The  chief  stations  comprised  in  the  general  designation  of  the  La  Salle 
Mission  were  La  Salle,  Ottawa,  Dayton  and  Marseilles  in  La  Salle 
County;  Lacon  in  Putnam  County:  Virginia  in  Cass  County;  Peoria 
and  Kickapoo  in  Peoria  County,  Pekin  in  Tazewell,  Pleasant  Grove  and 
Black  Partridge,  eleven  stations  for  two  priests,  who  were  to  reside  at 
La  Salle. 

The  entire  district  lay  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Bishop  Rosati  of  St. 
Louis.  Occasional  excursions  to  one  or  the  other  place  had,  indeed, 
been  made  by  the  Jesuit  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  and  Fathers  Le- 
fevere,  St.  Cyr  and  George  Hamilton.  But  the  real  planting  of  these 
missions  was  the  work  of  the  Lazarists  Raho  and  Parodi.  John  Blase 
Raho,  was  a  native  of  the  Kingdom  of  Naples,  where  he  entered  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Mission,  and  was  ordained.  He  was  sent  to  the  Ameri- 
can Mission  by  Father  Odin,  and  arrived  at  the  Barrens  on  the  lGth 
day  of  November  1S34.  Soon  after  his  arrival  Father  Raho  became 
pastor  of  the  congregation  at  the  Barrens.  Father  Raho's  faithful 
companion,  Aloysius  John  Mary  Parodi,  was  a  native  of  Genoa,  as  we 
learn  from  a  letter  of  Father  Timon,  and  born  in  1811.  He  joined 
the  Lazarists  in  America,  December  5,  1835,  was  ordained  priest  by 
Bishop  Rosati  in  the  new  church  of  the  Barrens  on  November  1,  1837. 
Going  to  La  Salle  in  1838  he  remained  there  until  1846. 2 

It  was  about  Christmas  time  1837,  that  one  of  the  contractors  on 
the  Illinois  Canal,  William  Byrne,  appeared  before  Bishop  Rosati  at 
St.  Louis  and  asked  for  missionaries  for  the  hundreds  of  Irish  Catholics 
dispersed  in  northeastern  Illinois,  especially  in  the  various  camps  along 
the  canal.  The  Bishop  gave  assurance  that  missionaries  would  be  sent 
at  once.  The  Congregation  of  the  Mission,  of  which  Father  John 
Timon,  CM.,  himself  an  Irishman,  was  then  Visitor,  was  to  furnish  the 
men.  La  Salle  village  was  to  be  the  center  of  the  mission,  and  the 
Pastor  of  the  Barrens  was  selected  to  carry  out  the  work  and  received 
Father  Parosi  as  his  assistant.3 

On  Thursday,  March  22,  1838,  they  started  on  their  journey  of 
400  miles,  from  St.  Mary's  Landing  on  the  Mississippi  to  La  Salle 
on  the  Illinois.  Remaining  over  Sunday  at  St.  Louis,  to  say  Mass 
and  pay  their  respects  to  Bishop  Rosati,  the  messengers  of  the  Gospel 
touched  at  Peoria,  and  arrived  at  Peru,  midnight,  March  29.  Accom- 
panied by  a  large  procession  of  the  inhabitants  of  Peru  and  La  Salle 
they  crossed  the  bridge  that  separates  the  two  places,  amid  the  glar- 


2  Archives  of  the  St.  Louis  Archdiocese,  and  the  Kenrick  Seminary. 

3  Cf.   Shaw,   Thomas   M.,   "Story   of   the  LaSalle   Mission,"   2   vols.,   Chicago. 
From  this  we  have  taken  most  of  the  statements  of  fact  and  excerpts  from  letters. 


The  La  Salle  Mission  709 

ing  light  of  five  hundred  torches,  and  the  music  of  fifes  and  drums. 
"Garry-Owen"  "was  the  tune  to  which  the  procession  marched  along; 
on  arrival  at  the  Byrne  mansion  in  La  Salle  an  address  of  welcome  was 
delivered  by  the  little  daughter  of  Mr.  Byrne;  then  the  crowd  gave  a 
hearty  cheer  to  the  missionaries,  and  deep  silence  again  enveloped  the 
little  town. 

But  bright  and  early  in  the  morning  the  Catholic  people  came  to 
assist  at  the  first  Mass  to  be  offered  up  in  La  Salle.  In  the  largest 
room  of  the  house  a  temporary  altar  stood  prepared,  at  which  Father 
Raho  first,  and  then  Father  Parodi  celebrated  Mass.  The  room  was  crowd- 
ed. Passion  Sunday  was  announced  as  the  day  of  the  public  inauguration 
of  the  La  Salle  mission.  Hearty  and  generous  as  the  reception  of  the 
Fathers  was,  the  outlook  must  have  seemed  bleak  and  hopeless.  The 
country  round  about  for  miles  and  miles  was  still  in  its  austere  beauty 
and  loneliness.  Then,  as  Father  Shaw  says,  "the  consideration  of  the 
vastness  of  the  field  to  cultivate  would  thicken  the  gloom  and  depress 
the  spirit."  "Within  its  boundaries  were  the  counties  of  La  Salle, 
Lee,  Bureau,  Grundy,  Henry,  Knox,  Stark,  Putnam,'  Marshall,  Peoria, 
Tazewell,  McLean,  Sangamon,  Macoupin,  Cass,  nearly  one-third  of  the 
area  of  the  great  State  of  Illinois.  Over  that  extensive  area  were  scat- 
tered a  multitude  of  sheep  that  had  no  shepherd,"  except  themselves. 
And  their  resources  were  to  be  found  in  themselves  and  in  the  spirit 
of  generosity  they  would  cultivate  among  their  long  forsaken  people. 
But  God  was  their  Comfort  and  Help  in  all  difficulties  and  perplexities. 

Father  Timon's  choice  of  Raho  and  Parodi  proved  a  most  excellent 
one.  For  five  months,  from  March  to  August,  the  good  Fathers  made 
their  home  with  Mr.  Byrne,  in  a  room  which  served  as  bedroom,  sitting- 
room,  study-room,  recreation  hall  and  chapel  on  week-days,  and  on  Sun- 
days also,  until  the  largest  room  in  the  boarding-house  of  John  Hynes 
could  be  secured  for  the  House  of  God  among  His  people.  On  Passion 
Sunday  Father  Parodi  sang  High  Mass,  and  Father  Raho  preached 
the  sermon.  The  preacher  announced  among  other  points:  "On  week 
clays  we  offer  the  Holy  Mass  in  our  common  room  (in  the  house  of  Mr. 
Byrne)  ;  on  Sundays  in  fine  weather,  in  the  forest,  and  in  bad  weather- 
in  the  house  of  John  Hynes."  After  services  thirty  children  received 
baptism  at  the  hand  of  the  Superior  of  the  Mission. 

On  Maundy  Thursday  there  were  sixty  communicants,  on  Easter 
morn  there  were  one  hundred  and  forty. 

But  the  good  Lord  was  not  always  to  make  His  home  in  a  borrowed 
room  amid  such  poor  surroundings.  A  real  church,  a  true  house  of 
God  was  to  be  built  from  the  offerings  of  the  Faithful.  Up  and  down  the 
Canal  Father  Raho,  therefore,  went  stopping  at  the  camps,  the  board- 
ing houses,  and  at  the  shanties  along  his  way,  and  he  everywhere  found 
willing  hands  and  generous  hearts ;  but  also  many  a  sad  disappointment. 


710  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Father  Raho  himself  gives  up  a  glimpse  of  his  experiences.    Writing  to 
the  "Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,"  he  says: 

"Seeing  we  could  not  continue  without  a  church,  day  and  night 
I  was  wrapped  up  in  thought.  At  first  everything  seemed  to  smile 
upon  the  enterprise.  A  Protestant  gave  his  word  for  an  acre  of  ground 
and  for  $500.00.  Other  Protestants,  desirous  to  rival  our  Catholics  in 
zeal,  showed  themselves  very  generous  in  contributions.  The  number 
of  brick  necessary  for  the  church,  had  been  ordered;  and  as  1  was 
about  to  commence  the  buildings,  news  came  that  the  ground  given 
did  not  belong  to  the  giver  (Bangs),  and  that  this  fellow,  far  from 
being  prepared  to  send  me  the  promised  sum,  $500.00,  had  fled  the 
country,  carrying  away  $9000.00,  the  hard  earnings  of  the  poor  canallers 
he  had  employed ;  and  therefore,  the  contributions  promised  by  these 
good  people."* 

Bowed  down  by  this  stroke  of  adversity,  but  more  on  account  of 
the  losses  of  his  people,  than  his  own,  Father  Raho  did  not  give  up  to 
despondency,  but  renewed  his  determination  to  build  a  church,  if  not 
of  brick,  then  of  wood.    As  Father  Shaw  says : 

"Experience  in  the  old  log  seminary  of  St.  Mary's,  the  Mother 
House  at  the  Barrens,  and  in  the  cabin  of  tneir  host  had  taught  the 
missioners  that  few  constructions,  when  properly  laid  down  and  put 
together  for  solidity,  ease  and  charms  of  home,  could  surpass  a  log 
building.  Was  the  cost  of  erecting  a  log  church  taken  into  considera- 
tion? It  would  not  be  heavy.  The  material  in  timber  was  on  the 
bottom  and  uplands ;  groves  of  elm,  white  and  black  oak.  The  labor 
of  felling,  hauling  and  hewing  would  be  largely  and  generously  given; 
thatching  and  plastering  would  only  be  an  item ;  and  at  comparatively 
small  cost,  the  structure  to  God  and  souls  would  rise."3 

The  plan  for  a  log  church  was  decided  upon. 

' '  The  contract  of  building  the  church, ' '  continues  Father  Shaw, 
"was  let  out  to  Mr.  Madden,  the  chief  carpenter  in  the  mission,  not 
without  pretensions  to  a  style  of  architecture  cptite  original.  The  ma- 
terial for  building  was  to  be  of  log,  roof  straw,  flooring  of  oak,  and  the 
interior  heavily  plastered.  The  length  was  to  be  fifty  feet,  width  thirty, 
and  height  fourteen.  The  home  of  the  missioners  would  go  up  at  the 
completion ;  built  of  the  same  material ;  one  story  high,  containing  a 
room,  serving  at  the  same  time  for  private  devotions,  and  for  a  sac- 
risty— a  large  room,  at  once  dormitory,  study  room,  reception  room, 
and  a  kitchen."6 

The  Canal  Company  donated  the  land.  The  resources  at  hand 
were  twelve  dollars. 


4  "Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,"  vol.  I,  Shaw,  vol.  I,  p.  34. 

5  Shaw,  vol.  I,  p.  36. 

6  Ibidem. 


The  La  Salle  Mission  711 

Religion  now  being  established  in  La  Salle,  the  missionaries  started 
out  on  their  real  work  of  visiting  the  scattered  people,  not  only  along 
the  Canal,  many  miles  eastward,  but  also  along  the  Illinois  River  south- 
ward and  to  penetrate  wherever  they  might  find  a  Catholic  settler. 
Such  journeys  would  take  months  a.t  a  time ;  and  involved  a  rather 
solitary  life,  to  which  the  Fathers  were  not  accustomed. 

Ottawa  has  been  called  "the  oldest  daughter  of  the  La  Salle  Mis- 
sion." It  is  fifteen  miles  distant  from  La  Salle,  and  is  the  County 
seat  of  La  Salle  County.  In  1838  Ottawa  was  a  rising  town,  and  claimed 
distinction  as  owning  a  fair  proportion  of  the  cultured  citizens  of  the 
State  in  that  day.  An  intelligent  public  spirit  among  the  people  in 
general  augured  very  good  results  in  regard  to  the  financial  support  of 
a  church.  Here,  too,  the  building  of  the  Canal  had  brought  together  a 
number  of  Irish  Catholics ;  but  there  was  no  leader  among  them,  as 
Father  Raho  had  found  at  LaSalle  in  Mr.  Byrne.  On  April  21,  1838, 
the  missionary  set  out  on  horseback  for  the  town  of  Ottawa.  On  his 
arrival  the  town  hall  was  offered  him  for  the  first  services  and  until  he 
could  secure  a  more  convenient  place.  To  quote  the  eloquent  historian 
of  the  LaSalle  Mission   once  again : 

"A  crowded  house,  promptly  at  ten  o'clock  A.  M.  on  Low  Sunday 
raised  the  spirits  and  warmed  the  hearts  of  flock  and  Shepherd.  After 
blessing  the  hall  in  preparation  for  the  sacred  mysteries,  the  priest  be- 
gan Mass.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  first  Gospel  he  turned  towards 
his  auditory,  a  mixed  congregation  of  Catholics  and  non-Catholic 
brethren,  an  ordinary  thing  for  priest  and  people,  in  the  early  times, 
and  explained  the  power  of  forgiving  sins,  as  taught  by  Christ  and 
His  Church.  The  Gospel  read  on  the  Sunday  furnished  the  subject 
of  the  discourse  in  the  style  of  the  preacher,  earnest,  argumentative, 
and  practical;  and  though  an  Italian,  the  courage  with  which  he  tried 
to  speak  the  language  of  Shakespeare,  so  utterly  in  its  origin  and  pro- 
nunciation foreign  to  the  origin  and  pronunciation  of  the  language  of 
the  divine  Dante,  carried  away  the  audience,  and  sowed  the  seeds  of 
conversion  to  the  church  of  forgiveness  of  sins."7 

The  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  Company  donated  a  lot  120x60 
feet  for  church  purposes.  Father  Parodi  was  sent  to  take  charge  of 
the  new  mission,  which  he  did  by  purchasing  a  carpenter  shop  at  a 
cost  of  $230.00  to  be  used  as  a  temporary  church. 

But  the  efforts  of  the  missionaries  were  to  extend  in  ever  widening 
circles.  Beardstown,  Meredosia,  Virginia  and  Springfield  were  calling 
for  the  help  and  comfort  of  religion.    Father  Raho  writes,  June  21,  1838 ; 

"I  discovered  about  two  hundred  Catholics  (Irish)  scattered  over 
sixty  miles.  For  the  space  of  a  month  I  exercised  among  them  the 
holy  ministry,  almost  always  traveled  on  foot,  carrying  on  my  shoulders 


i     Shaw,  op.  eit.,  p.  40. 


Til'  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

saddlebags  containing  altar  necessaries,  and  in  my  hand  a  carpet-bag, 
in  open  air,  and  far  into  the  night,  hearing  confessions;  in  the  day 
occupied  teaching  catechism.8 

In  another  letter  Father  Raho  writes : 

"The  success  of  my  mission  eight  miles  from  Beardstown  has  been, 
that  a  small  church  is  to  be  built  there,  and  five  children  were  bap- 
tised of  whom  one  of  Catholic  parents;  two  of  parents,  one  Catholic 
and  the  other  Protestant,  and  the  other  of  Protestant  parents.  Thai 
church  is  located  in  the  town  of  Virginia,  ten  miles  from  Beardstown, 
on  the  road  to  Springfield,  and  chief  town,  or  county  seat  of  the  new 
county  of  Cass,  being  the  county  of  Morgan  divided  into  two,  Morgan 
and  Cass."9 

Father  Parodi  was  an  honest,  pious  soul,  but  no  great  financier 
nor  persevering  beggar.  In  writing  to  Father  Timon,  the  Visitor, 
Father  Raho  makes  this  lament : 

"Before  I  went  to  Meredosia  I  had  given  the  directions  for  the  build- 
ing. My  dear  and  pious  companion,  Mr.  Parodi,  during  my  absence, 
did  neglect  to  collect  the  money  the  people  had  promised  for  the  ex- 
penses. It  caused  the  stop  of  the  said  building,  and  at  my  coming  back, 
I  found  $175.00  of  debt;  but  through  my  exertion  and  your  $100.00, 
it  came  on  tolerably  well." 

But  Father  Parodi 's  leniency  in  regard  to  church  contributions 
was  not  the  only  trial  Father  Raho  had  to  bear.  The  Irish  immigrants 
had  brought  with  them  not  only  the  glorious  traditions  of  their  religion, 
but  also  some  of  the  warlike  traditions  of  their  respective  clans.  A 
strange  spirit  of  rivalry  between  the  Irish  of  the  Black-water  and  the 
Irish  Catholics  of  the  Ban,  the  men  of  Munster  and  the  men  of  Ulster 
and  Connaught,  brought  a  serious  disturbance  all  along  the  borders  of 
the  Canal.  One  party  was  known  as  the  "Corkonians"  the  other  as 
the  "Fardowns."  Religion  and  the  chivalrous  spirit  of  Ireland  were 
put  aside  for  the  gratification  of  the  inflamed  passion  of  strife.  Up 
and  down  from  Ottawa  and  LaSalle  the  missionaries  hurried  to  win 
back  these  parishioners  to  meekness  and  charity.  Most  of  the  rioters 
were  soon  calmed  and  restored  to  order ;  but  the  leaders  continued  to 
foment  the  strife  among  the  factions.  They  were  arrested,  tried  and 
sent  to  prison.  Father  Raho  says  of  them  in  the  bitterness  of  his 
sorrow,  August  13,  1838 : 

"It  is  said,  and  in  fact  it  is  so,  that  they,  (the  leaders)  were  worse 
than  barbarians,  savages,  thirsty  for  the  blood  of  their  own  country- 
men. Now  in  this  town  of  La  Salle  it  is  not  so :  quiet,  peaceful,  sober, 
generally,  the  people  attend  to  their  own  duty.  But  on  the  contrary 
I  do  not  know  what  to  do  with  those  of  Ottawa.     Thev  beat  and  kill 


s     Shaw,  vol.  I,  p.  42. 
9     Shaw,  vol.  I,  p.  42. 


The  La  Salle  Mission  713 

their  own  countrymen;  they  destroy  houses  and  crops,  and  they  pretend 
to  send  away  for  their  lives  those  of  the  north  of  Ireland,  called  'Far- 
downs.'  I  am  fatigued,  I  am  tired.  Would  to  God  I  could  go  away 
from  among  them.  Though  I  must  say  that  the  Corkmen  and  the 
Fardowns  are  in  the  same  balance  .  .  .  May  Almighty  God  have  mercy 
on  them  .  .  .  Yesterday  was  buried  a  very  good  man  who  was  killed 
by  the  other  party  "because  he  was  not  of  them."  It  is  said  that  the 
Rev.  Father  O'Meara,  parish  priest  of  Chicago  from  the  altar  has 
pronounced  upon  them  the  maledictions  of  God.  I  would  wish  to  be 
among  the  Indians."10 

But  another  dread  visitor  came  to  the  La  Salle  Mission,  in  1838, 
to  try  the  Christian  fortitude  of  Fathers  Raho  and  Parodi ;  the  cholera. 
As  Father  Shaw  states  in  his  History  of  the  La  Salle  Mission : 

"  Twenty  -four  hours  was  the  term  set  down  by  the  destroyer,  to 
begin  and  finish  his  work  of  carnage.  His  power  he  levelled  first 
against  the  dwellers  in  the  shanties,  living  along  the  bed  of  the  Illinois 
River,  drinking  water  made  up  from  every  source,  feeding  on  vegetables 
of  the  rankest  soil,  careless  of  what  they  wore,  how  and  where  they  slept. 
Next  for  visitation  came  the  crowded  boarding-houses ;  and  lastly,  the 
range  of  bottom,  from  Marseilles  to  Peru,  was  seized  and  occupied, 
and  given  over  to  the  relentless  foe  .  .  .  The  plague-stricken  region 
was,  with  hardly  an  exception,  Catholic — the  region  where  the  great 
scandal  had  been  conceived  and  born  and  waxed  strong,  and  with  a 
diabolical  spirit,  had  drawn  a  few  away  from  their  allegiance  to  their 
God  and  Church."11 

In  regard  to  this  dreadful  affliction  Father  Raho  writes  to  his 
Superior :  "The  season  here  has  been  very  sickly,  and  we  have  been  very 
busy  in  visiting  the  sick  and  burying  the  dead,  and  would  to  God, 
that  His  holy  Justice  was  appeased.  Still  the  people  are  afflicted  with 
dangerous  diseases.  Day  and  night  we  both  have  been  laboring,  in 
order  to  afford  the  help  of  our  religion  to  the  poor  sick.  I  do  not  know 
how  long  it  will  last.     The  will  of  God  be  done.     Amen."12 

During  the  months  from  July  to  December  eighty-one  of  the  able- 
bodied  Catholic  men  of  Peru  and  La  Salle  had  succumbed  to  the  cholera. 

But  full  of  faith  and  still  undaunted  the  faithful  servants  of  God 
labored  and  strove  even  more  earnestly  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  king- 
dom of  God.  Amid  their  great  sorrows  and  cares  they  opened  on  the 
first  day  of  July  1838,  the  first  Catholic  school  of  the  mission.  A  school 
for  boys  and  girls  it  was,  taught  by  a  good  Irishman  named  Scully, 
as  Father  Raho  writes  to  the  Superior  General  at  Paris.  The  zealous 
Fathers  realized,  what  Lord  Derby  said,  that : 


i"     Shaw,  vol.  I,  p.  48. 

11  Idem,  ibidem,  p.  51. 

12  Shaw,  op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  51. 


714  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

"Religion  is  not  a  thing  apart  from  education,  but  is  interwoven 
with  its  whole  system ;  it  is  a  principle  which  controls  and  regulates 
the  whole  mind,  and  secures  the  happiness  of  the  people."13 

"On  the  ridge  of  the  valley  where  six  years  before  Black  Hawk 
and  his  warriors  had  roamed  at  will,  arose  on  the  Lapsley  Farm  the 
log  school  house,  the  humble  beginning  of  the  missioncr's  labors  in  favor 
of  Catholic  education. 

So  long  delayed  by  adverse  circumstances  the  church  at  La  Salle  was 
at  last  ready  for  dedication,  under  the  title  "The  Most  Holy  Cross." 
Father  Parodi  conducted  the  dedication  services.  On  Saturday  eve- 
ning, August  4th,  the  bell  which  Father  Raho  had  brought  from  St. 
Louis,  rang  for  the  first  time.  The  number  of  people  in  attendance, 
many  coming  from  twelve  to  a  hundred  miles,  was  very  great.  On  the 
5th  of  August,  Sunday  both  priests  celebrate  Holy  Mass.  The  log 
house  just  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God  was  the  first  church  between 
St.  Louis  and  Chicago.  The  following  commemoration  of  the  event 
was  inscribed  in  the  baptismal  Record  of  the  La  Salle  Mission: 

"For  the  greater  honor  and  glory  of  God.  On  the  5th  day  of 
August  in  the  year  of  the  Redemption,  1838,  the  fifth  month  after 
our  coming  into  these  parts,  authorized  by  the  Most  Illustrious,  and 
Most  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  CM.  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  Rev.  Wm.  Aloysius 
Parodi,  and  a  great  multitude  of  the  faithful  present,  this  church  in 
•the  village  of  La  Salle,  built  owing  to  hard  times,  of  wood,  and 
through  offerings  of  a  faithful  people,  is  dedicated  to  the  honor  of  God, 
under  the  title  of  the  Most  Holy  Cross  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
For  testimony  of  which,  etc., 

J.  B.  Raho,  Miss. 
Aloys.  Parodi,  Cong.  Miss."14 

As  we  have  stated,  the  contracts  for  building  the  church  and 
the  Priests'  residence  had  been  given  out  on  the  same  day.  Both  were 
completed  about  the  same  time.  The  Fathers  now  had  their  own 
home,  as  the  Lord  had  His.  The  Rectory  contained  five  rooms  and  a 
hall.  The  space  between  the  logs,  however,  had  not  as  yet  been  filled  in, 
nor  the  plaster  put  on  the  walls ;  yet  the  missionaries  felt  happy  in  their 
comfortable  quarters.     Its  calm  solitude  was  to  their  taste. 

"The  priests  ate  their  meals  at  the  house  of  Grand-Mother  Con- 
nerton,  during  the  time  that  the  church  and  house  were  being  chinked 
and  plastered  with  mud." 

In  regard  to  the  spiritual  condition  of  his  people,  Father  Raho 
pours  out  his  heart  in  a  letter  to  Father  Fiorello,  the  assistant  of  the 
General  at  Paris :  ' '  Help  me  sir,  and  dear  confrere,  to  thank  the  Lord  for 
the  blessings  He  has  deigned  to  pour  out  upon  our  ministry,  and  for  the 


13     Shaw,  op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  52. 

i*     Raho,  Report  to  Synod  of  1839,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


The  La  Salle  Mission  715 

good  among  these  people.  Ten  months  ago  these  poor  people  were  a  prey 
to  vice.  They  used  a  beverage,  a  detestable  liquor  they  name  whiskey,  a 
very  poison  for  soul  and  body.  They  remind  one  of  that  Nicolo  spoken  of 
in  the  life  of  St.  Vincent.  So  extraordinary  is  the  change,  that  we  ac- 
knowledge it  a  very  miracle  of  grace.  A  case  of  drunkenness  has  not  been 
seen  for  five  months ;  the  sacraments  are  frequently  received ;  no  Sunday 
dawns  without  witnessing  at  the  holy  table  a  large  number  of  communi- 
cants.    The  severity  of  the  weather  by  no  means  lessens  the  number."15 

Father  Raho  was  an  accomplished  musician.  The  organ  was  his 
favorite  instrument.  One  of  his  first  endeavors,  therefore,  was  to  form  a 
choir  for  the  musical  service.  On  Christmas  morn  or  rather  at  midnight 
the  choir  had  its  first  grand  opportunity.  Father  Raho,  writing  to  Father 
Fiorello  at  Paris,  thus  describes  the  La  Salle  Christmas  of  1838 : 

"The  feast  of  Christmas  has  been  celebrated  in  a  very  affecting  man- 
ner. At  eleven  o'clock  Christmas  eve,  the  bell  tolled,  announcing  the 
commencement  of  the  office.  Lauds  were  sung  first,  afterwards  the  Mass, 
during  which  select  pieces  of  music,  simple  in  composition  and  solemn  in 
tone,  accompanied  with  instruments,  were  executed,  producing  on  the 
assembled  worshippers  a  great  effect.  At  the  moment  of  the  Elevation, 
from  every  side  of  the  chapel  were  heard  fervent  si^lis,  which  moved  us  to 
tears  of  joy  and  consolation ;  for  they  gave  evidence  of  piety  and  elevation 
of  all  hearts  at  the  remembrance  of  the  great  mystery  and  birth  of  our 
Savior  among  men.  At  dawn  many  Low  Masses  were  offered  up ;  at 
noon  High  Mass  was  celebrated,  and  in  the  afternoon  Vespers  and  Bene- 
diction of  the  Holy  Sacrament  took  place.  An  Immense  concourse  as- 
sisted at  all  devotions.  The  Protestants  present  were  singularly  af- 
fected."16 

The  next  important  activity  of  Father  Raho  and  his  companions 
was  the  care  for  the  orphans  whom  the  great  plague  had  left  to  his 
charity. 

"Divine  Providence  afforded  the  means  to  save  these  poor  orphans," 
writes  Father  Raho.  In  the  meantime,  whilst  I  ran  through  the  people 
of  La  Salle  and  Ottawa  to  pick  them  up,  seven  or  eight  had  fallen 
victims  to  misery.  Of  the  number  of  those  then  in  my  charge  and  in 
a  most  lamentable  condition,  two  are  already  at  St.  Louis  in  care  of 
the  Sisters  of  Charity ;  a  third  is  with  the  Mesdames  of  the  Sacred 
Heart;  a  fourth  with  t he  Sisters  of  Loretto;  three  more  are  in  homes 
of  as  many  pious  and  charitable  families."17 

A  pious  union,  called  the  "Confraternity  of  Charity"  was  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  aid  to  the  sick,  both  corporally  and  spiritually, 
corporally,  in  offering  nourishment  and  giving  necessary  medicine  during 


!5     Shaw,  op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  70. 

16  Idem,  ibidem,  p.  75. 

17  Idem,  ibidem,  p.  77. 


71G  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Loui 


sickness;  spiritually,  in  affording  at  the  proper  time,  aid  to  receive  the 
divine  Sacraments  of  Penance  and  the  Eucharist,  to  dispose  the  sick, 
in  danger,  to  die  well,  and  the  ailing  for  the  future,  to  live  well.  Father 
Raho's  official  report  to  the  Synod  of  1839  states:  "In  La  Salle  a 
Hospital  and  in  Ottawa  an  Orphan  Asylum  under  the  directions  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charily  are  to  be  erected,  grants  of  land  having  been  made 
for  the  purpose."    But  both  projects  failed  for  want  of  means. 

From  Father  Raho's  report  to  the  Bishop,  dated  December  1838, 
we  will  cite  the  following  statistics  concerning  La  Salle  and  Ottawa : 

Baptisms   numbered    95 

Conversions  to  the  Faith 4 

First  Communions 20 

Paschal  Communions 500 

Marriages    7 

Deaths    85 

Total  number  of  souls __100018 

From  the  same  report  we  gather  a  few  other  interesting  points : 

Ottawa,  La  Salle  County,  111.,  church  to  be  commenced  this  (com- 
ing) year  under  the  invocation  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  attended  every 
first  and  third  Sunday  of  the  month. 

Dayton,  La  Salle  County,  attended  every  five  weeks.  Marseilles, 
La  Salle  County,  the  same. 

Lacon,  Putnam  County,  four  times  a  year. 

Virginia,  Cass  County  Church  to  be  erected  under  the  invocation  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  attended  four  times  a  year. 

Several  other  stations  are  visited  by  the  Fathers  of  La  Salle  on 
the  line  of  the  Canal  and  Railroad. 

This  report  is  signed  J.  B.  Raho  and  L.  Parodi.19 

The  course  of  events  now  brings  us  to  the  chief  city  of  the  Il- 
linois Valley,  the  Pimiteoui  of  the  Red  Man,  called  Peoria.  Marquette 
tarried  here  for  a  while,  the  Franciscan  Father  Louis  Hennepin  reared 
a  log  church  here,  and  La  Salle  established  his  Creve  Coeur.  The 
Jesuit  Father  James  Gravier,  V.G.,  arrived  in  1689,  and  the  baptisms 
in  four  years  numbered  206.  The  Lazarist  Fathers  came  about  150 
years  later,  touching  at  Peoria  in  March  1838.  A  new  era  was  about 
to  begin  in  the  land  that  bore  a  special  blessing  from  the  hands  of 
Father  Marquette.  The  Superior  of  the  La  Salle  Mission,  writing  to 
the  Superior  General,  Nozo,  at  Paris,  France,  January,  1840  says: 

"When  everything  ran  smoothly  in  and  around  La  Salle  House 
I  hunted  up  during  last  summer  and  autumn  large  numbers  of  Catholics 


i«     Archives  of   St.  Louis   Archdiocese. 
19     Archives  of   St.  Louis   Archdiocese. 


The  La  Salic  Mission  717 

scattered  over  the  country  and  along  the  Illinois  River  from  90  to  120 
miles  southwest  of  La  Salle,  embracing  people  of  different  nationalities. 
The  most  desirable  are  found  at  the  villages  of  Pekin,  La  Salle  Prairie, 
Kickapoo,  Black  Partridge,  and  Lacon ;  the  three  last  mentioned  had 
never  before  seen  a  priest.  At  Peoria  Catholics  are  like  the  gleanings 
of  the  harvest,  exceedingly  few,  and  the  object  of  the  meanness  of 
the  Presbyterians.  However,  in  the  court  house  I  offered  the  Holy  Mass 
and  preached  in  presence  of  our  select  few,  and  a  large  number  of 
Protestants.  The  sect  of  Presbyterians  have  a  school  that  by  no  means 
meets  the  wishes  of  the  citizens.  Accordingly  the  people  have  urged 
me  to  put  sisters  in  their  places.  Indeed  many  of  them  have  offered 
me  ground,  on  which  to  build  a  convent,  which  may  be  occupied  either 
by  the  Sisters  of  the  Visitation  or  by  those  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  If 
the  plan,  of  which  I  have  informed  Bishop  Rosati  is  feasible,  it  shall 
certainly  give  an  impetus  to  the  propagation  of  our  holy  religion."20 
In  another  letter  Father  Raho  writes : 

"There  is  a  goodly  number  of  Catholics  in  and  around  Pekin,  the 
chief  town  of  Tazewell  County.  Last  October,  1839,  the  people  of 
Pekin,  without  distinction  of  creed  came  together  and  unanimously 
resolved  to  build  a  Catholic  church  and  conferred  with  me  and  Bishop 
Rosati,  who  spent  a  day  among  them,  on  the  impoi-tance  of  the  project.''21 

Father  Shaw  thus  sums  up  the  results  of  Father  Raho's  missionary 
labors  in  the  outlying  districts:  "Above  the  town  of  Pekin,  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Illinois  or  rather  Peoria  Lake,  is  Black  Partridge  of  the  early 
days — now  no  longer  on  the  map,  quite  a  center  for  German  and  French 
Catholics."  "So  numerous"  writes  the  son  of  St.  Vincent,  "that  a 
chapel  is  needed,  which  I  intend  to  build  of  timber  the  coming  Spring, 
and  would  now  commence,  had  I  the  money."  The  French  and 
Germans — among  the  latter  are  many  of  the  Anabaptist  sects — shall  use 
it  in  common."    The  building  was  erected  and  named  St.  Raphael's. 

Kickapoo,  in  Peoria  County,  on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  about 
five  miles  inland,  claims  a  more  extended  notice  from  the  ubiquitous 
missionary.  "I  have  taken  special  care  of  the  Kickapoo  Catholics,  be- 
cause they  were  more  exposed  to  heretic  attacks  than  the  others,  and 
notably  from  the  attacks  of  the  so-called  Church  of  England  bishop 
who  tried  to  instil  into  them  the  poison  of  his  errors.  I  judged,  there- 
fore, that  the  presence  of  the  priest  would  be  more  necessary  there 
than  anywhere  else ;  accordingly  I  ministered  to  these  good  people  every 
month,  making  a  specialty  of  explaining  the  doctrine  of  the  church. 
To  my  instruction  led  by  curiosity,  a  great  number  of  Protestants 
came,   who   gradually   opened  their  eyes  to   the  truth,   and  laid  aside 


20  Shaw,  op.  eit.,  vol.  T.  y>.  ! 

21  Shaw,  op.  eit.,  vol.  I,  86. 


718  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

their  prejudices,  with  which  they  had  grown  up  against  Catholics. 
Then  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  I  proposed  to  build  a  chapel.  A  Catholic 
and  a  Protestant  each  offered  a  lot — I  accepted  the  offer  of  the  Catholic 
as  more  beneficial,  and  affording  me  the  means  to  encircle  the  chapel 
with  a  cemetery.  Measures  were  immediately  taken  and  the  corner- 
stone of  the  chapel,  or  if  you  wish,  the  church,  was  laid  the  first  Sunday 
of  last  August,  In:)!),  after  celebrating  the  Holy  Mass  in  a  neighboring 
house,  lilted  up  for  the  occasion.  At  the  appointed  hour  for  the  cor- 
nerstone laying,  I  was  on  the  spot,  began  to  explain  the  ceremonies  to 
the  people  who  were  in  crowds ;  when  our  non-Catholic  fellow  citizens 
came  up  and  said  to  me;  that  they  desired,  as  the  Catholics.,  to  have  a 
share  in  my  institution,  and  the  chapel  would  be  too  small  to 
contain  the  Catholic  and  non-Catholic  people.  I  was  obliged  to  broaden 
the  foundations."22 

The  church  at  Kickapoo  was  placed  under  the  patronage  of  St. 
Patrick,  the  Apostle  of  the  Irish  people.  The  dedication  took  place 
on  August  4,  1839.  The  edifice  was  of  stone.  This  authentic  account 
will  naturally  destroy  the  legend  that  the  little  stone  chapel  in  the 
cemetery  at  Kickapoo,  on  the  road  from  Brimfield  to  Peoria,  is  the  oldest 
church  now  standing  in  Illinois.  It  was  indaed,  built  by  Father  Raho, 
but  not  in  1827.  The  correct  date  given  by  Father  Raho  himself  is 
1839.  Kickapoo  is  today  a  village  of  about  200  souls,  and  only  recently 
received  a  new  church. 

'The  Fall  of  1839  brought  new  joy  to  the  hearts  of  our  missionaries; 
first  the  addition  of  Father  Cercos  to  the  missionary  band  and  then, 
the  visit  of  Bishop  Rosati  and  Father  Timon  to  La  Salle.  Father 
Raho  thus  records  the  arrival  and  its  purpose. 

"At  La  Salle,  our  ordinary  residence,  we  welcomed  last  October 
13th,  1839,  Bishop  Rosati  and  our  Visitor  Father  Timon.  During  the 
ten  days  the  Bishop  remained,  he  administered  confirmation  to  fifty- 
eight  persons,  chiefly  grown  people,  four  of  the  converts  I  baptized 
last  Holy  Week.  On  the  Sunday  within  the  Octave  of  our  holy  founder, 
Saint  Vincent,  the  patron  of  our  Confraternity  of  Charity,  thirty-two 
of  our  children  made  their  first  communion,  and  the  association  of 
charity  in  a  body  approached  the  Holy  Table.  Directly  afterwards 
confirmation  followed,  the  good  Bishop  and  Father  Timon  having 
previously  preached  for  them  a  mission  of  eight  days."23 

The  same  year  the  mission  was  strengthened  by  the  arrival  of 
Father  Estany,  giving  the  church-builder  and  organizer  more  freedom 
to  explore  the  forests  and  prairies,  the  creeks  and  hollows  of  his  wide 
domain  for  the  only  treasure  he  really  cared  for,  Catholic  settlers. 


22  Shaw,  op.  eit.,  vol.  I,  p.  89. 

23  Idem,  ibidem,  vol.  I,  p.  91. 


The  La  Salle  Mission  719 

Father  Jerome  Cercos  was  born  at  Regassa,  Spain,  January  30, 
1812.  He  entered  the  novitiate  of  the  Vincentians  at  Madrid  and  there 
received  Holy  Orders.  He  arrived  at  the  Barrens  November  27,  1838,  an 
exile  from  Spain.  Father  Cercos  died  at  Cape  Girardeau,  Mo.,  March 
28,  1845. 

Father  Eudaldo  Estany,  another  exile  from  Spain,  was  ordained 
in  Madrid,  and  came  to  the  Barrens,  November  27,  1838.  He  was  sent 
to  La  Salle,  August  20th,  1839,  recalled  April  23rd,  1840,  and  was  sent 
to  Texas,  on  May  3rd,  1840. 

At  La  Salle  a  plot  of  ground  was  bought  and  dedicated  as  a  Cath- 
olic Cemetery.  In  the  year  1840  the  rashness  of  the  State  Legislature 
brought  bankruptcy  upon  Illinois.  The  monetary  difficulties  were,  of 
course,  severely  felt  by  the  missionaries  who  were  constantly  making 
expenses  for  buildings  necessary  in  the  various  towns  of  their  mission. 
On  borrowed  capital  the  work  went  on :  In  the  meantime  St.  Augustine, 
in  Knox  County,  and  the  neighborhood  of  Wyoming  were  visited  by 
Father  Raho,  whilst  Dixon  and  Palestine  Grove  were  taken  into  the 
great  missionary  fold.  And  now  another  great  surprise  came  to  Fathers 
Raho  and  Parodi  and  their  two  assistants :  the  news  that  Bishop  Rosati 
had,  on  November  39,  1841,  consecrated  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  as 
his  coadjutor,  and  that  this  Prelate  would  visit  the  mission  of  La  Salle 
and  its  dependencies  some  time  in  the  summer  of  1842. 

A  new  era  had  dawned  upon  the  Church  in  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
though  but  few,  at  that  time,  could  realize  it.  Bishop  Kenrick  arrived 
at  La  Salle  on  Saturday,  July  23,  and  was  enthusiastically  welcomed 
by  priests  and  people.  The  next  day  twenty-two  members  of  the 
Church  were  confirmed.  Black  Partridge,  in  Woodford  County,  was 
next  visited,  where  twenty-three,  all  Germans,  were  confirmed  on  July 
28th,  Kickapoo,  an  inland  village,  was  reached  on  July  30.  On  the  next 
day  sixteen  were  confirmed.  In  Peoria  only  six  received  the  sacrament. 
On  July  3rd,  Bishop  Kenrick  departed  from  Peoria  for  St.  Louis. 

At  the  fifth  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  the  erection  of  the 
diocese  of  Chicago,  including  all  the  State  of  Illinois,  was  proposed 
to  the  Holy  See.  The  proposal  was  approved  by  Rome,  and  the  Right 
Rev.  William  Quarter  was  consecrated  first  Bishop  of  Chicago  on  Sun- 
day, March  10,  1844.  With  this  change  we  must  take  leave  of  the  flour- 
ishing Mission  of  La  Salle  and  its  dependencies.  They  had  ceased  to  be 
a  part  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  under  Bishop  Rosati. 


Chapter  :52 
ST.  MICHAEL'S  OF  FREDERICKTOWN  AND  FATHER  CELLINI 


St.  Michael's  of  Fredericktown  is  one  of  the  earliest  Catholic  settle- 
ments in  this  state:  Its  church  of  St.  Michael,  a  log  structure,  was  built 
by  Father  Henry  Pratte,  pastor  of  Ste.  Genevieve :  its  first  parishioners 
were  French  families  from  New  Bourbon,  St.  Genevieve  and  Grand 
River,  who  founded  the  village  of  St.  .Michael's  shortly  after  1799. 
Schoolcraft  in  1819  describes  it  as  follows:  "St.  Michael  is  situated  on  a 
plain  on  Village  Creek,  which  falls  into  Hie  river  St.  Francis,  a  mile 
below.  It  is  an  old  French  Village,  of  about  fifty  houses,  including 
several  stores,  and  the  Post  Office,  and  lies  in  the  center  of  the  richest 
farming  district  in  Madison  County.  The  seat  of  Justice  for  the 
County  has  lately  been  fixed  on  rising  ground,  about  six  hundred  yards 
south  of  the  village,  and  a  town  laid  out  there  called  Fredericktown. 
Several  emigrants  have  lately  located  themselves  in  St.  Michael's. 
And  since  the  County  Seat  has  been  fixed  in  its  vicinity,  it  has  assumed 
a  thriving  appearance.  The  Mine  La  Motte  lies  two  miles  north  of 
the  village."1 

In  1827  when  St.  Louis  was  made  a  Diocese  under  Bishop  Rosati 
St.  Michael  became  a  full-fledged  Parish,  with  the  Rev.  Anthony  Potini 
as  the  first  resident  Pastor. 

The  Baptismal  Record  entitled,  "Register  of  the  Baptisms  in  the 
Parish  of  St.  Michael,  State  of  Missouri,  Madison  County,  in  the 
Diocese  of  Bishop  Rosati,"  contains  as  its  first  entry:  "I,  the  under- 
signed, in  the  year  1827  baptized  Baptist  William,  son  of  Louis  Bernier 
and  his  wife,  Archange  Deguire,  born  on  the  17th  of  July,  1827. 
Sponsors:  Baptist  Deguire  and  Judith  Caland.  A.  Potini,  Miss."  The 
name  of  Father  Potini  occurs  in  the  register  until  December  26th,  1828, 
when  Father  Cellini  takes  his  place. 

Father  Cellini,  who  now  enters  upon  the  scene,  was  a  man  of 
consequence  in  his  day,  farsighted  and  capable;  a  man  versed  in  a 
number  of  sciences  and  arts,  among  them  medicine  and  surgery,  a 
strong  character,  zealous  and  at  times  impatient  of  delays,  but  always 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  his  priestly  calling. 

It  was  on  May  10th,  1827,  that  Father  Cellini,  bought  from  Na- 
thaniel Cook  several  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  Fredericktown,  extending  from  the  Little  St.  Francis  River  to  a 
point  where  College  Avenue  crosses  the  Saline,  thus  enclosing  the  entire 


l     Schoolcraft,  "A  Visit  to  the  Mining  Districts  of  Arkansas  and   Missouri." 

(720) 


St.  Michael's  of  Fredericktown  and  Father  Cellini  721 

village  on  the  South  and  West.  By  this  transfer  Father  Cellini  took  title 
to  the  greater  portion  of  the  present  site  of  Fredericktown. 

Two  years  later,  April  1st,  1829,  Rev  Francis  Cellini,  whose  resi- 
dence was  then  at  Prairie  du  Rocher,  Randolph  County,  Illinois,  con- 
veyed all  this  property,  for  a  consideration  of  two  thousand  dollars 
($2000.00)  to  Mary  S.  Smith,  the  widow  of  Charles  Smith,  and  on 
April  24th,  1829,  Mary  S.  Smith  deeded  all  the  foregoing  property  to 
Rev.  Francis  Cellini,  except  a  tract  of  two  hundred  acres,  taken  there- 
from and  conveyed  by  her  to  Sentee.  The  land  deeded  by  Mary  S. 
Smith  to  Father  Cellini  included  the  four  acres,  which  today  comprise 
the  church  property  of  St.  Michael's  in  Fredericktown,  as  Father 
Francis  Cellini  later  on  conveyed  the  same  to  Bishop  Rosati  and  his  suc- 
cessors in  office  to  hold  in  trust  for  the  benefit  of  the  Congregation  of 
the  Parish  of  St.  Michael.2 

At  the  time  of  Father  Cellini's  advent,  the  Parish  of  St.  Michael 
appeared  as  a  rather  straggling  and  struggling  community,  with  its 
three  villages  in  close  proximity,  leisurely  vying  with  each  other  for 
the  supremacy.  The  village  on  the  hill,  Fredericktown,  came  out  as 
victor  over  the  old  village  of  St.  Michael  built  on  the  lower  ground  just 
beyond  the  Saline,  and  gradually  drew  away  all  the  life,  the  New 
Village  on  Village  Creek  had  ever  enjoyed. 

The  town  grew  but  slowly.  In  1822  there  were  in  it  fifty  dwell- 
ings, with  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants.  In  1836  the  popu- 
lation was  but  three  hundred  all  told.  The  rest  of  the  congregation  was 
scattered  over  the  county,  a  fair  proportion  of  it  at  Mine  La  Motte.  Ac- 
cording to  Bishop  Rosati 's  Report  to  the  Leopoldine  Society  in  Vienna 
March  10,  1830,  there  were  two  hundred  Catholics  in  the  Parish  of  St. 
Michael,  mostly  French,  working  in  the  mines.3  But  as  the  Catholic 
population  was  increasing,  Father  Cellini  in  1829  started  the  work 
of  building  a  church  on  his  land  in  Fredericktown.  The  old  log  church 
at  the  Village  was  taken  down,  for  the  sake  of  the  material  to  be  used 
in  the  erection  of  the  new  structure.  The  original  presbytery,  the 
"large  frame  house."  was  on  what  is  now  called  "West  Main  Street, 
and  the  reconstructed  log  church  stood  parallel  with  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  cemetery,  with  the  sanctuary  to  the  East.  From 
there  a  road  led  down  the  hill  through  what  is  now  a  part  of  the 
graveyard  to  the  old  village  of  St.  Michael  across  the  creek.  The 
church  retained  the  name  of  St.  Michael  the  Archangel,  though  the 
town  had  lost  it.  The  church  must  have  been  completed  by  October 
1,  1831,  for  on  that  date  Bishop  Rosati  records  in  his  Diary  that  he. 


-     Records  of   Madison  County,  Missouri. 

3  Eeports  of  the  Leopoldine  Society  for  1830,  a  publication  of  great  im- 
portance for  the  History  of  the  Church  in  America,  though  as  yet  but  insufficiently 
known. 


722  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

in  company  with  the  Fathers  Cellini,  Rondot,  Loisel,  Mascaroni,  Hilary 
Tucker,  Hamilton,  Shannon  and  Cotter,  proceeded  from  the  Barrens, 
( Perry ville)  to  St.  Michael's,  on  which  occasion  their  conveyance  broke 
down  on  the  road  about  four  miles  from  their  destination.  On  Sunday, 
October  2,  the  Bishop  celebrated  Mass  in  the  private  chapel  of  Father 
Cellini,  but  attended  the  Solemn  High-Mass  in  the  Church.  Father 
Cellini  was  the  celebrant  on  this  occasion,  whilst  Father  Rondot  preached 
in  French.  In  the  afternoon  the  Bishop  with  his  priests  chanted  the 
Vespers,  and  the  Bishop  gave  an  English  address.  On  October  4th, 
they  all  made  an  excursion  to  the  Big  St.  Francis  River.  I  believe 
this  notable  visit  of  the  Bishop  was  for  the  purpose  of  dedicating  the 
new  church  of  St.  Michael. 

A  good  start  was  now  made ;  but  greater  things  were  in  preparation. 
Through  the  piety  and  generous  spirit  of  Madam  Smith,  who  had 
transferred  her  home  from  Opelousas  to  Fredericktown,  Father  Cellini 
was  enabled  to  found  the  first  institution  for  higher  learning  in  the 
County,  the  Convent  and  Academy  of  the  Sisters  of  Loretto.  It  was 
on  the  26th  day  of  May,  1832,  that  the  zealous  Pastor  of  St.  Michael's 
called  on  Bishop  Rosati  at  the  Barrens  and  obtained  from  him  the 
necessary  permission  for  the  Sisters  of  Loretto  to  found  a  new  House 
of  their  Order  in  the  Parish  of  St.  Michael  near  Fredericktown.4  Father 
Cellini  had  built  a  large  house  for  this  purpose  on  his  land  near  the 
present  site  of  Richard  Slaughter's  residence.  This  house  was  occupied 
by  the  Sisters  of  Loretto,  and  a  school  for  girls  was  opened  at  once 
with  an  attendance  of  about  forty  pupils.  A  prospectus  of  the  new 
institution  appeared  in  the  "Shepherd  of  the  Valley"  at  various  times 
from  1832-1834. 6  We  subjoin  a  few  of  its  interesting  items:  "The 
Sisters  of  Loretto  have  established  a  house  of  education  at  Frederick- 
town,  Madison  County,  Mo.,  under  the  immediate  direction  of  Rev. 
Francis  Cellini.  They  will  teach  Reading,  Writing,  Grammar,  Arith- 
metic, Geography,  History,  Painting,  French,  Needle-work,  Embroidery, 
Music,  etc.  Young  Ladies  of  any  religious  profession  will  be  received 
Avithout  the  least  prejudice.  Though  the  teachers  profess  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion,  yet  no  one  shall  be  the  least  troubled  with  regard 
to  their  peculiar  religious  opinions,  nor  will  any  undue  influence  be 
made  over  their  belief. 

The  first  Sisters  were  : 

Sister  Juliana Anna  Wathen,  Superior 

Sister  Leocadia Maria  Anna  Carney 

Sister  Theresia  Augustina .-Maria  McSorley 


4  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

5  "Shepherd  of  the  Valley"  was  the  first  Catholic  paper  published  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River.  There  is  an  incomplete  file  in  the  Library  of  St.  Louis 
University. 


St.  Michael's  of  Frelericktown  and  Father  Cellini  723 

Sister  Lucia Anna  Moore 

Sister  Frances Susan  Strother 

Sister  Mary  Josephina Adelaide  Obuchon 

On  June  10,  1833,  Bishop  Rosati  celebrated  Mass  in  the  convent 
chapel  and  gave  the  habit  to  the  postulant  Anna  Fenwick.  On  the 
previous  day  the  Bishop  had  administered  the  sacrament  of  Confirma- 
tion in  the  church  of  St.  Michael  to  fifty-four  persons,  fourteen  of 
them  being  converts  to  the  Faith.  Lewis  Tucker,  then  in  deaconship 
orders,  was  present  on  this  occasion  and,  returning  with  the  Bishop 
to  the  Seminary,  remained  there  until  September  when  he  was  raised 
to  the  Priesthood  in  the  Cathedral,  Sunday,  September  22,  1834.  After 
a  short  stay  with  the  Bishop,  Father  Tucker  was  sent  as  assistant  of 
Father  Cellini  to  St.  Michael's  where  he  officiated  until  1835.  During 
December  1834,  Father  St.  Cyr  attended  St.  Michael's  for  a  short 
while.6 

From  Bishop  Rosati 's  Diary  Ave  learn  that  both  Father  Cellini's 
house  and  the  Sisters'  Convent  had  private  chapels,  which  were  also 
used  for  the  public  services  until  the  church  was  completed. 

During  the  year  1834  Father  Cellini  was  absent  from  St.  Michael's 
for  a  longer  period,  for  in  Vol.  II,  No.  38  of  the  "Shepherd  of  the 
V alley/'  we  find  the  following  notice:  "The  Catholics  and  inhabitants 
of  Madison  County  will  learn  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  that 
Father  F.  Cellini  arrived  in  perfect  health  on  the  Steamer  Majestic." 
On  June  7th,  he  returned  to  St.  Michael's.  On  November  10th,  Bishop 
Rosati  says,  that  he  rode  with  Father  Cellini  ten  miles  through  the 
rain  on  his  way  to  Fredericktown ;  and  on  Sunday,  November  16th, 
he  assisted  at  Solemn  High-Mass  sung  by  Father  Lewis  Tucker,  and 
preached  a  sermon  in  English,  and  then  administered  holy  Confirmation 
to  twelve  persons.  On  November  20th,  Father  Cellini  accompanied  the 
Bishop  to  Old  Mines,  both  riding  on  horse-back.  On  the  return  trip 
the  Bishop  lost  his  pectoral  cross,  the  gold  chain  having  been  broken. 
In  the  annual  Report  of  Bishop  Rosati  for  1834,  both  Cellini  and 
Tucker  are  given  as  pastors.  In  the  Convent  list  the  following  Sisters 
are  named : 

Sister  Benedicta Julia  Fenwick,  Superior 

Siter  Leocadia Mary  A.  Carney 

Sister  Lucia Anna  Moore 

Sister  Maria  Agnes Elizabeth  Tucker 

Sister  Maria  Josephina Adelaide  Obuchon 

Sister  Maria  Anna Anna  Fenwick 


s     Father  Saint  Cyr  was  the  first  resident  priest  of  St.  Chicago,  which  was  then 
under  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis. 


124  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

The  foundation  did  not  prosper.  After  a  few  years,  April  1836, 
the  school  was  discontinued  for  lack  of  patronage  and  encouragement, 
and  the  building  itself  was  consumed  by  fire  in  1847. 

It  will  be  remembered  that,  in  recounting  the  many  accomplish- 
ments of  Father  Cellini,  Father  Rosati  wrote :  ' '  He  is  our  Procurator. 
Physician,  .Mailman,  Mason."  As  Procurator  and  Mason,  Father  Cellini 
is  now  known  to  us;  but  what  about  his  character  as  Physician.' 

On  April  24th,  1845,  Bishop  Rosati  relates  in  his  Diary,  that  he 
journeyed  from  Ste.  Genevieve  to  St.  Michael  and  took  his  abode  with 
Father  Cellini  until  May  14th,  "valetudinis  recuperandae  causa."  for 
the  purpose  of  regaining  his  health.  And  on  April  20,  1836,  Father 
Borgna,  came  to  Fredericktown  with  an  almost  hopeless  case  of  paralysis 
which  deprived  him  of  the  use  of  his  hand,  seeking  relief  and  healing 
at  the  hands  of  his  old  friend.  It  may  seem  strange,  that  a  Catholic 
priest,  a  physician  of  souls,  is  here  described  as  a  practitioner  of  the 
art  of  healing  the  ills  of  the  body.  In  fact,  this  is  something  un- 
heard of  at  the  present  day,  except  prehaps  in  the  missions  of  Darkest 
Africa.  But  we  must  recall  the  fact,  that  Father  Cellini  came  to 
this  country  in  1818,  when  all  its  arts  of  civilized  life  were  as  yet  in 
their  infancy.  Father  John  Odin,  CM.,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  New 
Orleans,  writes  shortly  after  his  ordination  in  1823,  to  a  friend  in 
Europe:  "Bishop  Rosati  wishes,  that  you  could  engage  a  good  physician 
to  come  and  settle  at  the  Seminary  of  the  Barrens.  A  good  doctor 
is  unknown  throughout  the  surrounding  country.  Sickness  is  con- 
tinual, and  the  poor  people  are  left  to  languish  or  die  entirely  destitute 
of  help.  By  this  means  we  might  also  win  many  Protestants.  They 
are  extremely  appreciative  of  kindness.  Moreover,  we  greatly  desire 
to  give  the  brothers,  and  even  the  priests,  who  will  have  the  happi- 
ness of  going  among  the  savages,  some  knowledge  of  medicine.  A 
single  cure  would  make  the  reputation  of  a  missionary  and  gain  ready 
access  for  him  everywhere.  Bishop  Rosati  would  give  this  physician 
free  lodging,  and  everything  needed.  His  calls  would  bring  him  in 
at  least  two  thousand  francs.  The  woods  arc  full  of  medicinal  plants."7 
From  this  it  is  plain,  how  sadly  Father  Cellini's  medical  knowledge 
and  skill  were  missed  after  his  departure  from  the  Barrens.  But 
everywhere  in  the  country  physicians  were  few  and  far  between,  and 
wherever  the  good  Father  found  himself,  he  also  found  bodily  miseries 
and  ills  that  called  forth  his  sympathy  and  healing  power.  Ever 
ready  to  hasten  to  the  assistance  of  the  sick  and  suffering,  he  never. 
according  to  universal  testimony,  accepted  any  fee  for  his  services. 
Mrs.  Armand  B.  Peugnet,  a  Catholic  lady  of  St.  Louis,  now  in  her 
ninetieth     year,      Avell    remembers     the     good     Father     Cellini     as     a 


~     "Annates  tie  la   Propagation  de  la   Foi,"  vol.  T,  p.  7(5.     Records,  vol.  XIV 
p.  190. 


St.  Michael's  of  Fredericktown  and  Father  Cellini  725 

"great  physician"  and  says,  that  her  own  mother,  being  very  sick, 
was  placed  under  his  medical  as  well  as  spiritual  care.  She  further 
states  that,  when  Father  Cellini  removed  from  Fredericktown  to  St. 
Louis,  the  children  of  the  city  would  be  brought  to  him  to  be  vaccinated, 
and  that  he  always  gave  the  most  careful  directions  to  safeguard  their 
health.  Father  Cellini  must,  therefore,  be  enrolled  among  the  pioneers 
of  medical  science  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  A  contributor  to  the 
Church  Progress  of  St.  Louis,  probably  the  learned  Msgr.  William 
Walsh  of  St.  Bridget's,  years  ago  wrote  that  "Father  Cellini  was  the 
compounder  of  a  medicine  at  one  time  quite  famous.  It  was  for  sale 
by  all  druggists  in  St.  Louis  and  Avas  called  Cellinian  Balm."  The 
Rescript  from  the  Church-authorities  at  Rome,  permitting  Father  Cellini 
to  practice  as  a  physician,  but  not  as  a  surgeon,  is  dated  December 
11,  1819.8 

As  to  Father  Cellini's  quality  as  a  priest  we  need  but  refer  to 
the  large  number  of  converts  gained  by  his  example  and  instructions. 
A  man  of  strong,  sincere  convictions,  he  was  not  of  the  disputatious 
kind,  but  rather  intent  to  win  over  the  soul  by  the  clear  light  of 
truth.  Veritas  prevalcbit,  he  thought,  truth  must  prevail;  there  is 
no  need  of  the  persuasive  words  of  human  eloquence.  Father  Cellini 
had  no  high  opinion  of  what  is  commonly  called  eloquent  preaching. 
He  was  far  from  indulging  in  that  flowery  kind  of  speech,  that  tickles 
the  sense  and  leaves  the  heart  unmoved.  He  believed  that  the  sermons 
that  the  people  really  needed  were  the  plain,  practical,  instructive 
kind.  He  used  to  say  that  a  priest  should  preach  somewhat  after 
this  manner:  "Miss  mass  on  Sunday,  mortal  sin;  slander  your  neighbor, 
mortal  sin"  and  so  on.  Father  Cellini  had  received  his  education  in 
Italy.  Italian  was  his  mother  tongue.  But  this  melodious  language 
was  of  no  practical  use  to  him,  as  his  field  of  labor  lay  among  the 
French  and  Americans.     The  zealous  Father  preached  every   Sunday 


8  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese.  Among  the  numerous  scraps  of  informa- 
tion Father  Saulnier  marked  down  in  his  "Every  Day  Book,"  Monsignor  Holweck 
found  the  recipe  for  the  "Cellininn  Balm:" 

"Gum    Aloes   soeotorine    ounces  12 

Gum  Myrrhe    ounces     6 

Gum    Mastich    ounces     6 

Gum    Olivarium    ounces     fi 

Mace    ounces     6 

Peruvian  Balsam ounces     6 

Bruise  the  Gums  and  Mace  and  put  them  all  in  a  convenient  demijohn,  with  four 
gallons  of  good  brandy,  from  the  beginning  of  July  until  the  middle  of  August,  in 
the  heat  of  the  sun  shaking  it  every  day."  Father  Cellini  had,  through  the  good 
offices  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  received  express  permission  from  Pope  Gregory  to 
practice  medicine  in  the  missions  of  America.  As  to  his  medical  knowledge  and 
skill  there  never  was  any  doubt. 


72(5  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

in  French  or  English,  but  never  could,  in  these  alien  tongues,  acquire 
that  perfect  mastery  and  easy  fluency  he  posessed  in  the  Italian. 
Besides  he  was  subject  to  a  slight  stammer  in  his  speech,  which  was 
scarcely  noticeable  except  when  the  right  word  failed  him.  Many  a 
time  the  good  Father  in  his  discourse,  knowing  perfectly  well  what 
he  intended  to  say,  but  not  finding  the  proper  word  to  express  his 
meaning,  would  make  a  pause  and  look  at  Mr.  Simon  Guignon,  his 
old  and  intimate  friend,  who  sat  in  the  first  pew  just  below  the 
preacher.  And  Mr.  Guignon,  who  as  a  rule,  knew  from  the  context, 
what  word  was  wanted,  regularly,  suggested  it  in  a  subdued  but  per- 
fectly audible  tone.  The  Rev.  Father  would  repeat  the  word  and 
proceed  with  his  sermon,  as  though  nothing  had  happened. 

In  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing,  it  was  deemed  but  natural 
to  be  owner  of  slaves.  In  certain  parts  of  the  country  it  was  con- 
sidered nothing  short  of  criminal  fanaticism  to  advocate  the  abolition 
of  slavery  or  to  question  its  justice  and  usefulness ;  hence  the  general 
rule  throughout  the  southern  states  that  the  wealthier  classes  were 
slave-holders.  Father  Cellini,  or  rather  his  house-keeper,  Madam  Smith, 
was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  But  if  these  slaves  had  to  be  slaves, 
they  were  fortunate  indeed  in  having  a  good  master.  That  they  were 
treated  most  kindly  may  be  inferred  from  a  remark  frequently  made 
by  old  Jerry,  one  of  Father  Cellini's  slaves.  Many  a  time  in  after 
years  the  old  man  would  refer  to  the  "powerful  good  coffee  we  used 
to  have  at  old  Father  Cellini's  in  Fredericktown.  "Why  it  was  so 
strong  it  would  hold  up  a  spoon."  Father  Cellini  in  his  last  will 
bequeathed  his  slaves  as  well  as  his  other  property  to  Archbishop 
Kenrick.  But  the  Archbishop  let  them  all  go,  with  the  exception  of 
old  Jerry  and  Jerry's  old  woman,  Chloe ;  Jerry  and  Chloe  he  did 
not  let  go,  because  they  had  nowhere  to  go  to.  He  kept  them  and 
kindly  provided  for  them  until  their  death. 

As  an  indication  of  the  high  regard  in  which  Father  Cellini's 
wisdom  and  unblemished  character  was  held  by  all,  we  would  mention 
that  in  the  Synod  of  1839,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  seven  con- 
fessors having  the  most  extended  faculties,  and  in  1845  was  made 
by  Bishop  Kenrick  Vicar-General  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis,  offices, 
indeed,  more  honorable  than  onerous,  as  befitting  a  man  of  long  and 
faithful  service. 

When  old  age  had  unnerved  the  good  Father's  strength  for  active 
ministerial  duty,  he  removed  to  St.  Louis  and  spent  his  remaining 
years  in  the  mansion  on  Marion  Street,  built  and  fitted  up  by  Madam 
Smith,  that  is  now  the  home  of  the  Guardian  Angel  Settlement  near 
St.  Vincent's  Church  in  St.  Louis.  He  died  on  the  6th  of  January, 
1849.  He  was  buried  from  St.  Vincent's  Church,  Monday  January 
8th,  1849,  after  Solemn  High-Mass.  His  remains  were  laid  to  rest 
in  St.  Vincent's  Cemetery,  and  afterwards  reinterred  in  Calvary.     On 


St.  Michael's  of  Fredericktown  and  Father  Cellini  727 

the  simple  tombstone  that  marks  his  last  resting  place  is  the  inscrip- 
tion :  "Pray  for  the  soul  of  Very  Rev.  Francis  Cellini,  .Vicar-General 
of  this  diocese.  He  died  on  the  Feast  of  the  Epiphany."  Father 
Cellini  was  in  his  sixty-eighth  year  when  he  died.  On  the  eve  of  the 
Epiphany,  1819  he  arrived  at  St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens,  and  on  the 
Feast  of  the  Epiphany  1849,  he  passed  into  Eternity. 

It  is  a  strange  coincidence  that  Madam  Mary  Sentee  Smith,  died 
in  the  same  house,  and  only  some  few  hours  after  Father  Cellini. 
Four  days  after  the  event,  January  10,  1849,  Archbishop  Kenrick 
wrote  an  interesting  letter  to  Father  Louis  Tucker,  the  successor  of 
Father  Cellini  in  St.  Michaels,  Fredericktown : 

"Before  the  receipt  of  this  letter  you  will  have  probably  heard 
of  the  death  of  Rev.  Mr.  Cellini  and  of  Madam  Smith  which  took 
place  on  the  same  day :  Mr.  Cellini  having  died  on  the  6th,  inst,  at 
10  o'clock,  and  Mrs.  Smith  on  the  following  morning  at  7  o'clock. 
You  are  aware  that  this  excellent  lady  had  lately  several — at  least 
two — attacks  of  paralysis.  About  nine  weeks  ago  she  fell,  probably  in 
consequence  of  an  attack  of  that  nature  and  seriously  hurt  herself. 
For  several  weeks  she  appeared  to  be  beyond  all  rational  hope  of 
ultimate  recovery;  but  within  two  or  three  weeks  preceding  her  death, 
she  appeared  to  revive,  and  was  so  far  restored  to  health,  as  to  be 
able  to  sit  up  in  a  chair,  although  she  could  not  rise  without  assistance. 
A  few  days  before  Christmas,  Rev.  Mr.  Cellini  cut  his  finger,  while 
sharpening  a  knife.  He  succeeded  at  length,  after  a  considerable  loss 
of  blood,  in  stopping  the  blood;  but  it  is  thought  that  he  did  not 
take  sufficient  precaution  to  prevent  the  cold,  which  was  then  very 
severe,  from  affecting  the  wound.  For  several  days  he  suffered  a 
great  deal  of  pain ;  being  unable  to  rest  at  night  in  consequence  of 
his  wound.  Besides  this  he  fell  on  his  back,  while  walking  on  the 
ice  in  his  yard,  and  complained  at  one  time  more  of  the  injury  re- 
ceived from  the  fall  than  from  the  wound.  On  Christmas  day  he 
said  one  Mass,  but  with  considerable  difficulty.  His  sufferings  con- 
tinued, without  however,  seriously  alarming  any  person,  or  even  him- 
self, until  the  31st  of  December,  when  he  appeared  to  be  much  better ; 
and  continued  for  three  or  four  days,  to  be,  as  it  was  thought,  im- 
proving, but  on  the  night  of  "Wednesday  to  Thursday  he  had  a  violent 
chill  or  spasm,  which  appeared  to  have  entirely  prostrated  his  system, 
as  it  was  followed  by  a  kind  of  lethargy,  in  which  while  he  appeared 
to  be,  and  in  fact  was,  perfectly  conscious,  he  was  unable  to  express 
himself,  except  on  a  very  few  occasions.  He  received  the  last  sacra- 
ments with  a  great  deal  of  piety,  and  expired  about  twenty-four 
hours  after,  as  already  stated.  Mr.  Cellini's  illness  and  the  serious 
character  of  it  assumed  on  the  4th  inst.  appears  to  have  brought  on 
Mrs.  Smith  a  violent  chill,  which  lasted  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening 
of  the  4th,  to  dav-lisht  on  the  morning  of  the  fifth.     It  was  followed 


728 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


by  a  fever  and  a  total  prostration  of  strength,  so  that  this  good  lady 
appeared  insensible  to  the  state  of  Mr.  Cellini,  although  1  am  con- 
vineed  thai  her  apparent  insensiblity — she  never  asked  anyone  about 
him — was  the  result  of  her  knowledge  of  his  extreme  danger  and 
of  his  deatli.  when  it  took  place.  She  died,  as  might  have  been  ex- 
peeted  a  most  edifying  death;  and  appeared  to  retain  her  conscious- 
ness to  the  last  moment. 

They  were  both  buried  on  .Monday  (January  8th),  in  St.  Vincent's 
Cemetery.  Rev.  Mr.  Cellini  in  the  morning,  after  Office  and  Mass,  at 
which  all  the  clergy  assisted;  and  Madame  Smith  in  the  afternoon. 
The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  claimed  the  privilege  of  having  the 
remains  of  Mrs.  Smith  deposited  in  their  lot  in  the  grave  yard.- — 
Requiescant  in  Pace. 

"I  have  given  you  these  details,  because  independent  of  the  re- 
gard which  both  the  deceased  had  for  you,  it  will  enable  you  to 
gratify  your  flock  or,  at  least,  those  belonging  to  it,  who  were  the 
personal  friends  of  the  departed. 

By  his  will,  Rev.  Mr.  Cellini  has  left  all  that  he  had  to  us,  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  an  asylum  for  aged  priests,  or  such  as 
might  be  prevented  by  infirmity  from  discharging  the  active  duties 
of  the  ministry.  I  would  be  glad  if  you  would  ask  Mr.  Cox,  who  I 
believe,  was  Mr.  Cellini's  agent,  for  whatever  information  he  can  im- 
part to  me  in  relation  to  the  property  formerly  owned  by  Mr.  Cellini 
in  Madison  County. — whether  Mr.  Cellini  has  transferred  all  or  any, 
and  which,  or  the  tracts  of  which  1  find  by  his  papers  that  he  was 
at  one  time,  the  owner.  Whether  there  be  any  and  how  much  money 
due  to  Mr.  Cellini  in  consequence  of  such  transfer ;  how  secured,  and 
when  payable. 

Wishing  you  many  happy  years  and  above  all,  the  "Annos  aeter- 
nos"  which  alone  are  worth  wishing  for,  I  remain,  Rev.  Dear  Sir  etc. 

fPeter  Richard 
Archbishop  of  St.  Louis."9 

John  G.  Shea's  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  11  nihil 
States  adverts  to  this  fact  that  as  a  signal  close  to  Father  Cellini's 
lifelong  desire  of  founding  some  kind  of  a  charitable  institution: 

"The  bequest  of  Rev.  Francis  Cellini,  who  thirty  years  before 
resigned  a  benefic  in  Europe  to  labor  in  the  American  Missions  was 
mentioned  by  Archbishop  Kenrick .  in  his  synod  of  1850.  This  good 
priest  left  all  he  possessed  to  found  a  home  for  priests  broken  by  age 
or  ill  health.  Trustees  were  appointed  to  carry  out  his  pious  wish,  and 
an    annual   Requiem   Mass   was    established."111 


s     Archives  of   St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 
io     Shea,  John  G.,  "History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States, ' 
IV,  p.  221. 


vol. 


St.  Michael's  of  FredericJctown  and  Father  Cellini  729 

The  pious  wish  of  the  founder  was  fulfilled  in  a  way  he  certainly 
never  dreamt  of.  As  there  were  no  priests  in  St.  Louis  at  the  time 
who  felt  any  necessity  or  even  any  inclination  to  enter  a  "House  for 
priests  broken  by  age  or  ill  health,"  Father  Cellini's  mansion  was 
turned  over  to  the  Visitation  Nuns  who  had  been  driven  from  their 
convent  in  Kaskaskia  by  the  flood  of  1844,  as  a  temporary  house. 
It  was  next  occupied  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity  for  an  Insane  Asylum, 
then  by  the  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd  until  their  Convent  at 
Seventeenth  and  Chestnut  Streets  was  completed ;  then  came  the  Chris- 
tian Brothers  and  dwelt  here  until  their  College  on  Eighth  and 
Cerre  Streets  was  ready  for  occupancy ;  then  the  old  house  became 
the  Foundling  Asylum  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  whilst  their  new 
Asylum  for  homeless  babies  on  Tenth  and  O  'Fallon  Streets  was  building, 
and  lastly  it  was  converted  into  a  Home  for  friendless  and  orphan 
girls  of  over  twelve  years  of  age.  After  all  these  changes,  this  cradle 
of  many  charitable  institutions,  in  1911,  became  the  house  of  the 
Guardian  Angel  Settlement,  including  a  day-nursery,  a  kindergarten, 
sewing  school,  cooking  school,  lunch  room,  Sunday  School,  working 
girl's  club,  play  grounds,  provision  depot  and  employment  bureau, 
all  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity  assisted  by  a  host  of  friends 
from  among  the  best  families  of  the  city. 

Here  in  the  one-time  private  chapel  of  Father  Francis  Cellini  the 
annual  Kequiem  Mass  for  the  departed  founders  of  the  institution  is 
solemnly  chanted  on  the  day  of  their  deaths. 


Chapter  33 
THE  FIRST  SYNOD  OF  ST.  LOUIS 


Twenty  years  had  now  elapsed  since  Bishop  Rosati's  feet  had 
touched  the  soil  of  his  well  beloved  Missouri,  twenty  years  of  pious 
solicitude,  toilsome  labor,  and  many  sorrows  endured  in  patience.  About 
fifteen  years  of  this  period  he  had  borne  the  honor  and  burden  of  the 
episcopate,  first  as  coadjutor  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  then  as  Bishop  of 
St.  Louis  in  his  own  right. 

During  all  these  years  the  feet  of  his  companions  in  spiritual 
arms,  "pedes  evangel izantium  pacem,"  had  opened  the  pathways  through 
the  primeval  forests  and  prairies,  or  passed  over  the  ways  that  had  been 
made  by  others,  to  carry  the  Gospel  of  peace  to  all  the  widely  scattered 
people.  From  all  parts  of  his  vast  diocese  these  his  fellow-laborers  had 
sent  him  messages,  gladsome  often,  despondent  at  times,  and  even 
fretful,  but  scarcely  ever  unkind  to  him,  their  apostolic  Father  and 
Friend.  Much  good  work,  some  indifferent  attempts,  and  one  or  two 
apparent  failures,  stood  to  the  credit  of  his  priests,  regular  and  diocesan. 
It  seemed  well,  to  assemble  this  little  company,  the  leaders  of  the  hosts  of 
God,  in  a  Diocesan  Synod,  in  order  to  review  the  work  accomplished 
and  to  give  new  directions  and  possibly  inspirations.  By  an  encyclical 
letter  dated  January  26th,  1839  all  the  priests  having  the  care  of  souls 
within  the  diocese  were  called  to  meet  at  St.  Louis  Cathedral,  on 
Sunday,  April  21st.  The  Synod  opened  with  Solemn  High-Mass  in  honor 
ofl  the  Holy  Ghost,  at  which  the  Bishop  addressed  the  assembled  priests 
and  people  in  French  and  English :  After  Pontifical  Vespers  had  been 
chanted  in  the  afternoon  there  followed  the  roll  call  of  the  clergy. 
Twenty-two  of  the  diocesan  clergy,  and  seventeen  members  of  religious 
orders  answered  the  call  of  their  name,  seventeen  were  reported  absent 
and  excused.  Monday  and  the  three  following  days  were  spent  by  the 
Bishop  and  his  priests  in  a  retreat  given  by  the  Jesuit  Father  Verhaegen. 
The  Synod  proper  began  on  Friday.  But  before  we  recount  the  various 
ads  of  the  Synod,  we  would  pass  in  review  the  members,  together 
with  their  respective  field  of  labor  and  its  relative  importance.1 

The  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis  was  represented  by  Bishop  Rosati, 
and  four  vicars,  Joseph  Lutz,  James  Fontbonne,  Joseph  Renaud,  John 
Peter  Fischer.  It  numbered  12,000  souls,  had  352  Baptisms,  18  con- 
verts, 141  marriages,  87  funerals.    The  church  building  was  of  stone. 


1     The  official  reports  of  the  various  parishes  to  the  Synod  are  preserved  in  the 
Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

(730) 


The  First  Synod  of  St.  Louis  731 

St.  Francis  Xavier  Church  in  St.  Louis,  attended  by  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  of  the  St.  Louis  College,  numbered  164  souls,  had  45  baptisms; 
7  marriages;  14  converts  and  8  funerals.  The  priests  at  the  College 
were  the  Jesuit  Fathers  Peter  Verhaegen,  John  Elet,  George  Carrel, 
Peter  Verheyden  and  Francis  Emig.  The  Chapel  of  St.  Francis  Xavier 
at  Lowell  was  attended  by  Father  John  Shoenmakers,  S.  •!..  whilst  the 
Chapels  at  the  Hospital  and  at  the  Academy  of  the  Sacred  Heart  were 
in  charge  of  the   Cathedral  Clergy. 

The  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel  at  Carondelet,  had 
for  its  pastor  the  Reverend  Edmond  Saulnier.  It  possessed  a  member- 
ship of  1,400  souls,  and  reported  57  Baptisms;  6  Marriages;  4  Converts 
and  14  Funerals.  The  building  was  of  stone.  St.  Ferdinand's  Church 
at  Florissant,  with  1,200  members,  49  Baptisms;  10  Marriages;  4  Con- 
verts and  25  Funerals,  was  in  charge  of  the  Jesuit  Father  T.  Gleizal, 
S.  J.  The  Church  was  a  brick-structure.  St.  Peter's  Church,  at  Gravois, 
(now  Kirkwood)  under  the  care  of  Father  P.  R.  Donnelly,  reported  a 
membership  of  440,  but  no  Baptisms,  Marriages  or  Funerals.  At  the 
time  of  the  Synod  Father  Hilary  Tucker  was  in  temporary  charge.  The 
church  was  built  of  stone.  St.  Charles  Boromeo  Church  of  St.  Charles, 
numbered  1,200  souls,  with  35  Baptisms;  9  Marriages;  7  Converts  and 
44  Funerals.  The  church  was  of  stone.  Rev.  Peter  J.  Smedts,  S.  J. 
was  the  pastor.  Dardenne,  now  St.  Peters,  had  a  church  of  wood, 
dedicated  to  St.  Peter,  with  Father  Christian  W.  Walters,  S.  J.,  as 
pastor.  The  membership  amounted  to  400  souls.  The  Baptisms  were 
22;  Marriages  8;  Converts  3;  Funerals  15;  Father  Walters  also  attended 
St.  Simon's  Church,  at  Louisville,  Lincoln  County,  where  there  was  a 
log-chapel.  Portage  des  Sioux  had  a  brick  Church  dedicated  to  St. 
Francis  of  Assisi,  with  a  membership  of  300  souls :  the  number  of 
Baptisms  was  19  ;  Marriages  2 ;  Funerals  14.  The  Jesuit  Father  Jodocus 
Van  Assche  was  its  pastor.  St.  Joachim's  Church  at  Old  Mines, 
Washington  County,  lately  built  by  Father  Bouillier,  now  under  the 
pastorship  of  his  brothers  in  religion,  Fathers  Peter  Doutreluingne  and 
Bartholomew  Rollando,  together  with  St.  Stephan's  at  Richwoods 
reported  1,000  souls,   82  Baptisms;   5   Marriages;   and  10  Funerals. 

The  Church  at  Potosi  in  the  same  County,  was  dedicated  to  St. 
James  the  Greater.  It  had  a  membership  of  322  souls.  The  spiritual 
record  for  the  year  was  24  Baptisms ;  3  Marriages ;  10  Converts ;  6  Funer- 
als. Father  Lewis  Tucker  was  its  pastor.  The  building  was  of  brick.  St. 
Michael's  Church  at  Fredericktown  had  for  its  pastor  the  Very  Rev- 
erend Francis  Cellini.  The  number  of  souls  is  reported  as  500,  of 
Baptisms  36 ;  Marriages  1 ;  Funerals  9.  Ste.  Genevieve,  the  mother- 
church  of  St.  Michaels,  and  Old  Mines,  boasted  of  a  fine  stone  church, 
lately  erected  by  its  pastor,  the  Lazarist  Father,  F.  X.  Dahmen.   He  had 


732  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

for  his  assistant  Father  Hyppolitus  Gandolfo.  The  parish  numbered 
1.44(i  souls,  had  60  Baptisms;  17  Marriages;  7  Converts  and  32  Funerals. 
St.  Anne's  Church  at  Little  Canada,  now  French  Village,  in  St.  Fran- 
cois County,  was  administered  by  Father  Gandolfo,  ('.  M.  of  Ste. 
Genevieve  and  had  a  membership  of  154  souls,  10  Baptisms;  5  Marriages; 
10  Converts;  and  3  Funerals.  St.  Marys  Church,  at  the  Barrens  in 
Perry  County  was  the  spiritual  center  of  a  wide  district,  embracing 
3,400  souls.  Its  spiritual  record  for  1838  was  102  Baptisms;  15  Mar- 
riages, 54  Converts  and  32  Funerals.  The  Church  was  built  of  stone. 
Father  John  Timon,  Visitor  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission,  is 
given  as  the  Pastor  of  St.  Mary 's ;  Fathers  John  M.  Odin,  John  B. 
Tornatore  and  Hector  Figari  wrere  attached  to  the  Seminary  and 
College.  Another  member  of  the  Congregation,  Father  M.  Domenech 
was  soon  to  succeed  Father  Joseph  Wiseman  in  the  care  of  St.  Joseph's 
Church  at  Apple  Creek,  a  Congregation  of  760  souls.  15  Baptisms; 
2  Marriages,  4  Converts  and  3  funerals  were  his  record. 

St.  John  the  Baptist's  Church,  the  successor  of  Father  Gibault's 
Church  of  St.  Isidore,  at  New  Madrid,  was  now  in  charge  of 
Father  Ambrose  Ileim.  The  small  frame  building  had  to  be 
removed  time  and  time  again,  so  as  not  to  be  carried  away 
by  the  inroads  of  the  Mississippi.  There  were  400  souls  within  its 
jurisdiction ;  28  Baptisms ;  6  Marriages ;  4  Converts  and  9  Funerals 
were  reported  by  Father  Heim.  St.  Vincents  Church,  at  Cape  Girardeau 
with  its  new  stone  church,  was  making  remarkable  progress  through 
conversions,  which  in  1838  numbered  28.  Under  Father  John  Brands 
as  pastor,  the  membership  had  advanced  within  a  few  years  from  almost 
nothing  to  252  souls,  with  42  Baptisms ;  6  Marriages ;  and  9  Funerals. 
St.  Francis  de  Sales  Church  in  Tywappity  Bottom,  Scott  County,  had 
a  log-church,  and  was  attended  by  Father  Michael  Collins,  C.  M. 

The  Church  of  St.  Paul's,  Salt  River,  Ralls  County  with  its  scattered 
membership  of  1,000  souls,  was  still  in  charge  of  Father  Peter  P.  Lefe- 
vere,  who  reported  29  Baptisms,  12  Marriages ;  4  Converts  and  7 
Funerals.  St.  Stephen's  Church  at  Indian  Creek,  in  Monroe  County 
was  attended  by  the  same  zealous  missionary,  Father  Lefevere.  Churches 
were  built  of  logs.  St.  Joseph's  Church  in  New  Westphalia,  Osage 
County,  was  then  the  chosen  center  of  the  Jesuit  Father  F.  Helias  de 
Huddeghem's  missions  in  central  Missouri.  It  numbered  700  souls, 
and  reported  15  Baptisms;  6  Marriages;  6  Converts  and  9  Funerals. 
St.  Francis  Borgia  Church  in  Washington,  Franklin  County,  with  600 
souls  had  for  its  pastor  Father  Henry  Meinkmann.  to  be  succeeded  within 
a  year  by  the  Jesuit  Father  James  Busschotts.  Both  churches  were 
of  wood.   All  these  churches  with  resident  priests  here  enumerated  were 


The  First  Synod  of  St.  Louis  733 

located  in  the  State  of  Missouri;  In  addition  to  them  ,the  following 
stations  were   attended,   as   dependencies   of   the   established   parishes: 

From  St.  Louis :  1.  Jefferson  Barracks,  2.  Johnston,  3.  Manchester. 

From  Carondelet :  1.   River  des  Peres,  2.   Meramec. 

From  Old  Mines:  1.    Mine  La  Motte,  2.    Aubuchon. 

From  Potosi:  1.    Timmer  Settlement. 

From  Ste.  Genevieve :  1.  Riviere  aux  Vases,  2.  Riviere  Estab- 
lishment. 

From  the  Barrens:  1.  Bois  Brule,  2.  Brazeau,  3.  New  Tennessee, 
4.   Chester,  Illinois. 

From  New  Madrid :    1.    Little  Prairie,  2.    Grand  River. 

From  Cape  Girardeau :   1.   Jackson,  2.   Portage. 

From  Salt  River:  1.  Cincinnati,  2.  Pine  Creek,  3.  "Wyaconda, 
4.  Cedar  Creek,  5.  North  Santa  Fe,  6.  Marion  City,  7.  Half-Indian 
Tract — all  in  north-eastern  Missouri. 

From  Westphalia:  1.  Cotes  Sans  Dessein,  2.  Jefferson  City, 
3.  Baileys  Creek,  4.  Hancock  Prairie,  5.  Portland,  6.  Fulton,  7.  New 
Boston,  8.  Rocheport,  9.  Fayette,  10.  Mount  Pleasant,  11.  Loose 
Creek,  12.    Bourbeuse. 

From    Washington:     1.     Columbia,    2.     Marthasville    (Dutzow). 

Crossing  the  river  to  the  Illinois  side,  we  find  in  St.  Clair  County 
the  ancient  parish  Church  of  the  Holy  Family  with  its  congregation 
of  1,400  souls.  Its  pastor  is  the  proto-priest  of  St.  Louis,  Father 
Francis  Regis  Loisel. 

Cahokia  is  very  proud  of  its  Convent  School  conducted  by  the 
Sisters  of  St.  Joseph.  Father  Loisel  administered  50  Baptisms,  assisted 
at  25  Weddings  and  45  Funerals  and  gained  only  3  Converts,  probably 
because  all  the  people  of  Cahokia  were  already  Catholics.  The  Church 
is  of  wood,  the  oldest  church-building  in  the  diocese,  after  the  collapse 
of  the  old  stone-church  at  Kaskaskia.  In  the  vicinity  of  Cahokia 
there  are  two  other  congregations  with  wooden  churches,  St.  Philip's 
at  French  Village,  attended  by  Father  Loisel,  and  St.  Thadaeus  at 
Silver  Creek,  with  Father  Kasper  Ostlangenberg  as  pastor ;  who,  how- 
ever, is  also  in  charge  of  St.  Boniface,  at  Shoal  Creek.  St.  Liborius 
Congregation  at  Fayetteville  is  attended  by  the  newly  ordained  Father 
Henry  Fortmann.  No  reports  of  these  places  were  given  at  the  Synod, 
probably  because  they  were  but  recently  established.  But  Father  Charles 
Meyer  of  St.  Andrews  at  Teutonia  reports  a  membership  of  800,  with 
47  Baptisms;  8  Marriages;  one  Convert,  and  9  Funerals.  Fathers  Ost- 
langenberg, Meyer  and  Fortmann  usually  preached  in  German  to  their 
almost  exclusively  German  Congregations.  The  County  of  Monroe, 
separating  St.  Clair  from  Randolph  County,  had  as  yet  but  one  church 
with  resident  priest,  St.  Augustines,  at  Prairie  du  Long.    It  had  for  its 


734  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

pastor  the  Rev.  John  Kenny.  Its  membership  was  only  160  souls,  with 
20  Baptisms;  and  8  Converts.  Hence  Father  Kenny  had  ample  time  to 
attend  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  neighboring  Congregations  in  Ran- 
dolph and  St.  Clair  Counties,  as  St.  Patrick's  at  O'Hara  Settlement,  and 
S.  S.  Philip  and  James  at  Harrisonville.  St.  Patrick's  Congregation 
numbered  229  souls.  St.  Thomas'  Church  at  Johnson  Settlement  in 
St.  Clair  County  was  also  attended  by  Father  Kenny.  The  old  Parish 
of  St.  Joseph's,  Prairie  du  Rocher,  had  a  church  of  wood.  The  con- 
gregation numbered  497.  There  were  25  Baptisms ;  5  Marriages ;  4 
Converts,  and  19  Funerals.    Father  Vital  Van  Clostere  was  the  pastor. 

Father  Benedict  Roux,  the  founder  of  the  Church  in  Kansas 
City  was  now  chaplain  of  the  Convent  of  the  Visitation 
at  Kaskaskia,  whilst  Father  T.  Conway  served  as  pastor  of 
the  ancient  parish  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  Though  sad- 
ly fallen  from  its  former  grandeur,  Kaskaskia  still  had  a  membership 
of  815  souls.  But  the  Indians  were  all  gone,  and  the  Church  built  by 
the  Jesuits  had  fallen  in  ruins.  A  small  chapel  of  wood  served  as  a 
temporary  house  of  God.  The  convent  of  the  Visitandines  also  had  a 
chapel.  The  number  of  Baptisms  was  61,  of  Marriages,  22,  Converts 
4  and  Funerals  19.  Cairo,  the  southernmost  point  of  Illinois,  had  no 
church  as  yet,  but  was  regularly  visited  by  Father  M.  Collins,  C.  M. 
from  Cape  Girardeau.  There  were  then  300  Catholics  in  Cairo  and 
vicinity.  North  and  northeast  of  the  episcopal  city  was  the  Congre- 
gation of  St.  Matthew,  at  Alton,  without  church  and  priest,  but  attended 
by  Father  Jodocus  Van  Assche,  S.  J.  from  Portage  des  Sioux :  Father 
George  Hamilton  had  been  lately  sent  to  Springfield  in  Sangamon 
County  to  found  a  parish.  The  Congregation  had  St.  John  the  Evan- 
gelist as  its  patron  saint.  Towards  the  end  of  the  year  it  was  to  be 
added  to  the  circuit  of  missions  centering  around  La  Salle,  of  which  the 
Lazarist  Fathers  Blasius  Raho,  Aloysius  Parodi  and  Eudaldo  Estany 
had  charge. 

The  Congregation  of  the  Holy  Cross  at  La  Salle  and  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  at  Ottawa  had  churches  of  wood,  and  numbered  .860  and  450 
souls.  There  were  in  all  the  missions  90  Baptisms ;  6  Marriages ;  4 
Converts  and  33  Funerals.  The  remaining  missions  of  La  Salle  were : 
The  Annunciation  at  Virginia,  St.  Philomena's,  at  Peoria,  St.  Patrick's 
at  Black  Partridge  and  St.  Lawrence  at  Pekin.  Quincy  in  Adams 
County,  in  addition  to  the  Church  of  the  Ascension  for  the  German 
Catholics,  under  the  pastorship  of  Father  A.  F.  Brickwedde,  was  to 
have  one  also  for  the  English-speaking  Catholics  under  the  title  of 
St.  Lawrence,  founded  and  administered  by  Father  Hilary  Tucker. 
The  Germans  numbered  152  souls  and  the  Americans  385.  Father 
Brickwedde  was  prevented  by  a  mishap  on  the  river  from  attending 


The  First  Synod  of  St.  Louis  735 

the  Synod.  The  boat  ran  on  a  sand  bar  and  could  not  be  cleared  in 
time  for  the  journey.  Father  Tucker  was,  at  the  time,  only  planning 
his  future  successes  in  Quincy,  but  by  the  end  of  the1  year  his  church 
of  St.  Lawrence  was  under  roof.  Good  Father  Saint  Cyr,  the  founder 
of  the  Church  in  Chicago,  had  been  transferred  to  Fountain  Green  in 
Hancock  County,  where  he  built  the  Church  of  St.  Simon.  The 
Congregation  numbered  420  souls,  scattered  over  a  wide  territory :  the 
church-building  was  of  wood.  There  were  6  Baptisms  and  6  Marriages. 
Before  the  end  of  the  year  1839,  Father  St.  Cyr  was  transferred  to 
Kaskaskia,  and  Father  Timothy  Conway  succeeded  him  at  Fountain 
Green.  St.  Augustine's  Church  in  Fulton  County  was  a  mission  of 
Fountain  Green,  both  together  having  a  membership  of  420  souls.  The 
following  stations  were  visited  in  Illinois : 

From  La  Salic :  1.  Beardstown,  2.  Jacksonville,  3.  Shelbyville, 
4.    Marseilles. 

From  Cahokia:    1.  Le  Cantine,  2.    Edwardsville. 

From  Prairie  du  Long :    1.    New  Deseign,  2.    James  Mills. 

From  Fountain  Green:  1.    Commerce,  2.    The  Rapids,  3.    Warsaw. 

From  Shoal  Creek :  1.   Belleville,  2.    St.  Thadaeus. 

There  remains  now  the  State  of  Arkansas  with  its  two  Churches: 
St.  Denis  at  the  Poste  of  Arkansas,  under  Father  Simon  Augustus  Paris, 
and  St.  Mary's  in  New  Gascony  with  Father  J.  Richard  Bole  as  pastor. 
Both  churches  were  of  wood.  The  number  of  souls  is  not  given.  Little 
Rock  and  Napoleonville  are  mentioned  as  stations.  In  the  Indian 
Territory  the  Jesuit  Fathers  have  established  two  missions :  the  Pota- 
watomi  Mission,  under  the  Fathers  Peter  De  Smet,  Felix  Verreydt 
and  Anthony  Eysvogels,  and  the  Kickapoo  Mission  under  the  Fathers 
Christian  Hoecken  and  Herman  Aelen.  The  missionaries  also  attended 
the  white  settlements.  1.  Westport  (Kansas  City)  2.  Independence, 
3.    Liberty,  4.    Clay  County,  in  Missouri,   and  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

According  to  these  reports  the  Catholic  population  of  the  entire 
diocese  in  1838  did  not  exceed  37,000  souls:  yet,  as  immigration  was 
then  pouring  a  constant  stream  of  families  from  Ireland  and  Catholic 
portions  of  Germany  into  the  country,  the  official  count  could  not 
be  even  approximately  correct.  Bishop  Rosati's  estimate  in  his  report 
to  Rome  is  70,000.  This  estimate  may  appear  excessive,  yet  it  is  certainly 
nearer  to  the  truth  than  the  reported  37,000.  There  were  forty-seven 
churches  with  resident  priests,  five  without  a  priest,  and  five  chapels. 
The  stations  visited  were  sixty  in  number.  The  clergy  consisted  of  one 
Bishop,  thirty-one  secular  priests,  twenty-two  Lazarists,  twenty-seven 
Jesuits,  making  a  grand  total  of  eighty.  The  three  convents  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  numbered  forty-two  sisters.    The   Orphan  Asylum  and 


736  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Hospital  were  served  by  nineteen  Sisters  of  Charity.  The  four  Convents 
of  the  Loretto  Sisters  contained  thirty  members ;  the  two  Convents  of  the 
Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  eleven;  and  the  Convent  of  the  Visitation  Nuns 
nineteen,  making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  Sisters. 

It  was  with  heartfelt  gratitude  to  God  and  the  deepest  regard 
for  His  devoted  and  self  sacrificing  co-laborers  that  Bishop  Rosati 
summed  up  the  result  so  far  attained : 

"Thus  far,"  said  he  in  his  Pastoral  letter,  "the  Providence  of  our 
Heavenly  Father  has  watched  over  our  Diocese  with  a  special  care — 
a  care  that  claims  our  warmest  thanks ;  for  to  Him  we  justly  attribute, 
as  to  their  fountain,  all  the  blessings  which  we  so  copiously  enjoy. 
Many  of  you,  dearly  beloved  Brethren,  recollect  the  doleful  state  in 
which  this  portion  of  the  flock  of  Christ  was  involved  twenty  years 
ago,  when  we  arrived  here.  There  were  then  but  four  priests  in  what  was 
then  called  Upper  Louisiana,  and  they  attended,  occasionally,  eight 
parishes.  There  existed  not  a  single  literary  institution  of  any  respec- 
tability for  the  education  of  the  youth  of  either  sex,  and  in  consequence 
of  the  scarcity  of  Missioners,  the  comforts  and  the  helps  of  Religion 
could  only  be  rarely  administered  to  the  people.  This  picture,  Avhich 
is  but  a  faithful  representation  of  the  state  of  things  at  that  period, 
was  truly  alarming ;  but  how  greatly  the  scene  is  changed  for  the 
better !  Our  Diocese  now  possesses  the  priests  of  the  Congregation  of 
the  Mission;  and  to  their  early  exertions  we  are  indebted  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  theological  Seminary  and  of  a  prosperous  College,  the 
erection  of  several  churches,  and  a  great  increase  of  piety  among  the 
Catholics  of  the  vast  district  entrusted  to  their  spiritual  care ;  they, 
too,  have  been  the  instruments,  given  us  by  Providence,  for  effecting 
the  return  of  many  of  our  dissenting  brethren  to  the  flock  of  the  Supreme 
Pastor  of  souls.  The  sons  of  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola  soon  came  to  our 
assistance,  and  to  them  we  owe,  under  God  the  formation  of  another 
flourishing  literary  institution,  the  creation  of  a  Noviate,  the  building 
of   several   churches   and    a    copious   harvest    in    the   Lord's    vineyard. 

In  many  of  the  congregations,  Day  Schools  have  been  established 
for  the  instruction  of  male  children,  and  most  of  them  are  in  a  thriving 
condition.  The  remaining  clergy  of  our  Diocese,  who  are  not  connected 
with  either  of  these  religious  bodies,  have  been  equally  active  in  their 
exertions  for  the  propagation  of  our  holy  Religion.  To  them,  also,  we 
owe  a  number  of  sacred  edifices  and  establishments ; — they  have,  also 
exercised  a  powerful  influence  over  the  religious  and  moral  improvement 
of  our  flock.  Nor  have  the  faithful  been  wanting  in  their  duty :  they 
have  nobly  come  forward  to  second  the  zeal,  and  to  emulate  the  example 
of  their  Pastors.  New  churches  and  new  establishments  are  daily  called 
for;  and  we  have  the  confidence,  that  He,  who  has  begun  his  good  work 


The  First  Synod  of  St.  Louis  737 

in  you,  and  through  you,  will  also  perfect  it  unto  the  day  of  Jesus 
Christ.  (Phil.  i.  6.) 

Nor  has  Providence  been  wanting  to  the  female  sex :  the  Ladies 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  were  the  first  that  volunteered  their  services  for 
the  advancement  of  female  education.  They  have  successively  formed 
three  establishments  for  boarders,  two  for  orphans,  and  three  for  day- 
scholars.  In  process  of  time,  Heaven  increased  the  numbers  of  laborers. 
The  Sisters  of  Charity  came  and  took  charge  of  an  extensive  Hospital 
and  an  Asylum  for  Orphan  Boys ; — their  eulogy  is  stamped  upon  the 
hearts  of  the  suffering  and  distressed,  whom  they  have  relieved  and 
befriended.  The  Sisters  of  Loretto  superintend  four  literary  establish- 
ments, and  generously  contribute  their  mite  to  the  advancement  of 
knowledge  and  virtue. 

The  Sisters  of  the  Visitation  preside  over  a  literary  institution, 
inferior  in  merit  and  usefulness  to  none  in  the  Diocese;  and  recently, 
the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  having  come  to  give  additional  energy  to  the 
work  so  heroically  commenced  and  so  steadily  pursued,  by  the  above- 
named  Communities,  have  formed  three  establishments  of  learning, 
one  of  which  is  exclusively  devoted  to  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and 
dumb  of  their  sex. 

If  to  the  above  details  we  add,  dearly  beloved  brethren,  the  con- 
sideration, that  our  Diocese  has  even  sent  colonies  of  clerical  professors 
and  religious  mistresses  to  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  that  nine 
Missioners  are  already  employed  in  the  civilization  and  conversion  of 
the  savage  nations ;  that  they  have  formed  three  stations  among  them, 
with  a  success  equal  to  their  indefatigable  zeal ;  that  even  the  most 
recent  of  these  stations,  commenced  but  a  year  ago,  counts  already, 
about  two  hundred  converts — fifty  of  whom  were  lately  admitted  to 
their  first  communion — we  shall  have  laid  before  you,  in  our  humble 
opinion,  abundant  proof  of  the  great  change  which  the  Lord  has  pro- 
duced in  our  Diocese  and  we  doubt  not  but  that  you  will  give  full 
vent  to  the  emotions  of  love  and  gratitude  towards  the  Author  of  so 
many  inestimable  favors.  Did  we  consider  them  as  the  effects  of  our 
own  industry,  we  surely  woidd  have  passed  them  over  in  silence — for 
it  would  ill  become  us  to  speak  in  our  own  commendation.  If  we 
have  expiated  on  them,  we  have  done  so  in  conformity  with  the  senti- 
ment expressed  by  holy  Tobias :  It  is  good  to  hide  the  secrets  of  a 
king;  but  honorable  to  reveal  the  works  of  God."2 

The  forces  marshalled  under  Bishop  Rosati  now  having  passed 
in  review  we  turn  to  The  Acts  and  Decrees  of  the  synod. 


2     Pastoral  letter  of  Joseph  Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  to  the  Clercy  and  the 
Laity  of  the  Diocese. 

Vol.  1—24 


738 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


The  first  business  of  the  Synod  was  the  promulgation  of  the  decrees 
of  the  First  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore.  This  Council  was  held 
under  Archbishop  James  Whitefield  in  1839,  and  was  attended  by  the 
Bishops  of  Bardstown,  Charleston,  Cincinnati,  Boston  and  the  Admini- 
strator of  Philadelphia. 

The  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  though  not  a  suffragan  of  the  Province 
of  Baltimore,  was  also  invited  to  attend,  as  residing  under  the  American 
government,  Bishop  Rosati  accepted  the  gracious  invitaton  and  took 
a  leading  part  in  the  deliberations.  The  decrees  of  the  Council  were 
duly  examined  in  Rome,  and  with  a  few  corrections,  approved  by  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff,  after  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Cardinals  of  Pro- 
paganda. The  publication  of  the  decrees  was  unavoidably  delayed  until 
the  autumn  of  1831.  On  publication  they  became  the  law  of  the  Church 
in  the  United  States. 

Two  other  Provincial  Councils  had  been  held  up  to  the  time  of  the 
Synod;  but  only  the  First  required  special  attention. 

The  Second  Provincial  Council,  held  in  1833,  did  not  concern  itself 
with  any  other  matter  than  the  delimitation  of  the  various  dioceses  of 
the  Province  of  which  St.  Louis  had  by  that  time  become  a  suffragan 
see.3 

The  Third  Provincial  Council  was  convened  by  Archbishop  Samuel 
Eccleston  in  April  1837.  Ten  prelates  were  in  attendance,  among  them 
Bishop  Rosati.  Among  the  Agenda  as  proposed  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Baltimore,  No.  3.  reads  as  follows : 

"The  necessity  and  mode  of  enforcing  the  Decrees  of  the  First 
Provincial  Council."  Now,  it  does  not  appear  from  the  official  report 
of  the  Council's  proceedings  that  anything  was  done  in  the  matter, 
yet  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  prelates  discussed  the  subject.  That 
a  diocesan  Synod  was  the  best  mode  of  promulgating  and  enforcing 
the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Baltimore,  as  sanctioned  by  the  Holy  See, 
was  very  plain  especially  in  the  eyes  of  a  man  and  bishop,  so  intent  upon 
"sentire  cum  ecclesia, "  as  Bishop  Rosati  was.  The  reasons  he  did  not 
convoke  a  Synod  at  an  earlier  period  can  be  gathered  from  the  circum- 
stances of  his  diocese,  its  vast  extent,  and  the  small  number  of  priests 
available.  But  now  the  time  seemed  propitious  for  special  legislation  in 
explanation  and  support  of  the  Decrees  of  the  First  Provincial  Council 
of  Baltimore.  "We  had,  previously  to  the  Synod,  maturely  considered 
the  means  best  calculated  to  promote  eccesiastical  discipline,  the  rev- 
erence due  to  the  divine  worship,  and  the  general  advancement  of  piety 
in  our  diocese,"  writes  the  Bishop,  "To  attain  these  several  ends  we 


3     The  various  Provincial  Councils  of  Baltimore  can  be  found  in  the  ' '  Collcetio 
Lacensis, ' '  vol.  III. 


The  First  Synod  of  St.  Louis  739 

have    made    a   series   of    statutes,    which   we    promulgated    during   the 
Synod." 

On  the  opening  day  of  the  Synod  "all  the  decrees  of  the  First 
Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  were  promulgated,"  as  the  official 
report  says,  "then  the  Statutes  of  the  Diocesan  Synod  were  read." 
On  the  following  Sunday  after  Solemn  High-Mass  celebrated  by  Father 
Francis  X.  Dahmen,  C.  M.  the  names  of  those  were  announced  whom  the 
Bishop  had  chosen  to  share  with  him  in  the  administration  of  the 
diocese : 

Vicar  General :  Very  Bev.  John  Timon,  C.  M. 
Pro- Vicar  General :  Bev.  John  Marie  Odin,  C.  M. 
Episcopal  Consultors :  Very  Bev.  John  Timon,  C.  M. 

Bev.  John  Marie  Odin,  C.  M. 

Very  Bev.   Peter  Verhaegen,    S.   J. 

Bev.  John  Elet,  S.  J. 

Bev.  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz 

Bev.  Francis  Cellini 

Bev.  James  Fontbonne 

Bev.  Begis  Loisel 
Episcopal  Secretary :  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz 
Examiners  of  the  Clergy :  Very  Bev.  John  Timon,  C.  M. 

Bev.  John  Marie  Odin,   C.  M. 

Very  Bev.  Peter  Verhaegen,  S.  J. 

Bev.  John  Elet,  S.  J. 

Bev.  John  Tornatore,  C.  M. 

Bev.  James  Fontbonne 

The  Statutes  enacted  by  the  St.  Louis  Synod  of  1839  have  remained, 
throughout  the  vicissitudes  of  a  century,  the  law  of  the  diocese,  thus 
showing  that  the  spirit  animating  the  law-giver,  was  the  spirit  of  the 
Church.  In  a  few  particulars,  however,  a  change  became  necessary, 
owing  to  the  changes  introduced  by  the  New  Code  of  Canon  Law.  These 
changes  are  modifications,  rather,  of  the  Synodal  legislation  of  Bishop 
Bosati,  than  abrogations.  So  the  Clause:  "we  very  much  desire  that 
a  lamp  be  kept  constantly  burning  before  the  altar,  at  which  the  Most 
Holy  Sacrament  is  preserved."  Benediction  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
Feasts  of  the  first  class.  According  to  No.  XIV,  the  Decree  of  the 
was  permitted  only  after  the  Mass,  or  the  Vespers  on  Sundays  and 
Council  of  Trent,  "Tamcis!,"  was  declared  in  force  in  the  entire 
diocese  and  not  merely  in  the  old  French  and  Spanish  parishes,  but 
the  Declaration  of  Benedict  XIV,  was  extended  to  all  the  parts  of  the 
former  diocese  of  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas.  No 
church  should  be  built  without  the  permission  of  the  Bishop  in  writing. 


740 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


All  priests  having  the  care  of  souls  must  say  Mass  every  Sunday  and 
Holy  day  of  obligation.  Only  four  Feast  days  of  obligation  were  retain- 
ed: the  Ascension,  the  Assumption,  All  Saints  and  the  Nativity  of 
Our  Lord.  The  Institute  of  Lay  Cathechists  is  recommended  very 
strongly.  A  proper  support  for  the  Seminary  as  well  as  for  the 
clergy  in  general  is  enjoined  upon  the  faithful.  Every  church  must 
have  a  confessional  and  a  baptismal  font.4 

The  Statutes  are  composed  in  a  clear,  concise  idiomatic  Latin, 
and  show  the  Bishop's  fine  sense  of  the  dignity  of  the  priesthood,  as 
well  as  of  the  requirements  of  the  sacred  offices  each  priest  is  called  upon 
to  perform. 


4     Synodus  Prima  Sti.  Ludovici  1839. 


Chapter  34 
ALONG  SANGAMON  RIVER  AND  CROOKED  CREEK 


The  priests  chosen  by  Bishop  Rosati  to  continue  the  work  begun 
by  Fathers  Lefevere  and  Saint  Cyr  in  the  heart  of  the  Illinois 
country  were  the  two  Missourians  that  enjoyed  the  privilege,  as  the 
advance  guard  of  a  multitude  of  others,  to  receive  their  theological 
training  in  the  Eternal  City:  George  Alexander  Hamilton  and  Hilary 
Tucker,  1831-1838.  Father  George  A.  Hamilton  was  born  in  Marion 
County,  Kentucky,  and  came  to  Perry  County  about  1825.  He  entered 
the  Seminary  of  St.  Mary's,  accompanied  Hilary  Tucker  to  Rome,  was 
attacked  by  the  smallpox  which  put  him  back  in  his  studies,  so  that 
he  could  not  be  ordained  at  the  time  of  his  companion's  ordination, 
returned  with  Father  Tucker  in  1838,  and  was  immediately  sent  to 
the  missions  in  Springfield  and  Sangamon  County,  Illinois.  There  is 
a  large  collection  of  letters  from  Rome  written  by  these  young  propa- 
ganda students  to  their  beloved  Bishop  and  friend  Rosati.  These 
letters  are,  of  course,  of  no  great  historical  value,  but  what  must 
strike  every  reader  as  something  singular  is  the  easy  familiarity  of 
these  young  men  in  their  intercourse  with  a  man  of  the  highest  station 
and  influence  in  the  Church. 

On  Christmas  Day  1833,  young  Hamilton  writes  to  Bishop  Rosati : 
"When  I  consider  the  extreme  necessity  in  our  Diocese  of  zealous 
priests,  I  long  to  be  ready  to  carry  the  word  of  life  to  those  desolate 
people  who  still  walk  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death;  but 
again  Avhen  I  consider  my  extreme  want  of  the  virtues  and  learning 
requisite  to  the  due  fulfilment  of  so  sublime  a  ministry,  my  heart 
shrinks  in  dismay  from  the  arduous  undertaking.  And  with  this 
thought  always  before  me,  I  should  be  induced  to  abandon  the  hope  of 
even  doing  any  good,  were  I  not  assured  by  the  Eternal  Truth  Himself 
that  He  does  not  choose  the  great  and  learned  of  this  world  for  His 
Apostles,  but  the  lowly  and  ignorant,  to  confound  the  pride  and  vain 
knowledge  of  the  worldly-wise.  Confiding  entirely  in  the  promises  of 
Eternal  Truth,  I  am  again  assured  that,  if  I  use  my  best  exertions 
to  fit  myself  well  for  the  offices  to  which  I  am  destined,  though  of 
myself  I  can  do  nothing,  Almighty  God  will  supply  from  His  inexhausti- 
ble treasures  every  deficiency.  I  must  then  endeavor  to  prepare  myself 
for  the  sublime  dignity  to  which  I  hope  one  day  to  be  raised ;  and  no- 


i  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese.  Published  under  the  title,  "First  Natives 
of  Missouri  to  go  to  Eome  for  Studies  and  to  be  Ordained  There,"  in  "Church 
Progress,"  December  1918,  ss. 

(741) 


Til!  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Lotus 

The  deep  interest  George  Hamilton  felt  in  all  things  that  con- 
cerned Bishop  Rosati,  as  well  as  the  great  desire  of  the  zealous  pre- 
late himself  to  obtain  German  priests  for  the  numerous  German  settle- 
ments rising  as  if  by  magic  in  every  part  of  his  extensive  diocese, 
especially  Illinois  and  Northern  Missouri,  gives  more  than  a  passing 
interest  to  a  passage  from  a  letter  of  George  Hamilton  dated  Mont 
Alto,  Near  Frascati,  September  28,  1836: 

"I  had  hoped  you  would  be  assisted  very  soon  by  a  young  student 
of  this  college,  who  had  expressed  a  determination  to  go  to  St.  Louis; 
he  would  have  been  of  great  service  among  the  Germans.  But  the 
Secretary  has  thought,  fit  to  send  him  to  Calcutta.  There  is  a  young 
gentleman  in  the  Greek  College  in  Rome,  who  has  expressed  a  strong 
desire  to  consecrate  himself  to  the  American  Missions.  He  is  de- 
termined, if  possible,  to  go  to  America.  He  is  not  of  the  Greek  rite. 
His  superiors  seem  favorable  to  his  inclination,  as  he  is  a  young  man 
of  great  abilities,  and  likely  to  do  a  great  deal  of  good,  and  as  they 
see,  he  is  not  likely  to  do  much  at  home,  on  account  of  the  oppressive 
laws  which  clog  the  zeal  of  the  missionary.  He  has  already  acquired 
a  pretty  competent  knowledge  of  the  English  language,  which  he  be- 
gins to  speak  with  fluency;  he  also  understands  French.  He  is  a 
very  accomplished  Greek  and  Latin  scholar.  His  health  and  strength, 
and  above  all,  his  zeal,  admirably  fit  him  for  the  American  missions. 
He  has  often  expressed  to  me  an  ardent  wish  to  go  to  St.  Louis. 
He  would,  under  many  respects,  be  a  very  valuable  acquisition 
to  the  diocese.  With  one  word,  I  am  persuaded,  you  can  pre- 
vail on  Mgr.  Mai  to  send  him  to  St.  Louis.  You  will  not, 
I  know,  let  slip  so  favorable  an  opportunity  to  enrich  your 
diocese  with  such  a  learned  and  valuable  missionary.  He  had 
wished  to  disclose  his  designs  to  other  Americans  who  would  immediate- 
ly have  written  on  to  their  Bishops  to  ask  him;  but  I  prevailed  on 
him  to  wait  till  I  got  an  answer  from  you.  It  is  seldom,  Sir,  that 
you  or  any  other  Bishop  can  have  so  advantageous  an  offer.  As  you 
are  coming  to  Rome  next  year,  you  will,  I  hope,  secure  the  services 
of  this  young  gentleman,  or  if  Providence  so  dispose  it  that  you  can- 
not come,  you  can  write  to  the  Prefect  of  Propaganda  to  send  him. 
He  will  have  completed  Theology  with  me.  His  name  is  Nicholas 
Perpignan."2 

In  another  letter  student  George  gives  his  views  on  a  topic  that 
was  then  as  now,  a  burning  one,  the  practice  of  begging  in  foreign 
countries : 

"I  must  tell  you  that  I  am  no  friend  to  such  begging,  although 
I  wish  well  to  Mr.  Odin,  and  I  should  show  great  ingratitude  were 
I  to  act  otherwise.     Still  I  maintain  that  it  does  not  look  well  here 


2     "First  Natives  of  Missouri,"  I.e. 


Along  Sangamon  River  and  Crooked  Creek  743 

to  see  a  priest  of  our  missions  making  such  collections.  I  have  heard 
many,  and  very  respectable  persons,  too,  say  that  there  appears  to 
be  too  great  a  solicitude,  or  rather  too  much  confidence  placed  in 
human  means.  For,  say  they,  if  it  be  for  the  honor  and  glory  of  God, 
God  will  find  means  to  carry  into  execution  what  is  for  His  greater 
glory.  Be  that  as  it  may,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  too  much  begging 
does  not  suit  well  for  a  priest  of  our  missions,  and  I  think  I  could 
do-  as  much  without  coming  to  Europe.  For  I  think  it  is  only  under- 
estimating our  people  to  expect  to  be  supported  by  the  contributions 
made  by  the  faithful  of  foreign  countries.  No,  I  say  the  faithful  of 
our  country  are  far  more  able  to  support  their  clergy,  than  those  of 
Europe  are  to  support  their  own,  and  we  only  need  to  take  them  in 
the  right  way  to  succeed."3  Then,  turning  to  the  necessity  of  a 
native  clergy  he  writes : 

"I  am  very  sorry  to  learn  that  no  natives  of  the  country  seem 
disposed  to  embrace  the  ecclesiastical  state,  for  I  am  convinced  of 
the  necessity  of  a  national  clergy.  The  reasons  are  obvious  and  need 
no  elucidation,  but  in  a  country  like  ours,  I  fear  it  will  be  long  be- 
fore a  clergy  can  be  had,  for  there  are  so  many  employments  open 
to  the  youth  that  few  think  of  the  priesthood.  Nevertheless,  I  hope 
with  the  help  of  God's  grace,  we  shall  yet  have  a  flourishing  clergy 
before  many  years." 

The  peaceful  happy  days  of  George  Hamilton's  stay  in  Rome 
came  to  an  end  in  1837.  Arriving  in  New  York  on  the  24th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1838,  both  Hilary  and  George,  as  Bishop  Rosati  affectionately 
called  our  noble  pair  of  Roman  students,  slowly  travelled  to  St.  Louis, 
where  on  their  arrival  in  November,  they  received  their  faculties  and 
were  sent  to  the  missions,  Hilary  Tucker  to  Quincy,  George  Hamilton 
to  Springfield  and  the  Sangamon  Country. 

But  alas,  Father  Hamilton's  first  letter  from  Springfield  is  a  sad 
commentary  on  his  lighthearted  hopes.  He  would  borrow  money  for 
his  church,  because  he  failed  "to  take  his  people  in  the  right  way" 
to  "succeed"  in  raising  the  necessary  funds  among  them.  Indeed, 
good  Bishop  Odin  was  wiser,  as  he  well  might  be,  than  the  young 
student,  in  placing  the  faculty  of  begging  above  the  helplessness  of 
borrowing.  Interest  was  exorbitant  in  those  early  days  of  Illinois, 
fluctuating  beween  12  to  25  percent,  according  to  the  needs  of  the 
borrower.  Father  Hamilton,  however,  was  not  disposed  to  wait  for 
.something  to  turn  up.  The  calls  of  his  mission  fully  occupied  his 
time.  The  country  was  growing  rapidly.  Again  we  meet  the  old 
saying:  "All  we  require  to  attract  Catholic  immigration  is  a  church." 
But  let  us  see  what  Father  Hamilton  has  to  say  on  the  subject: 


3     Hamilton   to  Bosati,   Archives  of   the  Archdiocese  of   St.   Louis. 


744  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

"I  would  request  you  to  let  me  know  whether  I  can  borrow  one 
or  two  thousand  dollars,  and  upon  what  terms,  in  St.  Louis.  For  as 
I  am  compelled  to  borrow,  I  desire  to  make  my  bargain  to  the  best 
advantage.  Here  I  cannot  think  of  borrowing  money,  the  interest  is 
so  exorbitant.  The  least  they  think  of  asking  is  12  percent.  Will  you 
please  write  me  immediately  upon  what  terms  I  can  expect  to  get 
the  desired  loan."4 

Father  Hamilton's  report  on  the  prospects  of  his  missionary  field  is 
encouraging:  "I  have  just  returned  from  an  excursion  in  the  country, 
where  I  have  been  pretty  successful  in  finding  out  new  Catholics.  I  dis- 
covered a  new  settlement  of  Irish  Catholics  near  Mount  Sterling,  Brown 
County,  Illinois.  There  are  six  families  already  there,  and  twelve  or  four- 
teen others  have  entered  land  in  that  neighborhood  and  are  expected  this 
Fall  and  next  Spring.  There  is  a  fair  prospect  of  there  being  a  large 
congregation  in  a  few  years  in  and  about  Mount  Sterling.  The  dis- 
tance thence  to  Springfield  is  about  60  miles  and  to  Quiney  about  45 
or  50.  Several  others  about  Jacksonville,  New  Lexington  and  Virginia 
have  made  themselves  known.  They  are  rapidly  increasing  in  Spring- 
field. When  I  first  arrived  here,  there  were  only  five  families  known 
to  be  Catholics,  besides  seven  or  eight  single  individuals.  Now  there 
are  thirteen  or  fourteen  families,  besides  forty  to  forty-five  single 
persons  residing  in  town.  I  doubt  not  that  Catholicity  will  rapidly 
increase  in  this  part  of  the  country.  All  we  require  to  attract  Cath- 
olic immigration  is  a  church.  We  have  been  greatly  disappointed 
in  getting  the  lot.  Persons  owning  property  in  that  quarter  of  town 
were  anxious  we  should  get  that  lot  which  was  better  situated  than 
any  other  for  a  church,  and  the  owner  was  willing  to  let  us  have 
it,  but  he  wanted  to  speculate  and  asked  an  enormous  price.  We  de- 
clined, and  he  came  down  a  little  in  his  demands.  He  offered  it  for 
$300.00.  We  accepted  it  and  requested  a  deed  and,  if  he  could  not 
give  that,  a  bond  to  make  a  deed  when  he  should  get  out  an  order 
of  court  to  sell  the  property  (it  being  the  property  of  minors),  binding 
himself  to  secure  us  against  any  damage  we  might  sustain  in  case 
he  failed  to  make  the  deed  by  the  1st  of  January,  1840.  When  he 
saw  the  condition,  he  hesitated,  consulted  for  days,  shuffled  and  finally 
backed  out,  And  now,  after  causing  us  to  lose  so  much  time,  we 
are  compelled  to  seek  somewhere  else  for  a  suitable  lot.  I  hope,  how- 
ever, we  shall  be  able  to  commence  this  work.  We  have  partly  engaged 
with  a  gentleman,  who  will  not,  it  is  thought,  deceive  us,  for  two 
lots  53y2  by  157,  in  a  very  eligible  situation  in  the  town.  If  you 
could  make  it  convenient  to  lay  the  cornerstone,  I  should  be  happy 
to  wait.     Please  let  me  know  as  soon  as  possible."5 


4  Hamilton  to  Eosati,  from  Springfield,  July  7,  1839,  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis 
Archdiocese. 

5  Idem,  ibidem. 


Along  Sangamon  River  and  Crooked  Creek  745 

Bishop  Rosati  was  a  great  borrower  himself  for  church  purposes 
and  very  probably  knew  no  advantageous  opening  for  Father  Hamilton. 
But    he     returns     to    the     charge :     "I     deem    it     my     duty    to     ap- 
prise   you    of    everything    I    do    here.      I     have    used    every    effort 
in     my     power     to     build     a     church     this     season     in     Springfield, 
but     all     my     efforts     have     failed     of     success.       I     had     indeed 
obtained    subscriptions   to   the    amount    of   $2000    or   $2,300,    and    this 
created  a  hope  of  being  able  to  proceed  immediately  with  the  building : 
But,   Sir,   I   perceive,   there   is   a  wide   difference   between   subscribing 
one's  name  for  money  and  paying  down  the  money.     About  the  time 
we    wished   to    commence,    hard    times    began,    and    many    subscribers 
felt  it  inconvenient  to  pay  and,  as  they  were  not  Catholics,  we   did 
not   like  to  urge  the  matter   on  them.     Many   of   the   Catholics   paid 
their  subscriptions,  and  if  we  had  pressed  them,  would  have  paid  up 
everything,  but  when  we  saw  we  could  not  get  money  from  our  other 
subscribers,  we  told  them  not  to  put  themselves  to  any  inconvenience 
for  the  present.     I  think,  however,  there  is  no  danger  of  not  getting 
the  amount  subscribed  this  Fall  and  next  Winter.    And  in  consideration 
of  this,  I  determined  to  effect  a  loan,  if  I  could  get  it  on  fair  and 
reasonable  terms.     The  exorbitant  interest  required  here  deterred  me 
from  borrowing  and,  in  the  hope  of  getting  it  on  more  advantageous 
terms,  brought  me  to  St.  Louis.     But  my  inquiries  soon  satisfied  me 
of  my  mistake.     So  I  resolved  to  return  to  Springfield  and  wait  till 
I   could  procure  from  some  source  or   other  the  means  to  build  my 
church.     In  the  meantime  I  have  tried  to  obtain  a  room  which  might 
be  set  apart  for  the  purpose  of  Divine  "Worship,  but  as  yet  I  have 
been  unable  to  find  one  large  enough,  every  room  more  than  ten  feet 
square  being  occupied,  except  one  which  was  built  for  a  theater  and 
which  will  again  probably  be  applied  to  the  same  cause.     I  have  re- 
fused  to   take   it,   thinking   that    is   was   not   becoming    for    a    house, 
that   has   once   been   appropriated   to    Divine   Worship,    to   be   turned 
into  a  theater.     I  know  not  whether  I  shall  be  able  to  get  a  room  this 
season  or  not."6 

"As  I  am  situated,  I  assure  you,  I  feel  very  uncomfortable,  being 
compelled  to  celebrate  Mass  in  a  private  house  and  perform  all  my 
functions  exposed  to  the  danger  of  being  interrupted  by  every  one 
who  may  wish  to  come  into  the  room.  I  have  not  even  a  private 
apartment  where  I  can  hear  confessions,  My  situation  is  so  unpleasant 
that,  if  it  were  not  for  the  kindness  of  the  family  I  live  with,  I  could 
not  reconcile  myself  to  remain.  The  family  talks  of  moving,  and  if 
they  do,  "actum  est  de  me,"  I  am  undone.  For  it  will  be  utterly 
impossible  for  me,  with  my  present  salary,  to  pay  my  board  at  any 
house  in  town,  and  there  is  no  other  Catholic  family  in  town.     There 


8     Hamilton  to  Rosati,  from  Springfield,  August  17,  1839. 


746  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

are,  to  be  sure,  several  Catholic  ladies,  but  their  husbands  are  Pro- 
testants and  I  could  not  expect  to  board  at  their  houses  without 
paying  the  usual  fare."7 

"Owing  to  the  scattered  condition  of  the  Catholics  in  this  section 
of  country  I  ana  compelled  to  be  always  on  the  move,  in  order  to 
visit  them  once  or  twice  a  year.  I  most  always  find  sonic,  that  1  never 
heard  of  before.  My  opinion  is  that,  instead  of  one,  there  ought  to 
be  two  priests  here  in  order  properly  to  attend  the  Catholics  and  to 
enable  themselves  to  derive  advantage  from  their  own  labors.  A  priest 
wandering  over  these  woods  without  ever  seeing  another  priest,  with 
whom  he  may  advise  and  to  whom  he  may  unbosom  his  thoughts, 
is  very  apt  to  grow  cold.  If  there  were  two,  it  might  render  their 
situation  somewhat  more  pleasant.  But  these  Catholics  are  too  few 
and  generally  too  poor  to  afford  a  competent  support  even  to  one 
clergyman  and,  I  am  persuaded,  I  could  not  live  here,  were  it  not 
for  the  good  family  I  reside  with. 

"It  will  require,  in  my  opinion,  a  Society  of  men,  who  have  funds 
of  their  own  to  start  with,  to  effect  a  permanent  and  extensively  use- 
ful establishment :  once  that  is  done  everything  will  go  on  prosperously. 

"I  informed  you  in  my  last  letter  of  a  new  Catholic  settlement  I 
had  discovered  north  of  the  Illinois  River.  I  have  been  told  since 
that  there  are  several  Catholic  families  south  of  the  Meredosia.  These 
I  have  never  visited  nor  do  I  know  how  many  there  are.  There  are 
some  too  about  Vandalia,  and  south  of  that.  I  intended  to  visit 
them  next  month ;  I  thought  I  would  take  them  in  on  my  way  home, 
whither  I  have  to  go  in  order  to  settle  my  affairs,  which  if  I  do  not 
then,  I  might  not  be  able  to  do  for  a  year,  as  some  of  those,  who 
owe  me,  are  going  down  the  river,  and  may  not  return  for  twelve 
or  eighteen  months.     I  request  your  permission  to  do  it."1 

The  hint  as  to  a  Society  of  men  who  have  funds  of  their  own 
to  start  with,  was  perhaps  suggested  by  the  establishment  of  the 
La  Salle  Mission  under  the  Vincentian  Fathers  Raho  and  Parodi,  an 
undertaking  that  certainly  did  wonders  in  Central  Illinois.  But  we 
will  turn  from  speculations  to  facts,  pleasant  and  unpleasant,  as  con- 
tained in  Father  Hamilton's  supplement  to  his  report  for  1839: 

"As  I  have  been  unavoidably  compelled  to  omit  many  things  in 
the  printed  account  relating  to  this  mission,  I  herewith  transmit  them 
to  you.  There  are  in  this  mission,  as  you  may  see  by  reference  to 
the  printed  account  15  stations  of  which  I  consider  Springfield  as 
the  center.  They  lie  at  every  point  of  the  compass  from  twelve  to 
sixty  miles  from  Springfield.  A  brief  description  of  each  one  I  here 
subjoin.     Sugar  Creek,  a  small  settlement  12  miles  south   of  Spring- 


1     Hamilton  to  Eosati,  Archives, 
s     Idem,  ibidem. 


Along  Sangamon  River  and  Crooked  Creek  747 

field,  in  Sangamon  County,  comprising  8  families,  averaging  7  mem- 
bers or  56  (souls)  in  all.  Bear  Creek,  a  large  settlement  35  miles 
southeast  of  Springfield  in  Macon  County  containing  23  families 
averaging  6,  or  136  (souls).  Flat  Branch,  Macon  County,  40  miles 
east  of  Springfield,  3  families,  averaging  about  7,  or  21  (souls).  Shelby- 
ville,  seat  of  justice  of  Shelby  County,  56  miles  a  little  south  of  east 
of  Springfield,  containing  6  families.  It  has  been  nearly  a  year  since 
I  visited  them.  Lick  Creek,  16  miles  southwest  of  Springfield,  counting 
but  one  family.  Jacksonville,  35  miles  west  of  Springfield,  has  but  one 
resident  Catholic,  though  there  are  several  transient  ones  laboring 
there.  Jersey  Prairie,  northwest  corner  of  Morgan  County,  3  Cath- 
olic families,  34  miles  from  Springfield,  Virginia,  Cass  County,  3  or 
4  families  comprising  about  10  (souls),  34  miles  north  of  west  of 
Springfield,  Meredosia,  Morgan  County  55  miles  from  Springfield,  some 
few  transient  Catholics.  Naples,  Scott  County,  58  miles  west  of  Spring- 
field, one  or  two  families,  never  been  visited-  Exeter,  Scott  County, 
51  miles  northwest  of  Springfield,  several  resident  Catholic  families, 
others  about  to  settle.  Sterling,  70  miles  northwest  of  Springfield,  seat 
of  justice  of  Brown  County,  a  new  and  numerous  settlement  of  Irish 
Catholics.  Petersburg,  Menard  County,  24  miles  northwest  of  Spring- 
field, Logan  County,  3  Catholic  families. 

"This  Sir,  is  a  description  as  accurate  as* my  recollection,  unaided 
bj'  a  map,  will  permit  me  to  give  you  of  the  missionary  stations  I  have  to 
visit.  Their  great  distance  from  each  other  will,  as  you  easily  perceive, 
preclude  the  possibility  of  my  frequently  visiting  them.  I  have,  however, 
visited  them  all  with  the  exception  of  3,  twice  since  my  mission  to  Spring- 
field. I  have  already  spoken  to  you  about  my  prospects  of  a  church  here. 
They  are  daily  growing  more  gloomy  and  hopeless.  One  more  effort 
I  will  make  to  erect  a  small  church.  If  this  should  fail,  the  failure 
will  lead  me  to  believe,  that  I  have  anticipated  the  will  and  good 
pleasure  of  Divine  Providence  in  endeavoring  to  build,  at  so  early 
a  day,  a  church  in  the  Capital  of  Illinois."9 

The  note  of  discouragement  struck  in  this  letter  is  continued 
in  the  next : 

"I  have  now  been  in  the  mission  for  one  year.  When  I  arrived, 
there  was,  I  believed,  a  fairer  prospect  of  erecting  a  church  than 
there  is  at  present.  Whether  the  failure  proceeds  from  my  inability 
(ir  mismanagement,  from  coolness  of  zeal  on  the  part  of  subscribers, 
or  from  the  pressure  of  the  times,  I  am  unable  to  ascertain.  Sir,  I 
believe,  I  have  done  all  that  I  could  to  effect  the  erection  of  a  church. 
I  have  traversed  large  portions  of  the  state,  begging  at  every  house 


9     Hamilton  to  Rosati,  Springfield,  December  29,  1829. 


748  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

where  I  thought  there  was  a  hope  of  obtaining  assistance,  and  preaching 
in  every  congregation  for  the  same  purpose,  and  I  have  failed.  I 
have  reflected  much  upon  the  subject,  and  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion, 
that  it  is  useless  for  me  to  try  to  build  a  church  with  the  means  I 
can  at  present  command.  The  Catholics  are,  as  I  said  before,  too 
few  and  too  poor  to  build  one  themselves,  and  their  numbers  do  not 
seem  to  augment.  There  are  nine  entire  Catholic  families,  and  two 
of  which  the  females  are  Catholics,  in  town.  There  are  other  transient 
families,  that  remain  here  while  they  can  obtain  employment.  In 
these  circumstances,  Sir,  I  confess  I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  proceed."10 

On  April  18,  1840,  Bishop  Rosati  appointed  Rev.  George  A.  Hamil- 
ton pastor  of  Alton,  remarking  in  his  letter  of  appointment  that  the 
missions  of  Springfield  will  be  visited  by  the  Rev.  Raho  and  assistant. 

Alton,  divided  into  Upper  and  Lower  Alton,  had  no  church  as 
yet;  but  the  mission  was  dedicated  to  St.  Matthew  the  Apostle. 

Among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Alton  on  the  Mississippi  there  were 
but  few  Catholics.  Yet  one  by  one,  Irish  and  German  families  had  built 
their  homes  on  the  hills,  the  site  of  the  present  city.  They  were  visited 
at  regular  intervals  from  Portage  des  Sioux  beyond  the  river  by  the 
Jesuit  Fathers,  Peter  Kenny  and  Jodocus  Van  Asche.  The  report 
for  1836,  gives  Alton  150  souls  and  the  neighboring  village  of  Grafton 
15.  At  Bishop  Rosati 's  suggestion  two  Irish  Catholics,  J.  P.  B.  McCabe 
and  Richard  McDonnell,*  made  the  first  church  census,  and  on  June 
26,  1836,  sent  the  list  to  St.  Louis  with  the  request  for  a  resident 
priest  :n 

"The  people  received  us  very  kindly  and  rejoiced  at  the  prospect 
of  having  this  means  afforded  them  of  attending  to  their  religious 
duties  and  bringing  up  their  children  in  the  faith  of  their  Fathers. 
One  German  farmer,  a  Mr.  Scharf,  escorted  us  to  the  dwellings  of  five 
or  six  of  his  neighbors,  and  then  we  were  joined  by  two  young  men, 
who  with  pleasure  conducted  us  to  Upper  Alton,  calling  at  every 
house  where  they  knew  a  member  of  the  church  could  be  found. 

"At  Upper  Alton  I  met  with  a  Frenchman  (Mr.  Fecht)  who  put 
me  in  possession  of  a  subscription  list,  which  contained  the  names 
of  nine  individuals,  with  the  sum  of  $71.00.  Among  the  many  promises 
of  aid  which  I  have  received  here  is  Mr.  Lane's  of  a  lot  in  any  part 
of  his  property  in  Lower  Alton  and  the  sum  of  $500.00.  Col.  Snowden, 
who  resides  on  the  prairie  a  few  miles  from  town,  has,  I  understand, 
stated  he  will  give  $500.00.  I  have  seen  two  Irish  Protestants  here, 
men  of  property,  who  signified  their  intention  of  subscribing  liberally 
towards  the  building.     I  fear  that  the  want  of  a  pastor  has  been  the 


io     Hamilton  to  Rosati,  Springfield,  September  10,  1840. 

ii     The   Original  of   Census  in   Archives   of   St.  Louis  Archdiocese.      Printed   in 
'■  Illinois  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  Ill,  pp..  300  and  301. 


Along  Sangamon  River  and  Crooked  Creek  749 

means  of  making  some  of  the  weak-minded  or  uneducated  to  join  the 
sectarians,  or  become  quite  indifferent  about  religion  in  any  shape. 

"I  am  informed  that  several  respectable  families,  who  emigrated 
this  season  with  the  intention  of  settling  in  this  neighborhood,  de- 
clined doing  so  upon  learning  that  there  was  no  church  nor  priest 
here.  I  have  no  doubt  that  with  the  blessing  of  God,  I  shall  see  a  sub- 
stantial edifice  erected' in  Lower  Alton  and  attended  by  a  congregation 
of  500  to  600  before  two  years  have  elapsed.  If  the  bishop  will  send 
a  priest  here  I  am  instructed  by  the  Catholic  inhabitants  to  give  them 
notice  so  that  a  meeting  may  take  place  to  make  arrangements  for 
having  the  lot  laid  out  and  the  foundation  sunk,  and  the  building 
commenced.  Stone  is  plentiful  here,  and  a  Dutchman  in  Upper  Alton 
holds  out  a  promise  of  a  donation  of  the  brick.  I  trust  I  shall  have 
the  pleasure  of  drawing  the  deed."12 

Bishop  Rosati  gladly  acquiesced  and  on  February  1837,  appointed 
the  Rev.  James  O'Flynn  from  the  Archdiocese  of  Tuam  as  Alton's 
first  resident  pastor.  But  Father  O'Flynn  soon  found  himself  at  odds 
with  a  substantial  part  of  his  congregation  and,  on  February  25,  1838, 
asked  for  his  recall.  Among  the  reasons  for  this  resolve,  this  seems  to 
have  been  the  main  one :  ' '  The  Germans  are  more  numerous  here  than 
the  Catholics  from  any  other  country.  They  are  complaining  that  they 
derive  no  benefit  from  my  instruction  and  consequently  are  not  very 
willing  to  contribute  to  my  support,  except  three  or  four  families 
in  the  country  and  about  the  same  number  in  Upper  Alton,  who 
have  attended  Mass  very  regularly."13 

Father  0'  Flynn  left  Alton  and  the  diocese  soon  after  this.  The 
Jesuit  Father  Van  Asche  once  more  took  charge  of  the  place  until 
the  arrival  of  Father  George  A.  Hamilton  from  Springfield,  April  1840. 

What  the  new  pastor  accomplished  in  the  brief  period  of  his 
stay  in  Alton,  we  have  no  way  of  learning  to  tell.  On  February  20, 
1842,  the  Coadjutor  Bishop,  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  transferred  him 
from  Alton  to  the  St.  Louis  Cathedral,  when  his  power  of  preaching 
in  fluent  and  idiomatic  English  was  appreciated  by  Bishop  and  people. 

In  1846,  his  name  is  mentioned  for  the  last  time  in  the  records 
of  St.  Louis  diocese  as  assistant  rector  at  St.  Patrick's  Church  in  St. 
Louis,  with  Rev.  W.  Wheeler  as  rector.  When  and  why  Father  Hamilton 
left  his  native  diocese  we  cannot  say,  but  in  1865,  we  find  him  as 
pastor  of  St.  Francis  De  Sales'  parish  in  Charlestown,  Mass.,  and  as 
a  member  of  the  Bishop's  Council  in  the  Diocese  of  Boston.  His 
death  occurred  on  July  21,  1874,  in  Charlestown,  Mass.14 

In  order  to  round  out  the  account  of  Father  Lefevere's  Illinois 
missions,    a   few   words   must   here   be   inserted    concerning    Fountain 


12  O'Flynn  to  Kosati,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

13  Idem,  ibidem. 

14  Church  Directory. 


750  History  of  lh<    Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Green  and  its  first  pastor,  John  M.  P.  Saint  Cyr.  After  serving  the 
Church  of  Chicago  until  March  1837,  Father  Saint  Cyr  was  appointed 
to  take  charge  of  the  Congregation  at  Qnincy.  But,  owing  to  Father 
Brickwedde's  opportune  arrival  and  consequent  appointment  to  Quincy, 
Father  Saint  Cyr's  destination  was  changed  to  the  pastorship  of  St. 
Simon's  on  Crooked  Creek,  Hancock  County,  Illinois.  Fountain  Green 
was  the  poetic  name  of  a  rather  poor  and  lonely  inland  village,  just 
emerging  from  the  state  of  pure  nature.  It  is  from  this  place  that 
Bishop  Rosati  on  March  4,  1838,  received  the  following  plaintive 
message : 

"When  I  left  St.  Louis  in  November  last,  I  was  very  unwell,  and 
I  have  been  so  ever  since.  However,  I  tried  to  visit  several  of  my 
congregations  before  the  cold  weather  set  in,  which  I  did,  as  I  had 
promised.  I  rode  there,  I  went,  I  came  back  and  fell ;  when  I  shall 
rise  again,  I  do  not  know.  Since  the  28th  of  January,  I  did  not  leave 
my  bed.  I  have  almost  lost  the  use  of  my  right  leg  by  pains,  first 
in  the  hip,  then  between  the  knee  and  the  ankle,  in  winch  they  are 
now  most  horribly  felt,  which  rendered  me  incapable  of  setting  'out 
and  doing  anything.  A  hundred  things  have  been  applied  to  it ; 
but  nothing  seems  to  do  me  any  good.  I  leave  it  to  the  hand  of  God 
to  chastise  me  as  long  as  He  pleases,  Modo  act  c  mum  pur  cat,  or 
to  His  holy  will  to  cure  me;  in  patientia  possidebitis  animas  vestras" 

"...  The  church  building  in  Fountain  Green  is  going  on  very 
slowly  on  account  of  the  weather.  Mr.  Henry  Riley,  who  contracted 
for  the  building,  is  to  go  down  to  St.  Louis  at  the  opening  of  the 
river  to  buy  different  things  for  the  church.  If  it  should  be  then  in 
your  power  to  pay  him  what  you  promised  to  give  towards  St.  Simon's 
Church,  I  would  be  very  thankful  to  you."1"1 

Within  three  weeks  another  letter  was  sent  with  the  same  com- 
plaint of  bodily  ailments,  but  showing  a  little  more  hope : 

"I  wrote  to  you  some  time  ago  a  letter  in  which  I  informed  you 
of  my  bad  situation,  not  being  able  to  walk  at  all.  Well  I  am  still 
in  the  same  situation,  with  that  difference,  however,  that,  the  weather 
being  warmer,  I  can  step  out  of  my  room  with  the  help  of  two  sticks. 
But  the  pains  keep  me  on  the  same  train,  and  many  a  time  worse  in 
the  cold  weather.  We  did  all  we  could,  but  nothing  had  done  me 
any  good.  Wherefore,  Reverend  Bishop,  if  by  next  week  I  feel  no 
better  or  perceive  no  mending,  I  will  venture  myself  on  a  horse  or 
wagon  to  cross  that  long,  long  prairie.  But  whether  I  will  be  able 
to  do  it  is  a  matter  of  doubt.  However,  I  will  try  my  best ;  so  that 
if  you  do  not  see  me  in  St.  Louis  before  long,  you  may  conclude  that 
I  got  better  or  worse."16 


is     Saint  Cyr  to  Rosati,  March    4,  1838,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 
16     Sainl  Cyr  to  Rosati,  March  30,  1838,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


Along  Sangamon  River  and  Crooked  Creek  751 

As  the  summer  came  on  the  bodily  troubles  of  the  missionary 
must  have  been  relieved  considerably,  as  we  find  him  on  a  still  hunt 
for  souls  in  the  various  counties  of  his  vast  parish.  It  seems  to  have 
been  his  farewell  visit.  It  may  strike  many  as  singular  to  note  the 
importance  attached  by  these  pioneers  of  the  faith  to  any  church  or 
chapel,  however  poor  and  homely,  as  a  means  of  developing  the  country 
round  about,  yet  they  had  the  experience.  The  little  church  becomes 
the  center  to  which  all  the  roads  converge,  since  its  presence  in  the 
locality  is  the  means  of  determining  the  Catholic  people  to  settle  in 
the  neighborhood.  And  what  a  fine  instinctive  feeling  these  pioneers 
had  in  discovering  the  signs  of  coming  greater  things.  In  illustration 
of  this  let  us  proceed  to  Father  St.  Cyr's  last  letter  #from  the  missions 
in  McDonough,  Fulton,  Peoria  and  Tazewell  Counties : 

"I  have  fulfilled  my  promise  concerning  my  going  on  a  mission 
to  Peoria.  I  also  visited  the  Catholics  in  Tazewell  County.  They 
are  very  numerous,  some  Americans,  some  French,  German  and  Irish. 
The  15th  of  July  I  said  Mass  at  Mr.  Tucker's  (Tazewell).  Mr.  Menard 
and  his  wife  attended.  And  I  baptized  several  children.  The  week 
after,  I  visited  likewise  several  wealthy  Irish  families  in  Lotall  Prairie, 
forty  miles  from  Peru  (Peoria  County).  Amongst  which  families 
is  Mr.  Mooney,  a  rich  and  zealous  Catholic ;  all  from  the  city  of  New 
York.  A  great  many  more  families  would  have  come  to  this  part  of 
the  country,  they  told  me,  had  it  not  been  for  the  scarcity  of  money. 
Many  again  have  been  prevented  from  moving  for  not  hearing  of  any 
Catholic  church  being  established,  or  of  any  prospect  of  establishing  one. 
Let  therefore  a  Catholic  church  be  established  with  a  priest  stationed  at 
Peoria,  and  the  Catholics  will  flock  into  that  part  of  the  country. 

"Peoria  is  already  and  will  be  more  so,  one  of  the  most  important 
points  on  the  Illinois  River  for  Catholicity,  if  nothing  be  neglected 
on  our  part.  It  is  therefore  high  time  to  take  the  matter  into  con- 
sideration; it  is  now  the  very  season  to  plant."17 

"It  has  not  been  in  my  power  to  do  anything  respecting  the 
church  and  the  lot  that  had  been  promised.  Being  a  perfect  stranger 
to  the  Catholics,  they  not  having  received  the  letter  you  promised  me 
to  write,  to  them  as  an  introduction,  and  myself  not  having  the  list 
of  the  Catholics  which  Mr.  Timon  made.  Mr.  Peter  Menard,  who  alone 
could  give  me  all  the  information  I  wanted,  was  not  then  in  Peoria;  he 
has  moved  on  his  farm  with  his  family,  12  miles  south  of  Peoria 
(Tazewell  County).  However  I  requested  Mr.  Mooney,  zealous  member 
of  our  church  and  a  great  friend  to  that  Mr.  Nolone  (Nolan)  who  prom- 
ised Mr.  Timon  to  give  a  lot  for  the  church,  and  who  since  retracted, 
that,  in  case  he  would  make  his  first  words  good,  to  have  the  lot 
deeded.  So  far  the  whole  matter  is  hanging  on  promises.  I  found  in 
Peoria  and  its  environs  30  Catholic  Families,  whose  names  I  took  on  a 


IT     Saint  Cyr  to  Eosati,  August  6,  1838. 


752  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

list ;  there  are  some  more  but  I  could  not  see  them  for  -want  of  time. 
I  promised  to  visit  them  again  in  October  if  nothing  should  prevent 
me;  this  will  be  the  last  time,  for  I  do  not  propose  to  visit  them  any  more, 
as  my  health  does  not  permit  me  to  undertake  such  long  trips,  and 
my  finances  are  not  much  better.  I  hope  you  will  send  them  a  priest, 
but  a  priest  who  must  speak  French,  English  and  German ;  that  he 
be  able  to  speak  French  and  English  is  absolutely  necessary. 

"I  expect  to  start  Thursday  for  Quincy,  thence  to  Commerce,  then 
home  again.  I  am  very  sorry,  Very  Reverend  Bishop,  not  to  be  able 
to  comply  with  the  great  obligations  which  charity  towards  one  an- 
other imposes  upon  each  one  of  us,  and  even  more  so,  to  be  deprived 
of  the  blessings  attached  to  their  fulfillment.  They  are,  I  see  by  the 
letter  which  I  received  last  week  with  your  name  affixed  to  it,  humbly 
begging  for  money  to  rebuild  churches  amongst  the  rich  and  wealthy 
people  of  South  Carolina,  whilst  Ave  are  here  in  the  state  of  Illinois, 
not  rebuilding,  but  creating  what  we  euphemistically  name  churches, 
not  among  the  rich  but  among  the  poorest  of  the  poor.  Yes,  Dear 
Bishop,  take  notice,  that  all  my  congregations  are  so  very  poor,  that,  in 
spite  of  their  good  will,  they  cannot  afford  enough  to  put  up  a  very 
humble  house  of  worship  for  themselves.  Therefore,  Dear  Bishop,  do 
not  expect  anything  from  me. 

Our  church  at  Fountain  Green  is  very  slowly  building;  we  having 
been  disappointed  in  the  sawing  of  the  lumber."18 

With  this  letter  we  take  leave  of  good  Father  Saint  Cyr.  Broken 
in  health,  as  he  was,  and  unfit  to  cope  with  the  hardships  and  privations 
of  missionary  life  in  the  backwoods,  he  was  appointed  in  1838  pastor 
of  the  ancient  parish  of  Kaskaskia  in  succession  to  Father  Benedict 
Roux.  Here  within  a  comparatively  small  compass  he  ministered  to 
85  souls,  had  61  baptisms  in  the  first  year,  22  marriages,  19  funerals 
and  4  converts.  He  also  acted  as  professor  and  chaplain  to  the  Sisters 
of  the  Visitation  until  July  19,  1843,  when  Father  Heim  took  his  place 
as  confessor  of  the  sisters,  but  not  as  pastor  of  the  parish.  The  diocese 
of  Chicago  being  erected  in  1844  with  all  Illinois  as  its  territory,  Father 
Saint  Cyr  declined  to  sever  his  connection  with  St.  Louis ;  and  on  the 
11th  of  September,  1844  left  Kaskaskia  in  charge  of  Father  Vital  Van 
Cloostere.  On  the  23rd  of  September  of  the  same  year,  he  was  appointed 
chaplain  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Visitation  on  Sixth  Street  in  St.  Louis  at 
a  salary  of  $100.00  a  year,  as  Father  Saint  Cyr  himself  states.  Of 
his  first  year's  salary  the  chaplain  devoted  $10.00  to  help  pay  St. 
Patrick's  church  debt.10 

But  though  poor  and  sick  he  felt  that  his  days  of  usefulness  were 
not  over :  we  shall  meet  good  and  kind  and  pious  Father  Saint  Cyr  again 
under  more  favorable  circumstances. 


18  Saint  Cyr  to  Rnsnti.  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

19  Biographical  notices  in   Archives  of  St.  Louis  Arehdioeese. 


Chapter  35 
FATHER  HILARY  TUCKER  IN  QUINCY 

The  petition  of  the  English  speaking  portion  of  Father  Brick- 
wedde's  Congregation  for  a  priest  of  their  own  nationality  preferably 
Father  Hamilton,  apparently  lay  dormant  for  a  rather  long  time,  but 
was  not  quite  forgotten  by  Bishop  Rosati.  At  last  it  was  answered  by 
the  appointment  of  Father  Hamilton's  fellow  student  in  Rome. 

Father  Hilary  Tucker  was  a  son  of  Nicholas  Tucker  of  Perryville, 
grandson  of  Joseph  Tucker,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Perry  County.  Old 
Mr.  Joseph  Tucker,  as  he  was  called,  came  to  Missouri  in  June  1802, 
on  a  visit  to  Isidore  Moore,  who  had  established  himself  near  Perryville 
in  1801.  He  was  soon  followed  by  his  sons,  among  them  Nicholas, 
the  father  of  Hilary  and  of  Lewis,  the  future  pastor  of  Fredericktown. 
The  first  chapel  in  Perry  county  had  been  built  and  blessed  in  1812 
by  the  Rev.  James  Maxwell,  Vicar  General,  who  attended  the  place 
from  Ste.  Genevieve  until  his  death  in  1814.  Before  1812  Mass  had 
occasionally  been  said  at  the  home  of  Old  Joseph  Tucker.  After  1814 
the  Trappist  Marie  Joseph  Dunand,  visited  Perryville  at  regular  in- 
tervals, from  his  parish  of  Florissant,  and  made  his  home,  for  the 
time  being,  with  Old  Joseph  Tucker,  who  as  Father  Dunand  states, 
had  eight  sons  and  one  daughter,  all  except  the  youngest,  married  and 
"settled  about  him  in  good  homes."  Father  Dunand  is  full  of  praise 
for  these  excellent  people.  "I  enquired"  says  he  "how  they  living  in 
such  a  secluded  place,  had  passed  their  Sundays  and  Holy  days  without 
Mass.  They  answered  that  on  these  days  all  the  families  of  the  district 
assembled  three  times;  the  first  time  they  recited  the  prayers  of  the 
Mass;  the  second  time  they  recited  the  beads  or  other  prayers  and 
followed  this  by  singing  hymns  and  canticles ;  and  the  third  time 
some  one  of  the  better  instructed  taught  catechism,  not  only  to  the 
children,  but  to  the  married  folks  as  well.  I  could  not  help  admiring 
this  beautiful  arrangement,  which  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  the  Spirit 
of  righteousness  and  simplicity,  has  established  among  these  pious 
planters,  so  simple  and  so  free  from  malice.  I  imagined  myself  carried 
back  to  that  blessed  epoch  of  the  birth  of  the  church.  I  fancied  I 
saw  these  first  Christians  instructed  by  the  Apostles  and  so  united  by 
their  charity  that  they  were  but  one  heart  and  one  soul.  I  would  have 
liked  well  to  have  remained  with  such  good  people  and  to  have  chosen 
this  holy  spot  for  my  home,  but  Divine  Providence  called  me  else- 
where. ' n 


1     Cf.  Dunand,   Diary  in   Records   of   American   Catholic   Historical   Society   of 
Philadelphia,  vol.  26. 

(753) 


754  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Coming  of  such  good  Catholic  stock  and  falling  under  the  influence 
of  such  a  zelatov  animarum  as  Father  Dunand  was,  the  youthful 
Hilary  felt  himself  called  to  the  sacred  ministry.  What  made  the 
project  easier  of  accomplishment  was  the  fact  that,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Trappist  monk,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  been  induced  to 
found  his  seminary  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Barrens,  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  Tucker  settlement.  Both  Lewis  and  Hilary  Tucker 
entered  the  seminary.  Hilary  was  two  years  younger  than  his  brother, 
being  born  in  1808,  and  whilst  Lewis  continued  his  studies  at  the  Barrens, 
Hilary  was  chosen  by  Bishop  Rosati  to  take  a  course  of  philosophy 
and  theology  at  the  Propaganda  in  Koine.  Of  his  stay  there  the  letters 
will  give  ample  information.2 

The  two  young  men  were  to  start  for  Rome  in  the  year  1831 
but  a  delay  of  one  year  was  brought  about  by  the  rumors  of  revolution 
in  Italy,  and  the  fact  that  the  cholera  was  raging  in  Europe.  But 
young  Hilary  wrote  his  bishop  a  reassuring  letter,  full  of  the  easy 
familiarity  of  youth. 

"The  cholera  I  think,  should  not  deter  us  from  the  journey,  for 
in  all  probability  our  own  country  will  be  subject  to  it.  So  by  remain- 
ing here  we  shall  run  the  same  risk  as  by  going  to  Europe  and,  if  it 
should  please  God  that  we  should  die,  Italy  can  give  us  a  grave  as 
well  as  Missouri." 

Arriving  at  Rome,  they  were  very  kindly  received  by  Father 
Paul  Cullen,  the  future  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  treated 
with  distinguished  consideration.  They  soon  felt  perfectly  at  home  in 
their  new  surroundings,  though  at  times  a  tinge  of  homesickness  colors 
the  flow  of  their  voluble  letters : 

"Think  not,  writes  Hilary  Tucker,  that  the  immense  ocean  and 
the  great  distance  which  now  separates  us  diminishes  in  the  least  my 
love  for  you  all;  on  the  contrary,  I  find  by  experience  that  the  farther 
I  am  removed  from  you  the  dearer  I  find  the  ties  of  love  and  affec- 
tion for  you  all  without  exception.  Yet  I  do  not  desire  to  return  home, 
for  I  see  such  a  field  of  science  before  me  with  so  many  facilities 
which  I  never  before  imagined,  that  I  cannot  permit  such  a  thought 
to  enter  my  mind  at  present."''5 

Still  the  interests  of  their  native  diocese  and  of  its  bishop,  their 
friend  and  father,  were  always  uppermost  in  the  hearts  of  both  Hilary 
Tucker  and  George  Hamilton : 

"I  am  really  overjoyed  to  hear  of  the  progress  Catholicity  is  mak- 
ing in  my  country  and  especially  in  Missouri.  Although  our  Holy 
Religion    is  attacked  and  persecuted  by  our  poor  misguided  brethren 


2  Hilary  Tucker  to  Eosati  in  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

3  Hilary  Tucker  to  Eosati,  ibidem. 


Father  Hilary  Tucker  in  Quincij  755 

of  the  Protestant  faith,  I  think  that  we  have  reason  rather  to  rejoice 
than  to  lament  on  this  account.  For  our  Holy  Religion  will  always 
flourish  and  gain  strength  from  persecution,  and  I  should  certainly 
tremble  for  her,  had  she  no  enemies.  This  is  a  remark  made  to  me  by 
Mr.  Connelly,  and  one  which  first  induced  him  to  examine  the  tenets 
of  Catholicity.  For,"  said  he,  "I  thought  that  a  religion  persecuted  as 
the  Catholic  Religion  has  been,  could  not  stand  out  against  so  many 
tempests,  were  it  not  the  true  one." 

"I  am  well  aware  of  the  disadvantages  under  which  religion  labors 
in  my  country  on  account  of  the  great  scarcity  of  native  clergy,  of 
which  you  spoke  with  so  much  reason  in  your  last  letter.  Would  to 
God  that  more  would  take  into  serious  consideration  the  great  impor- 
tance of  this  object.  The  American  character  seems  too  much  engaged 
in  worldly  and  commercial  affairs  to  think  of  engaging  in  the  clerical 
profession.  However,  notwithstanding  all  this,  T  really  do  yet  enter- 
tain hopes  that,  before  many  years,  our  country  will  be  able  to  produce 
a  respectable  body  of  efficient  natives  for  the  ministry,  for  I  am  per- 
suaded that,  when  they  can  be  convinced  of  the  real  importance  of 
this  matter,  we  will  no  longer  have  to  lament  this  great  defect. 
I  am  sorry  that  Charles  should  be  the  first  to  dishonor  my  family  by  re- 
linquishing so  sublime  a  calling;  however,  I  know  not  his  motives  for 
so  doing.4 

Another  short   passage   from  the   Roman  letters  of   Hilary   Tucker 
and  we  are  done  with  this  part  of  the  subject. 

"The  rector  was  so  good  as  to  show  me  your  letter,  which  you 
wrote  to  him.  He  tells  me  that  he  will  do  all  in  his  power  to  procure 
two  German  priests  for  your  diocese.  He  desired  very  much  to  obtain 
two  from  the  German  College  in  Rome,  for  they  are  all  men  who 
have  the  true  Apostolic  spirit,  and  I  have  no  scruple  in  saying  that 
those  educated  in  the  German  College  in  Rome  are,  generally  speaking, 
the  best  adapted  for  our  missions  of  any  in  the  world."5 

Hilary  Tucker  was  raised  to  the  priesthood  on  July  2,  1837,  and, 
waiting  for  the  delayed  ordination  of  his  friend  and  companion  George 
A.  Hamilton,  returned  with  him  to  St.  Louis,  where  the  privations  and 
hardships  of  missionary  life  awaited  them. 

Having  received  the  minor  facilities  on  November  120,  1838,  Father 
Tucker  was  employed  for  a  short  while  as  substitute  in  Carondelet 
and  at  Gravois.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Synod,  he  was  sent  to  Quincy 
as  pastor  of  the  English  speaking  Congregation. 

Father  Tucker's  zeal  and  learning  met  witli  a  noteworthy  initial 
success.     In  a  short  time  he  collected  $2000.00  for  a  new  church ;  a  lot 


-*     Hilary  Tucker  to  Rosati,  Arc-hives. 
5     Idem,  ibidem. 


756  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

was  donated,  and  a  brick  building  begun.  The  parish  was  dedicated  to 
St.  Lawrence.  A  good  part  of  the  funds  came  from  the  Irish  Cath- 
olics employed  on  the  construction  of  the  so-called  Northern  Cross 
Railroad,  and  the  hopes  for  the  future  prosperity  of  St.  Lawrence 
church  were  based  on  the  same  railroad  venture. 

We  have  a  number  of  Father  Hilary  Tucker's  letters  covering  the 
period  of  his  ministry  in  Quincy  from  June  13,  1839  to  September  27, 
1840.  It  will  help  us  to  understand  the  difficulties  under  which  the 
Church  of  Quincy  labored,  if  we  extract  a  few  characteristic  passages 
from  them :  "As  soon  as  I  returned  we  immediately  began  to  make  prep- 
arations for  the  building  of  our  new  church. 

The  laying  of  the  cornerstone,  as  you  may  judge,  was  not  as  grand 
as  that  of  Trinity  Church  in  St.  Louis.  I  simply  blessed  it,  according 
to  the  prescriptions  of  the  ritual,  and  there  was  but  little  ceremony 
about  it.  The  foundations  are  fast  progressing,  and  the  stone  work  will 
be  completed  in  seven  or  eight  days  from  this.  Contracts  have  been 
made,  signed  and  sealed  for  the  brick  and  carpenter  work.  Messrs. 
Davidson,  Hicks  and  McComb  will  do  the  brick  work,  and  Messrs. 
Osborn  and  Brittenham  the  carpenter  work,  the  last  mentioned  do 
it  at)  the  rate  of  70  per  cent  on  the  dollar  (Cincinnati  price  bill)  which 
is  20  per  cent  cheaper  than  ever  done  here  before.  The  bricks  are 
laid  at  the  rate  of  three  dollars  per  thousand,  making  the  whole  cost 
of  brick  work  nine  dollars  per  thousand,  which  is  cheaper  than  ever 
done  here  before.  Messrs.  S.  C.  Rogers  and  S.  Kelly  are  directors  of 
the  work.  I  have  no  fear  of  any  trouble,  the  contracts  being  worded 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  prevent  anything  of  that  kind.  I  hope  we  shall 
have  the  church  ready  for  consecration  by  the  middle  of  October  when 
I  hope  we  shall  be  able  to  have  some  display  here  also;  for  I  shall  come 
down  for  you  and  several  other  gentlemen  of  the  clergy.  The  Germans 
are  also  making  preparations  for  commencing  their  church.  They 
would  have  done  better  to  postpone  it  a  little,  but  they  seemed  anxious 
to  commence.  We  have  rented  a  large  room  in  which  we  can  have  Mass 
decently  on  Sundays  until  we  get  our  church.  All  seem  very  anxious 
and  generously  contribute  what  they  can  towards  its  completion.  The 
subscription  now  amounts  to  nearly  $2000.00  cash,  which  will  about 
cover  the  church  in.  After  which  we  will  open  a  new  subscription, 
for  all  say  they  will  give  more.  I  think  that  it  is  possible  that  this 
summer  I  shall,  with  Mr.  Kelly,  go  to  Galena  with  the  hope  of  getting 
some  aid,  as  the  prospect  from  that  quarter  is  good,  and  Mr.  Kelly 
is  personally  acquainted  with  most  of  the  men  there.  The  whole  ex- 
pense of  the  church  will  be  about  $4000.00.° 


o     Hilary  Tucker  to  Eosati,  June  30,  1839,  Archives. 


Father  Hilary  Tucker  in  Quincy  151 

At  the  Synod  held  in  St.  Louis,  April  .21,  1839,  Father  Tucker 
reported  the  number  of  souls  at  Quincy  as  385,  baptisms  27,  funerals 
4  and  converts  4. 

On  his  return  to  his  parish  he  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati : 

"I  hope  we  shall  be  able  to  commence  next  week  the  brick  work 
of  our  church,  the  stone  foundations  are  almost  finished,  and  if  we 
have  no  more  contradictions,  I  hope  that  it  will  be  covered  in  by  the 
20th  of  August.  I  don't  think  that  Mr.  Brickwedde  has  acted  al- 
together a  charitable  part.  For  he  has  gone  with  his  list  among  most 
of  the  Irish  Catholics,  which  was  not  looked  upon  here  as  very  genteel. 
We  have  not  offered  our  subscription  to  a  single  German,  as  we  knew 
they  had  the  intention  of  building.  However,  be  this  as  it  may,  the 
church  is  progressing  very  well,  and  before  winter  will  be  fit  for  con- 
secration. The  only  thing  is  that  I  wish  Mr.  Brickwedde  would  be 
a  little  more  communicative  with  me  than  he  is.  We  have  rented  a 
place  in  which  we  keep  church  on  Sundays.  At  nine  o'clock  there  will 
be  catechism  for  those  who  will  dispose  themselves  for  their  first  com- 
munion, but  we  have  got  very  few  children.  We  will  also  open  up  next 
Sunday  a  Sunday  school.  Mrs.  Rogers  and  two  or  three  other  ladies 
have  offered  their  services  to  teach  the  girls.  I  must  find  some  men 
for  the  boys.  At  ten  we  have  Mass  and  sermon.  At  three  o'clock  P.M. 
I  will  on,  every  Sunday,  in  place  of  Vespers,  give  an  explanation,  in 
Christian  doctrine,  which  I  write  and  read  to  the  people.  The  plan 
I  pursue  is  that  laid  down  by  the  Cathechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent, 
commencing  with  the  Creed.  With  the  Divine  assistance  I  will  con- 
tinue until  all  be  explained. 

"Next  week  I  shall  go  to  Tully  and  Warsaw  where  there  are  Cath- 
olics who  have  begged  me  to  visit  them.  I  have  just  this  minute  also 
received  a  petition  to  go  to  Pittsfield,  40  miles  from  this  place  where 
there  are  five  families.  I  must  also  visit  Louisiana  where  there  are 
two  or  three  families."7 

From  this  we  learn  that  Father  Tucker  had  extended  his  field  of 
operations  to  the  missions  beyond  the  Mississippi. 

"I  have  just  returned  a  few  days  ago,  from  a  mission  to  Santa 
Fe,  about  30  miles  above  this,  on  the  Missouri  side.  I  found  about 
thirty-five  Catholic  families,  almost  all  Kentuckians,  some  Irish.  They 
have  not  seen  a  priest  since  last  September.  They  are  farmers  after 
the  old  Kentucky  manner,  good  simple  and  harmless  people,  and  have 
a  delightful  country,  and  will  in  a  few  years  be  doing  very  well  in 
the  temporal  sense  of  the  word.  They  have  a  church  raised  and  covered, 
made  of  hewn  logs,  and  very  well  put  up,  being  40  feet  by  25.     After 


Tucker  to  Rosati,  June  20,  1839,  Archives. 


758  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Mass  I  called  a  meeting,  and  we  took  measures  for  continuing  the  work. 
I  hope  they  will  have  the  flooring  in  by  the  middle  of-  August,  on  which 
day  I  promised  again  to  visit  them.  1  will  endeavor  to  give  them  Mass 
once  a  month.  1  baptized  five  persons,  some  of  them  Protestant,  and 
received  two  couples  into  the  church,  who  were  married  out  of  it.  The 
church  stands  on  a  beautiful  piece  of  ground  belonging  to  the  church, 
of  80  acres;  the  deed  in  your  name.  I  think,  if  we  can  find  some  good 
and  trusty  farmer  to  place  on  it  and  to  make  improvements,  it  would 
be  well.  The  people  are  of  the  same  opinion  as  it  would  be  a  means  of 
support.  I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  a  lady  in  Pittsfield,  40 
miles  from  there,  who  wishes  me  to  come  there  to  make  some  arrange- 
ments for  a  church.  She  offers  a  lot  in  the  town  for  a  church.  1  must 
endeavor  next  week  to  go.  Pittsfield  is  the  county  seat  of  Pike  County. 
The  lady  is  of  Baltimore,  was  formerly  the  wife  of  a  naval  officer  by 
the  name  of  Long.  She  has  her  two  daughters  and  their  families  with 
her. 

"Here  in  Quincy  we  are  getting  on  but  slowly  with  our  church. 
We  have  been  disappointed  in  getting  bricks  two  or  three  times.  So 
many  buildings  are  at  present  going  on  in  the  place,  that  all  are  im- 
mediately used  up.  I  hope,  however,  Ave  shall  soon  be  able  to  have  a 
sufficient  quantity  not  to  be  delayed  more.  The  joists  for  the  floor- 
ing are  already  in.  The  church  is  48  feet  long  by  thirty-five  wide  in 
the  clear,  the  walls  16  inches  thick  and  24  feet  high.  The  steeple  is 
twelve  feet  square  on  the  end  and  carried  up  from  the  ground  in  order 
to  support  the  bell  when  we  get  one."8 

"I  was  lately  at  Warsaw  about  35  miles  above  this  place,  where  the 
old  Fort  Edward  stands.  Jnst  before,  in  digging  a  well,  they  found 
the  grave  of  a  person  buried  there  probably  for  sixty  or  seventy  years, 
and  in  it  a  silver  crucifix  of  considerable  size.  I  was  very  desirous  of 
getting  it,  but  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  Protestant  lady  who  would 
not  part  with  it ;  she  is  now  in  Cincinnati.  I  will  be  careful  to  gain  what 
information  I  can,  that  might  be  interesting  to  religion  or  history,  in  this 
place. '  '9 

"I  continue  to  live  with  Mr.  Rogers  who  has  granted  me  a  very 
convenient  and  retired  upper  room.  Until  we  get  means  of  building 
a  house  for  the  priest,  I  will  continue  here.  I  must  be  very  grate- 
.  ful  to  this  very  worthy  man ;  for  he  furnishes  me  with  every  conveni- 
ence gratis.  He  is  not  a  Catholic,  but  I  hope  will  be.  I  ask  your  praj^ers 
for  his  conversion."10 


s     Tucker  to  Rosati,  July  19,  1839. 
;i     Idem,  ibidem. 
i°     Idem,  ibidem. 


Father  Hilary  Tucker  in  Quincy  759 

On  August  29,  he  writes : 

"I  have  this  moment  returned  from  Warsaw,  35  miles  from  here, 
where  I  was  called  two  nights  since.  I  have  not  slept  for  the  last  50  hours 
and  rode  85  miles.  Our  church  gets  on  slowly.  I  must  see  if  I  can 
do  anything  at  St.  Louis  when  I  come.  The  railroad  system  of  this  state 
will  ruin  us  I  am  afraid."11 

On  November  3,  1839  he  has  unpleasant  news  for  his  Bishop : 

"Our  church  is  up,  ready  for  the  roof,  but  it  must  now  remain 
so,  until  Spring,  for  we  have  no  funds  to  proceed.  We  are  now  owing 
about  $800.00,  but  I  hope  we  will  be  able  to  pay  this  in  a  month,  as  we 
expect  near  $600  from  the  railroad.  But  this  will  not  be  enough.  I 
have  thought  of  going  on  a  begging  expedition.  The  winter  is  now 
approaching,  and  I  can  do  nothing  here  and  would  be  obliged,  at  all 
events,  to  spend  the  winter  in  St.  Louis.  I  have  thought  of  going  to 
New  Orleans  this  winter  to  see  if  I  cannot  do  something  for  this  and 
three  other  congregations,  the  one  at  Santa  Fe  and  Pittsfield.     .     .     }- 

"I  have  just  returned  from  Santa  Fe.  This  will  shortly  be  a 
flourishing  congregation.  There  are  now  31  families  of  Kentucky  stock, 
but  poor.  They,  however,  live  in  great  simplicity  of  manners  and  re- 
semble much  the  people  of  the  Barrens.  The  church  there  must  be 
finished  next  spring.  I  really  intend  establishing  there  a  convent  of 
the  Sisters  of  Loretto.  There  are  now  at  least  forty  girls  ready  for 
schooling,  and  many  are  even  married  without  any  instruction  what- 
ever. There  are  eighty  acres  of  good  land,  belonging  to  the  church.  It 
will  be  very  easy  to  open  a  farm  and  maintain  a  good  school. 

"In  Quincy,  also,  there  are  but  few  Catholics:  yet  a  female  school 
is  absolutely  necessary,  and  we  must  have  one.  Governor  Carlin, 
Judge  Ralston  and  some  of  the  most  influential  men  of  Quincy  have 
urged  it  on  me  much.  I  even  believe  they  will  provide  a  good  home  and 
contribute  largely  to  the  support.  Next  spring  I  will  make  them  some 
proposals.  The  Governor's  daughters  go  to  church  and,  I  believe, 
before  long  they  will  openly  profess  themselves  Catholics,  for  they  are 
so  in  heart.  At  Pittsfield,  next  Spring,  we  will  commence  a  small  brick 
church.  A  lot,  and  liberal  subscription  have  been  given  for  that  pur- 
pose.    There  are  twelve  families. 

"This  is  only  a  commencement  of  what  may  be  done  with  patience 
and  perseverance.  I,  on  my  late  tour  on  the  river,  in  Lewis  and  Clark 
counties  (missions)  baptized  four  Protestants."13 


11  Tucker  to  Rosati,  August  29,   1839. 

12  Tucker  to  Eosati,  November  3,  1839. 

13  Idem,  ibidem. 


760  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

At  the  opening-  of  the  year  1840  Father  Tucker  makes  arrange- 
ments for  his  eastern  trip : 

"I  will  get  Lefevere  to  come  here  once  a  month  to  give  the  peo- 
ple Mass.  Mr.  Hamilton  (at  Alton)  also  will  visit  them.  With  respect 
to  establishing  an  Academy  for  females  here,  I  have  received  the  most 
nattering  prospects.  Four  of  the  most  influential  men  of  the  town  say 
they  will  purchase  a  lot  or  a  permanent  establishment.  Judge  Ralston 
even  thinks  that  $3000  could  be  raised  in  the  Spring  for  that  purpose. 
I  don't  think  so  much  can  be  done,  but  a  good  house  can  easily  be 
rented  and  a  good  school  commenced :  In  the  meantime  a  house  of 
their  own  could  be  built.  Governor  Carlin  is  of  opinion,  a  part  of  the 
state  school-fund  may  be  obtained  from  the  Legislature,  at  least  next 
Spring,  if  we  Avould  make  the  attempt.  The  Governor's  four  children, 
Judge  Ralston 's  two  sisters-in-law  and  Dr.  Rogers '  family,  at  my  return, 
in  all  probability,  will  all  be  received  into  the  church,  as  they  are  now 
receiving  the  necessary  instructions.  But  some  of  them  have  not  yet 
the  courage  to  declare  themselves  publicly.  Mr.  Conyers,  the  County 
Treasurer,  to  whom  we  are  owing  about  150  dollars  talks  of  putting  an 
attachment  on  the  church  to  secure  himself.  Should  he  do  so,  the  only 
thing  you  have  to  do,  as  the  deed  is  in  your  name,  is  to  make  use  of 
what  the  law  allows,  which  is  eighteen  months'  grace.  As  soon  as  pos- 
sible I  will  send  Mr.  Conyers  the  money.  He  is  an  excellent  and  upright 
man  and  will  do  nothing  but  what  is  right,  but  he,  like  many  others, 
is  greatly  pushed  for  cash.    The  river  here  is  entirely  closed."14 

But  the  Northern  Cross  Railroad  Company  failed ;  and  the  church 
was  hardly  completed,  when  it  was  sold  under  a  lien  by  the  contractor, 
Brittenham.  Still,  by  some  amicable  arrangement,  the  church  continued 
to  be  used  by  the  congregation,  and  Father  Hilary  Tucker  strained  every 
nerve  to  meet  his  financial  obligations.  In  1840  he  received  permission  to 
go  on  a  collecting  trip  for  the  benefit  of  his  church,  on  which  he  achieved 
good  results,  so  that  the  parish  soon  recovered  from  its  early  disaster. 

On  the  21st  day  of  April  1840,  Bishop  Rosati  communicated  all 
his  faculties,  ordinary  and  extraordinary,  to  the  Very  Rev.  P.  J.  Ver- 
haegen,  S.  J.,  for  the  time  of  his  absence  from  the  diocese,  and  on 
April  27th  he  left  St.  Louis  in  company  of  Father  Peter  P.  Lefevere 
and  Joseph  A.  Lutz  for  Baltimore  where  they  were  to  assist  at  the 
Fourth  Provincial  Council,  announced  for  May  17th,  1840.  After 
the  close  of  the  Council,  Bishop  Rosati  set  sail  for  Havre,  thence  he 
journeyed  to  Paris  and  Rome,  securing  there  from  the  Holy  Father  the 
appointment  of  his  coadjutor  and  successor  Peter  Richard  Kenrick. 
Whilst  in  Rome,  Bishop  Rosati  received  the  following  letter  from  the 
Pastor  of  Quincy : 


!■*     Tucker  to  Rosati,  January  11,  1840. 


Father  Hilary  Tucker  in  Quincy  761 

"I  know  not  if  it  is  the  custom  for  any  of  your  clergy,  or  all  of 
them,  to  keep  in  correspondence  with  you,  now  that  you  are  away.  I 
for  my  part,  as  I  am  now  on  the  point  of  complying  with  my  obliga- 
tion of  writing  to  Propaganda,  have  thought  it  proper  to  address  you 
also,  more  especially  as  I  have  many  interesting  items  to  communicate 
to  you.  It  has  been  with  the  greatest  pleasure  that  I  read  in  the 
papers  the  notice  of  your  safe  arrival  in  Paris.  May  God  grant  you 
a  speedy  and  propitious  return.  Here  in  our  city  (for  Quincy  is  now 
by  law  entitled  to  that  appellation)  Catholicity  is  prospering.  Indeed 
it  seems  that  the  hand  of  God  is  with  us,  and  that  He  intends  shortly 
to  bring  to  light  something  great  for  the  cause  of  religion  here,  for 
certainly  we  have  lately  had  some  signal  triumphs.  You  should  recol- 
lect that  a  little  more  than  a  year  ago,  when  I  came  here,  I  found  but 
a  few  Catholics  in  the  midst  of  the  most  bigoted  class  of  New  England 
Presbyterians  that  can  be  imagined,  and  in  the  very  hotbed  of  aboli- 
tionism. I  scarcely  dared  show  myself  in  the  streets  for  fear  of  them, 
and,  indeed,  I  have  often  been  pointed  out  as  an  emissary  of  Antichrist. 
A  great  change  has  been  effected  in  the  public  feeling  in  my  regard. 
And  now  it  is  only  by  a  certain  number  of  Presbyterian  Abolitionists 
that  I  am  hissed  at. 

"About  three  weeks  ago  five  hundred  of  the  Potawatomi  Indians 
passed  through  this  place  on  their  way  to  the  Far  West  from  the  graves 
of  their  fathers,  whence  the  stern  arm  of  an  unjust  power  has  driven 
them.  Three  hundred  are  Catholics.  They  remained  with  us  two  days. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Baignin  was  with  them.  I  caused  them  to  come  to  the 
church,  and  at  ten  o'clock  I  sang  for  them  the  High  Mass,  at  which 
they  assisted  with  an  air  of  piety,  devotion  and  simplicity,  which  cover- 
ed many  a  Catholic  with  confusion  for  his  own  conduct.  After  Mass 
their  Pastor  addressed  them  in  a  discourse,  to  which  they  listened  with 
the  same  attention.  At  his  request  I  immediately  repaired  to  their 
camp  and  commenced  hearing  confessions  by  means  of  an  interpreter, 
and  did  not  leave  my  place  until  mid-night,  having  heard  150,  among 
whom  was  their  chief.  Next  morning  being  Sunday,  they  repaired  to 
the  church  as  many  as  could,  and  received  their  Savior,  after  which 
they  immediately  crossed  the  Mississippi  and  pursued  their  journey. 
All  the  city  witnessed  all  this,  and  it  has  been  productive  of  good  to 
our  religion.  But  it  has  pleased  God  to  grant  still  greater  triumphs. 
I  think  you  are  acquainted  with  Miss  Emily  Carlin,  eldest  daughter 
of  Governor  Carlin.  She  delivered  before  you  and  Bishop  Loras  an 
address  at  Kaskaskia.  She  is  now  no  longer  among  the  living,  but 
thanks  to  God,  her  death  was  signally  glorious  to  Catholicity.  Ever 
since  her  return  from  the  convent  she  has  always  taken  the  defense  of 
Catholics  in  this  place.     In  fact,  she  was  only  waiting  your  return, 


762 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


publicly  to  embrace  it  in  a  solemn  manner,  as  she  had  often  told  me. 
She  had  thoroughly  prepared  herself,  and  when  she  was  taken  sick, 
she  immediately  sent  for  me,  earnestly  entreated  to  go  to  confession 
and  be  baptized.  I  told  her  confession,  in  her  case,  was  unnecessary. 
She  then  received  baptism  at  my  hands  in  the  midst  of  her  family  and 
many  friends,  with  the  sentiments  of  an  angel.  From  that  time  till 
her  death,  two  days  after,  her  thoughts  were  all  in  God.  She  longed 
to  die  and  be  with  Him.  At  her  earnest  request  I  did  not  leave  her 
presence  till  death,  when,  on  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  September, 
she  sweetly  gave  up  her  soul  to  God.  Before  her  death  she  gave  orders 
for  her  burial,  all  according  to  the  rites  of  the  church,  and  her  inter- 
ment in  our  new  cemetery.  She  spoke  of  you  in  her  last  moments  and 
called  you  her  dear  bishop.  All  the  city  was  covered  with  gloom ;  for 
she  had  been  the  admiration  of  all.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  State 
was  then  in  session.  It  immediately  adjourned  to  attend  her  funeral, 
the  order  of  which  was  as  follows :  At  8  A.M.  on  the  morning  of  the 
16th  of  September  all  met  on  the  great  square  before  the  residence  of 
the  Governor.  Then  a  large  company  of  foot-men  led  the  way;  then  a 
numerous  company  of  horsemen,  then  the  mounted  pall-bearers  preceded 
by  the  marshal,  all  with  their  appropriate  garb  of  mourning,  twelve 
in  number ;  then  came  the  corpse,  next  myself  in  soutan,  surplice  and 
stole,  with  attending  physician  in  a  carriage ;  then  the  family  of  the 
Governor,  then  Senator  Young  and  family,  then  the  lawyers  of  the 
court,  and  at  least  100  carriages.  We  repaired  thus  to  the  church,  where 
the  funeral  rites  were  performed,  after  which  I  briefly  addressed  the 
multitude.  Then  we  proceeded  in  the  same  order  to  the'  grave-yard  and 
returned  in  like  manner.  Such  has  been  the  death  of  this  eminently 
talented  young  lady.  All  the  papers  have  vied  with  one  another  in 
their  eulogiums  on  her.  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  I  shall  soon  receive 
the  whole  family  in  the  church.  I  am  now  almost  every  day  with 
them.  The  death  of  Emily  has  had  a  thrilling  effect  on  many.  Reports 
have  already  been  circulated  by  the  Presbyterians,  that  I  forced  her 
to  embrace  the  Catholic  religion.  Their  envy  is  insatiate  and  finds  no 
relief  but  in  calumny.  Indeed,  I  have  been  solicited  by  some  of  my 
Protestant  friends  here  to  prosecute  one,  who  stands  high  in  society, 
for  a  libel  on  me.  If  more  is  said,  I  will  certainly  do  so,  for  I  know  it 
would  at  once  cause  them,  even  here,  to  be  cautious  in  regard  to  Cath- 
olics, and  I  fear  nothing  from  them,  as  all  has  been  public.  Judge 
Young,  the  Governor,  and  many  of  the  most  influential  lawyers  would 
ardently  wish  it.  The  person  who  has  been  so  officious  in  this  case  is  a 
Mrs.  Tillson,  wife  of  the  wealthy  brother  of  John  Tillson,  agent  of 
the  Illinois  Land  Company,  whose  lady  and  family  is  a  very  different 
one  from  the  one  in  question. 


Father  Hilary  Tucker  in  Quincy  763 

"But  God  has  not  stayed  His  hand  even  here,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dowan, 
German  Lutheran  minister  of  this  place,  a  man  well  known  in  all  the 
eastern  cities,  will  soon  declare  himself  publicly  a  Catholic.  He  will 
set  out  next  spring  for  Belgium,  where  he  wishes  to  receive  the  priest- 
hood. He  is  not  willing  yet  that  anything  should  be  said  about  it,  as 
he  thinks,  the  impression  on  his  heretofore  brethren  would  be  too  great. 
Such,  dear  Bishop,  are  some  of  the  items  that  I  have  to  communicate  to 
you.  I  have  established  a  branch  of  the  Temperance  Society,  similar 
to  those  in  Ireland.  For,  at  the  last  election  our  Irish  disgraced  them- 
selves in  a  public  riot,  so  much  that  the  civil  force  was  called  to  quell 
it.  I  have  restored  things  to  order,  and  on  the  next  Sunday  I  publish- 
ed from  the  altar  my  intention.  Although  there  have  been  threats 
made  by  some  wealthy  German  dealers  in  liquors  that,  if  I  said  any- 
thing, they  would  drive  me  from  Quincy.  I  told  them  from  the  altar 
that  I  knew  what  had  been  said,  and  that  I  was  ready  to  suffer  even 
death  if  necessary  in  discharging  my  duty,  and  that  I  would  raise  my 
voice  against  such  excesses.  They  have  attempted  nothing  so  far.  Our 
little  society  in  the  meantime  increases,  and  we  now  have  about  thirty 
members.  It  is  called  the  Roman  Catholic  Temperance  Society  of 
Quincy.  But  dear  Bishop,  do  not  imagine  that  I  am  free  from  troubles 
of  the  most  distressing  kind.  I  assure  you  I  am  harrassed  beyond 
measure.  I  have  been  grossly  slandered  even  by  those  who  bear  the 
name  of  Catholics.  Letters  have  been  sent  to  F.  Verhaegen  long  before 
I  knew  of  it.  I  then  laid  my  case  before  him,  and  he  wrote  me  a  con- 
soling letter  and  encouraged  me  to  go  on.  May  God  pardon  all,  is 
my  prayer.  But  slander  is  indeed  very  dampening  to  my  courage. 
Dear  Bishop,  our  church  must  be  finished.  I  hope  we  will  have  it  ready 
for  consecration  by  the  end  of  October.  It  is  the  prettiest  one  in  Illinois, 
but  we  shall  be  in  debt.  You  really  must  assist  us.  It  weighs  heavily 
on  my  mind.  I  have  written  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect  asking  some  assis- 
tance. I  hope  you  will  advocate  my  cause  with  him,  which  is  your 
cause.  1  think  he  will  do  something.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  place 
is  destined  to  be  shortly  a  city  of  15,000  inhabitants,  and  we  must  rise 
with  it.  This  is  the  opinion  of  the  most  intelligent  here,  who  though 
Protestants,  wish  for  the  success  of  Catholicity.  The  Presbyterians  are 
straining  every  nerve  to  get  the  ascendancy.  Some  of  their  most  dis- 
tinguished ministers  have  endeavored  to  entrap  me,  but  above  all  Dr. 
Nelson,  the  abolitionist.  Oh,  that  our  church  was  finished,  and  that 
some  distinguished  controversialist  could  spend  a  month  with  me.  I  have 
some  hope  of  having  Bishop  Purcell  here  to  consecrate  the  church,  as 
he  will  be  on  a  visit  to  St.  Louis  to  see  his  sister.  I  shall  have  a  com- 
fortable parsonage  finished  before  winter. 


764  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

"Mr.  Rogers  and  Mr.  Whitney  deserve  the  eternal  gratitude  of  the 
Catholics  of  this  place ;  but  they  cannot  do  all.  I  pray  you  then  to 
do  what  you  can  for  me,  for  my  health  is  really  sinking  under  anxiety. 
Not  long  since  my  horse  and  fell  and  rolled  over  me  and  much  injured 
my  breast ;  but  I  hope  that  it  will  not  prove  fatal. '  '15 

In  concluding  this  chapter  on  the  early  days  of  Quincy,  we  would 
give  the  few  dates  Ave  have  gathered  on  the  later  period  of  Father 
Hilary  Tucker's  life. 

Up  to  1844  Quincy,  together  with  all  western  Illinois,  was  both  de 
facto  and  de  jure  a  part  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  But  in  that  year 
the  diocese  of  Chicago  was  organized,  including  the  entire  state  of 
Illinois.  Father  Tucker  thus,  as  pastor  of  Quincy,  exchanged  his  mem- 
bership in  the  diocese  of  his  old  friend  Rosati  for  that  of  Chicago;  and 
in  1845  Bishop  Rosati  died  in  Rome.  A  number  of  the  older  clergy 
retired  from  the  western  missions;  and  as  Father  Hilary's  companion 
Father  George  Hamilton,  followed  a  call  to  the  more  cultured  East, 
he  himself  asked  to  be  released  from  the  diocese  of  Chicago.  In  1846 
we  find  Father  Hilary  Tucker  in  Boston,  Mass.,  in  1847  in  Lowell,  from 
1848  to  1852  in  Providence,  and  from  1852  to  1872  at  the  Cathedral  in 
Boston,  where  he  died  March  15,  1872. 

Father  Hilary  Tucker  was  a  man  of  strong  character,  even  im- 
pulsive at  times,  with  a  high  idea  of  his  calling  and  filled  with  zeal 
for  the  conversion  of  souls.  His  early  missionary  life  at  Quincy  and  the 
surrounding  stations  was  a  sore  trial  to  him;  yet  he  held  to  his  post  of 
duty  until  the  disaster  was  repaired,  and  all  went  smoothly  once  more. 

He  was  a  man  capable  of  deep  and  lasting  friendships.  What 
drew  him  to  Boston  and  the  East  was,  not  so  much  a  desire  for  an  easier 
life,  but  rather  the  friendships  he  had  contracted  in  the  early  Roman 
days.  The  saintly  Father  Lewis  Tucker  of  Fredericktown  was,  in  some 
respects,  the  very  reverse  of  his  brother.  Unassuming,  abstemious,  care- 
less of  comfort  and  personal  appearance,  good  old  Father  Lewis  Tucker 
never  wrote  a  letter  except  on  compulsion  and  then  invariably  wrote 
in  such  a  matter-of-fact  style  that  it  would  have  grated  on  the  nerves 
of  Father  Hilary,  if  he  had  ever  been  favored  with  one.  Many  years 
ago  the  good  people  of  Fredericktown  told  me  of  a  visit  of  the  portly 
Father  Hilary  to  his  elder  brother,  good  old  Father  Tucker,  on  which 
occasion  Father  Hilary  reproached  the  pastor  of  Fredericktown  with 
the  poverty  of  his  surroundings  and  actually  threw  all  the  dishes  out 
of  the  house,  replacing  them  with  a  set  of  new  ones. 


15     Tucker  to  Eosati,   September  27,   1840. 


Chapter  36 

THE   EARLY  GERMAN  PARISHES   OP 
SOUTHWESTERN    ILLINOIS 


The  French  influence  in  the  Church  on  the  borders  of  the  Mississippi 
and  Missouri  Rivers,  that  had  been  predominant  or  almost  exclusive 
since  the  days  of  the  early  Jesuit  missionaries,  began  to  wane  with 
the  advent  of  the  Americans  from  East  and  South :  but  its  power  was 
finally  extinguished  in  the  thirties  of  the  nineteenth  century  by  the 
swarms  of  Catholic  immigrants  from  Ireland  and  Germany.  This  was 
especially  noticeable  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois,  in  the  counties  of  St. 
Clair,  Clinton,  Monroe  and  Randolph.  The  ancient  parishes  in  these 
counties,  Cahokia,  Prairie  du  Rocher,  and  Kaskaskia,  indeed,  remained 
French,  but  their  territory  was  literally  studded  with  thriving  set- 
tlements of  German  and  Irish  Catholics,  who  soon  after  their  ar- 
rival, began  to  clamor  for  priests  of  their  own  nationality,  and  offered 
to  build  churches  and  schools  of  their  own.1 

On  August  27th,  1836,  Father  Francis  Regis  Loisel  entered  upon 
his  duties  at  Cahokia.  On  October  27th,  he  said  mass  for  the  first 
time  at  French  Village;  On  December  8th,  and  9th,  at  Belleville,  and 
soon  after  at  St.  Thomas  near  Millstadt.  There  were  no  churches  of 
any  kind  at  these  places.  The  first  attempt  at  building  was  made  at  St. 
Thomas,  where  Father  Loisel2  said  Mass  at  the  house  of  James  Powers. 
About  twenty-five  persons  were  present,  and  six  received  communion. 
He  spoke  to  them  of  building  a  little  chapel,  and  they  concluded, 
that  on  Wednesday,  the  24th  of  November,  the  parishioners  should 
assemble  to  cut  down  trees  for  the  construction  of  the  chapel  to  which 
they  would  give  the  name  of  St.  Thomas,  the  Apostle.  January,  24th 
after  Mass,  a  subscription  was  taken  up  for  the  new  church,  which 
amounted  to  82  dollars,  and  three  trustees  were  elected:  John  O'Brien, 
James  Power  and  Bernard  Slocy. 

In  his  excursions  through  the  Counties  of  St.  Clair  and  Clinton 
Father  Loisel  found  such  a  large  number  of  German  Catholics,  that 
he  was  moved  to  ask  Bishop  Rosati  for  a  German  Assistant,  namely  the 
newly  ordained  Father  Ambrose  Heim.  But  Father  Heim  was  needed 
at  New  Madrid.  On  December  13th,  the  Bishop  had  given  faculties 
to  Rev.   Charles  Meyer,  a  recent  arrival  from  Basle,  in   Switzerland. 


i  Bishop  Brute's  cry  for  help  in  May,  1837,  "How  I  tremble  to  think  of  this 
situation;  I  hear  nothing  spoken  about  except  the  emigrants  and  the  cry  for  priests 
that  goes  up  on  every  side. ' ' 

2  Concerning  Father  Loisel  cf.  Msgr.  Holweck's  article  in  "  Pastoral-Blatt, " 
vol.  52,  No.  G,  Englished  in  ' '  St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Eeview, ' '  vol.  I,  p.  103  ss. 

(765) 


7G6  Hist  or  n  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Father  .Meyer  was  then  staying  with  relations  at  Shilo,  near  Belleville, 
aboul  eighl  miles  from  Cahokia,  where  the  Stauder  family  had  erected 
a  small  chapel  on  their  own  land.  From  Shiloh,  Father  Meyer  was  to 
visit  the  Germans  of  Johnson's  Settlement,  where  St.  Thomas  Church 
was  blessed  by  Bishop  Rosati  on  November  26th,  1837.  Father  Loisel 
received  an  assistant  in  the  person  of  Father  John  Kenny.  Father 
.Meyer's  faculties  extended  to  all  the  German  Catholics  of  Illinois, 
even  those  living  in  Cahokia  itself. 

In  1837,  Father  Meyer,  writes  that  the  mission  of  St  Michael  is 
attached  to  Teutonia,  of  which  he  has  charge,  and  that  his  residence 
is  at  Shilo.  The  German  Catholics  of  St.  Augustines  in  Prairie  dn 
Long  were,  as  a  matter  of  course,  under  his  jurisdiction.  The  log- 
church  at  St.  Thomas,  however,  was  abandoned,  when  the  church  at 
Millstadt  was  completed.  The  chapel  at  Shiloh  also  ceased  to  be  used 
for  services,  when  the  Church  at  Belleville  was  built.  In  the  Records 
written  by  Father  Saulnier  Father  Charles  Meyer  is  given  as  pastor  of 
Belleville  in  1836  and  1837;  but  from  1838  to  1843  he  is  styled  "Pastor 
of  St.  Andrew's,  Teutonia,  St.  Clair  County,  Illinois."3 

At  a  later  date  the  name  of  Teutonia  was  changed  to  Paderborn, 
and  the  new  church  was  dedicated  to  St.  Michael.  It  is  still  a  pros- 
perous Parish.  In  1814  Belleville  had  become  the  County  seat,  and 
consequently  attracted  a  large  influx  of  people  from  the  surrounding 
settlements  who  were,  for  the  most  part,  Germans.  The  Catholic  Ger- 
mans were  in  charge  of  Father  Meyer,  who  however,  kept  his  resi- 
dence at  Shilo,  Mass  was  said  in  the  Court-House  at  first,  and  later, 
on  at  the  home  of  the  Huber  family.  These  Germans  were  mostly  from 
Alsace  and  Lorraine.  In  1837  John  O'Brien  donated  land  on  which 
the  church  was  to  be  built.  The  first  resident  priest  at  Belleville  was 
Father  Joseph  Kuenster,  who  arrived  in  1843.  It  was  now  decided 
to  build  on  a  two  acre  tract  purchased  from  Joseph  Meyer.  The 
corner-stone  was  laid  in  the  Spring  of  1843.  Means  failing  however  in 
the  course  of  the  year,  the  building  remained  unfinished,  but  was  used 
for  divine  services  for  a  time  in  that  condition.  Mass  was  celebrated 
within  its  walls  for  the  first  time  on  Christmas  morning  1843,  one 
month  after  the  erection  of  the  diocese  of  Chicago.  In  1845,  Father 
Kuenster  was  succeeded  by  Father  Gaspar  Henry  Ostlangenberg.  Father 
Ostlangenberg,  however,  had  a  very  interesting  course  of  life  in  the 
sacred  ministry  prior  to  this  appointment,  the  greater  part  of  which 
was  passed  in  eastern  Illinois.4 


3  Parish  Chronicle  of  Cahokia.  Vnn  der  Sanden  has  this  note  in  regard  to 
Father  Mayer's  place  of  residence:  1836  Parochus  Belleville,  1837  Pastor  Teutoniae. 
Haec  Teutonia  habebat  titulum  Eeclesiae  S.  Andreae,  qui  locus  dicitur  5  vel.  6  mil- 
liaria  a  Belleville,  sed  nunc  (1839)   abolitus. 

4  Holweck,  Msgr.  F.  G.  Gaspar  Henry  Ostlangenberg  in  "Illinois  Catholic 
Historical  Review, ' '  vol.  Ill,  p.  43  ss. 


The  Early  German  Parishes  of  Southwestern  Illinois  767 

Gaspar  Henry  Ostlangenberg  was  born  March.  4,  1810,  of  wealthy 
parents,  the  owners  of  Ostlangenberg  Manor,  near  Langenberg,  Kreis 
Wiedenbrueck,  Diocese  of  Paderborn,  in  Westphalia.  Probably  he 
made  his  classical  course  in  some  Westphalian  town,  until  he  resolved 
to  abandon  his  country  and  embrace  the  life  of  a  poor  missionary  in 
some  wilderness  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three 
he  crossed  the  ocean  to  enter  St.  Mary's  Seminary  at  the  Barrens,  Perry 
Co.,  Missouri.     He  arrived  there  November  1st,   1833. 

February  24,  1835,  Father  Regis  Loisel  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati 
of  St.  Louis,  that  the  student  Ostlangenberg  was  grievously  sick.  In 
pioneer  days,  when  the  ax  of  the  colonist  cleared  the  forest  and  his  plow 
broke  the  virgin  soil,  fevers  broke  out  even  in  the  healthiest  locations 
and  drove  many  a  tradesman  and  many  a  missionary  back  to  his  home 
in  Europe.5 

March  4,  1835,  Bishop  Rosati  wrote  to  Cardinal  Fransoni : 
"Amongst  them  (the  Alumni  of  the  Seminary)  a  German,  a  prom- 
ising young  man,  by  the  name  of  Gasp.  H.  Ostlangenberg,  of  the  diocese 
of  Paderborn  in  Prussia,  has  no  dimissorial  letters  from  his  Ordinary ; 
he  cannot  obtain  them,  because  he  left  his  country,  when  by  law  he 
was  still  subject  to  military  conscription.  The  Bishops  are  prohibited 
from  issuing  such  letters,  unless  the  applicants  have  first  satisfied  their 
obligation.  "Wherefore  I  humbly  ask  Your  Eminence  to  obtain  for 
me  from  the  Holy  Father  the  faculty  to  ordain  the'  aforesaid  young  man 
without  the  dismissorial  letters  from  his  Ordinary.  When  still  a 
layman  he  left  the  diocese  of  Paderborn  and  emigrated  to  America."6 

March  15th,  1835,  Pope  Gregory  XVI  granted  to  Bishop  Rosati 
the  faculty  he  had  asked  for,  but  shortly  after  the  Exeat  for  the  young 
student  arrived  from  Paderborn.  Both  documents,  the  Roman  privilege 
and  the  Exeat  from  Paderborn  are  preserved  in  the  office  of  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Chancellor  in  St.  Louis.  Ostlangenberg 's  friend  and  colleague  at 
the  Seminary  was  his  countryman,  Henry  Fortman,  later  on  well  known 
at  Chicago  as  pastor  of  Grosse  Point.  Ostlangenberg  was  ordained 
subdeacon  July  22,  1837 ;  the  order  of  the  Holy  Priesthood  was  con- 
ferred upon  him  July  7,  1838.  On  July  20,  1838  Bishop  Rosati,  ac- 
cording to  his  Diary,  gave  the  major  faculties  to  Rev.  J.  A.  Lutz,  the 
minor  faculties  to  Rev.  Gaspar  Henry  Ostlangenberg.  As  the  newly 
ordained  priest  spoke  English  fairly  well,  the  Bishop  kept  him  at  the 
Cathedral  until  January  1839,  as  assistant  to  Father  John  Fischer,  the 
acting  pastor.  Probably,  as  Father  Holweek  surmises,  he  intended  the 
young  strong  and  energetic  man,  who  felt  himself  at  home  in  the 
three  most  necessary  languages  of  the  diocese,  the  French,  English 
and   German,  for  the  new  parish  to  be  formed  in  the  southern  part 


5  Holweek,  1.  c,  p.  43. 

6  Eosati  to  Fransoni,  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


768  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

of  the  city :  but  events  were  more  potent  than  the  plans  of  men. 
The  building  of  the  new  church  had  to  be  postponed  indefinitely ;  and 
from  Illinois  came  the  urgent  call  for  a  priest,  just  as  Father  Ostlangen- 
berg  was  known  to  be. 

On  Little  Muddy  Creek,  St.  Clair  County,  Illinois,  a  few  Irish  im- 
migrants had  built  their  log  cabins;  they  were  joined  by  some  North- 
Germans,  mostly  from  the  diocese  of  Paderborn.  Because  St.  Liborius, 
Bp.  C.  is  the  patron  of  Paderborn,  the  colony  was  called  "Libory 
Settlement."  In  August  1838,  B.  Dingwerth  and  W.  Harwerth  went 
to  St.  Louis  and  asked  the  Bishop  to  send  a  priest  to  the  new  and  prom- 
ising colony,  a  priest  who  could  speak  both  languages  English  and 
German.  He  sent  Father  Ostlangenberg,  to  see  what  could  be  done 
for  the  Libory  people.  On  Agust  5,  1838,  Ostlangenberg  said  the  first 
Mass  for  the  colonists  in  the  log  house  of  Mr.  W.  Harwerth.  He  en- 
couraged them  to  build  a  chapel,  then  returned  to  St.  Louis  to  direct 
the  undertaking  from  there  as  well  as  he  could.  The  ground  for  the 
new  church  was  donated  by  B.  Dingwerth.  On  October  21,  1838, 
Bishop  Rosati  writes  in  his  diary :  ' '  Today  I  received  the  visit  of  a 
certain  German  man  who  lives  on  Little  Muddy  Creek,  in  St.  Clair 
County.  He  asked  for  the  permission  to  build  a  church  which  is  to 
be  called  after  St.  Luke.  At  that  place  there  are  twenty  German  fam- 
ilies and  on  the  other  side  of  the  creek  seven  more,  who  also  wish 
to  build  a  church ;  finally  at  the  little  river  called  Shoal  Creek,  there 
are  about  sixty  families,  amongst  whom  a  church  must  be  built  in 
honor  of  St.  Boniface.  If  it  be  God's  will,  Mr.  Ostlangenberg  will 
have  charge  of  these  parishes.7 

The  same  diary  enables  us  to  follow  the  development  of  things : 

On  December  1,  1838  :  I  told  the  German  Catholics  who  live  on  Okaw 
River,  St.  Clair  County  that  after  New  Year's  I  would  send  to  them 
Father  Ostlangenberg  to  reside  in  their  midst. 

On  January  19,  Bishop  Rosati  gave  the  papers' of  institution  to  the 
parish  of  St.  Thaddeus  on  Silver  Creek,  the  mission  of  St.  Liborius  at 
Fayetteville  and  St.  Boniface,  Shoal  Creek,  to  Rev.  Gaspar  Henry 
Ostlangenberg,  together  with  the  major  faculties. 

On  January  21st,  1839,  Rev.  Mr.  Gaspar  Henry  Ostlangenberg 
left  St.  Louis  for  the  missions  of  St.  Thaddeus  and  of  St.  Liborius 
at  Fayetteville,  St.  Clair  County,  Illinois,  thirty  miles  distant  from  St. 
Louis. 

After  his  arrival  in  the  settlement,  the  young  priest  made  his  home  in 
the  sacristy  of  the  unfinished  church,.  On  April  21st,  1839,  he  re- 
ported to  Bishop  Rosati  the  following  facts  about  St.  Libory:  "The 
church  is  not  blessed,  there  is  no  bell,  no  baptismal  font,  but  there 
is  a  confessional  and  a  tabernacle.     No  residence  for  the  priest,  who 


i     Kosati's  Diary. 


The  Early  German  Parish's  of  Southwestern  Illinois  769 

lives  in  the  sacristy.  He  uses  German  and  English  in  preaching,  sings 
High  Mass  on  Sundays  (German  Hymns)  in  the  afternoon  Vespers  and 
Catechism.  The  mission  on  Shoal  Creek,  Clinton  County  has  a  church 
and  a  priest's  house."8  The  temporary  church-building  at  Libory  Set- 
tlement was  soon  to  give  way  to  a  new  church.  The  logs  for  the 
new  structure  were  ready  and  the  people  asked  that  the  corner-stone 
be  laid.  But  another  church,  of  stone,  was  in  contemplation,  when 
the  log  church  should  be  put  to  other  uses.  Yet  the  zealous  priest 
was  anxious  to  have  a  proper  place  for  divine  worship. 

The  people  of  St.  Libory  were  certainly  pious  and  God-fearing. 
Soon  after  their  pastor's  coming  they  petitioned  him  for  the  establish- 
ment of  some  confraternity,  preferably  the  Confraternity  of  the  "Sacred 
Agony  of  Our  Savior,  for  a  happy  death."9 

On  April  17,  1839,  twenty-one  men  of  Shoal  Creek  sent  a  petition 
to  Bishop  Rosati,  written  in  the  German  language,  in  which  they  asked 
the  Bishop  to  appoint  Father  Ostlangenberg  their  first  resident  priest. 
Ostlangenberg  would  have  been  only  too  glad  to  transfer  his  residence 
from  St.  Libory  to  Shoal  Creek  (Now  Germantown).  Since  Bishop 
Rosati,  however,  neither  read  nor  spoke  German,  his  secretary,  Father 
Joseph  A.  Lutz,  translated  the  petition  into  English  for  him.  For 
some  reason,  in  the  translation,  he  omitted  Rev.  Ostlangenberg 's  name 
and  made  the  corresponding  passage  read:  "We  beg  therefore  most 
humbly  His  Lord's  Grace  to  favor  us  with  a  German  priest." 

Two  months  later  Father  Ostlangenberg  himself  from  Shoal  Creek, 
wrote  to  the  Bishop,  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  Shoal  Creek,  who  had 
begged  him  to  write  for  them  as  they  knew  no  English:  "They  long- 
wished  to  have  a  priest  resident  here.  They  are  about  60  families, 
besides  the  single  men.  They  have  prudently  made  the  account  for 
the  support  of  a  priest,  which  will  be,  I  doubt  not,  sufficient.  I  find 
a  solid  piety  in  the  Congregation,  but  their  numerous  children  grow 
up  in  ignorance  ....  They  would  very  much  desire  to  have  me, 
but  I  told  them,  that  it  perhaps  should  not  be  Your  wish."10 

Not  receiving  the  desired  answer,  the  anxious  priest  renews  his 
petition  in  a  veiled  allusion:  "My  labours  are  considerable,  and  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  inconvenience,  stopping  one-half  week  in  one  place 
and  the  other  half  in  another,  as  I  can  hardly  take  the  books  necessary 
for  my  studies.  I  am  called  to  Carlisle,  a  distance  of  eight  miles  from 
Shoal  Creek.  In  its  vicinity  there  some  Catholics  labouring  on 
the  public  roads,  where  there  are  some  sick  and  many  others  who  ought 
to  comply  with  their  duties.     At  Shoal  Creek  there  are  really  in  every 


s     Ostlangenberg  to  Rosati,  April  21,  1839. 

s     Ostlangenberg  to  Eosati,  May  8,  1839.     The  priest  had  dedicated  the  church 
in  honor  of  St.  Liborius,  although  the  Bishop  had  selected  the  name  of  St.  Thaddeus. 
10     Ostlangenberg  to  "Rosati,  from  Shoal  Creek,  June  16,  1839.  Archives. 

Vol.  1—25 


770 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


house  two  or  three  sick  persons.  At  Libory  Settlement  there  are  some 
sick  too;  I  am  also  called  some  twelve  miles  towards  Kaskaskias  where 
there  are  some  Catholic  families."11 

But  on  the  day  on  which  Bishop  Rosati  received  Ostlangenberg's 
Letter,  August  3rd,  he  appointed  Father  Henry  Portmann  first  pastor 
of  Shoal  Creek.  Father  Ostlangenherg  had  to  remain  at  St.  Libory, 
witli  the  missions  of  St.  Luke  at  Fayetteville  and  St.  Barnabas  at 
Belleville. 

When  in  the  Spring  of  1830,  Father  Lefevere  of  St.  Paul's  on  Salt 
River  joined  Bishop  Rosati  and  his  Secretary  Father  Lutz  on  the  trip 
to  Baltimore  and  across  the  sea,  Father  Ostlangenherg  was  sent  by 
the  Administrator,  Father  Verhaegen  S.J.  to  the  missions  in  Ralls, 
Warren,  Pike,  Monroe,  and  Clarke  Counties  in  Missouri.  He  resided 
at  Indian  Creek  in  Monroe  County.  But  the  hardships  and  dangers  and 
privations  he  had  to  undergo  proved  too  heavy  a  burden  for  the  en- 
feebled and  very  sensitive  priest.  In  November  of  the  following  year 
Father  Verhaegen  transferred  him  to  Galena,  Illinois,  to  assist  Father 
Remigius  Petiot,  in  the  various  stations  that  were  springing  up  along 
the  Illinois-Wisconsin  boundary.12  Whilst  living  at  Galena,  he  at- 
tended St.  Matthew's  church  at  Shullsbury,  one  of  the  foundations  of 
Father  Mazzuchelli  in  Wisconsin.  At  the  erection  of  the  diocese  of 
Chicago  in  1843  Father  Gaspard  Ostlangenberg  severed  his  connection 
with  St.  Louis.  But  he  did  very  important  services  to  the  new  diocese 
of  Chicago,  at  Belleville,  where  he  established  peace  among  the  contend- 
ing factions,  and  completed  the  church  left  unfinished  by  Father  Henry 
Kuenster  in  1835. 13 

It  was  on  August  4,  1839  that  Father  Fortmann  received  his  ap- 
pointment as  Pastor  of  St.  Boniface's  Church  at  Shoal  Creek. 

The  beginning  of  this  Congregation,  now  St.  Michaels  Parish  of 
Germantown,  Clinton  County,  dates  back  to  a  much  earlier  period. 
Clinton  County  is  an  inland  district,  and  consequently  remained  an 
undisputed  hunting  ground  of  the  Indians  up  to  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  From  1781,  when  the  first  settlement  of  whites  was 
made  at  Bellefontaine  in  Monroe  County,  until  the  subjugation  of  the  In- 
dians of  the  Miami  Country  by  General  Wayne  in  1794,  the  history  of 
the  border  settlements  is  a  record  of  constant  aggression  on  the  part  of 
the  American  frontiersmen,  and  of  savage  revenge  and  depredation  on 
the  part  of  the  Kickapoos,  the  Shawnees,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and 
other  bands  of  Indians.  There  was  an  Indian  trail  that  led  over  the 
present  site  of  Belleville  to   the   Indian   Camps  on   Shoal   Creek,  the 


ii     Ostlangenberg  to  Rosati,  from  Libory  Settlement,  August  2,  1839. 
12     Sullivan,  T.  J.,  "History  of  the  Church  in  Wisconsin,"  p.  540. 
18     Of.    Hohveek,    Ostlangenberg,    1.    c,    53.      The    distinguished    priest    died    in 
Covington  diocese  on  August  9,  1885. 


The  Early  German  Parishes  of  Southwestern  Illinois  771 

very  heart  of  the  Indian  Country.  The  pioneers,  that  pushed  back 
the  Red  men  to  the  east  and  north,  were  mostly  from  the  eastern  states. 
They  were  not  a  religious  people,  yet  the  grosser  vices  were  unknown 
among  them.  Save  for  a  casual  Creole  visitor,  there  were  no  Catholics 
among  them.  Educational  opportunities  were  but  few  and  very  prim- 
itive. The  ubiquitous  Irishman,  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Halfpenny,  drifted 
in  and  was  appointed  schoolmaster  at  Bellefontaine  in  1785.  Medical 
aid  was  procured  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  A  disease,  called  putrid 
fever,  carried  off  one  half  of  the  population  of  the  settlement  within  the 
first  six  months.  But  land  was  cheap,  and  the  prairie  soil  was  fertile, 
and  the  wild  spirit  of  freedom,  brought  band  after  band  of  reckless 
Americans  to  the  frontiers  of  civilization,  until  the  wide  undulating 
prairies  of  southern  Illinois  were  dotted  with  homesteads,  miles  and 
miles  apart-  Thus  the  American  pioneers  came  into  possession  of  the 
best  lands  everywhere ;  but  were  ready  to  relinquish  them  at  a  reasonable 
price  to  any  newcomers  in  order  to  push  on  to  fresh  fields  and  pastures 
new."14 

In  such  a  country  civilization  was  more  of  a  name  than  a  reality, 
and  into  this  land  of  promise  the  Catholic  parts  of  Germany  poured 
a  constant  stream  of  honest,  morally  strong  and  healthy  people,  for 
whom  the  Fatherland  could  not  offer  the  means  of  subsistence.  De- 
parture from  one's  native  land  forever  is  a  melancholy  movement,  even 
when  most  hopeful.  Of  course  anything  that  seemed  needful  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  land  and  the  marketing  of  its  products  could  be 
bought  in  St.  Louis ;  but  money  was  too  scarce  to  allow  any  such  ex- 
travagance. However,  people  were  neighborly  and  helpful.  The  few 
utensils  and  tools  that  had  been  brought  along  from  the  old  home  were 
used  with  loving  care :  and  the  old  clothes  were  worn  almost  to  a  frazzle. 
Wagons  and  carts  were  generally  of  the  most  primitive  home-con- 
struction put  together  without  screw  or  nail  or  bolt.  The  wheels  were 
made  of  heavy  disks  of  wood  four  feet  in  diameter  and  a  foot  in  thick- 
ness, cut  from  a  log.  A  large  round  hole  in  the  center  received  the  axles. 
In  spite  of  frequent  application  of  axle  grease,  the  noise  that  these 
wagons  made  passing  over  the  rough  roads,  could  be  heard  for  miles 
around.  Oxen  drew  these  wagons :  the  yoke  was  made  of  hickory 
wood.  Horses  were  rare  and  served  for  riding  only.  The  first  German 
settlers  on  Shoal  Creek  had  the  best  opportunities  for  hunting  the 
wild  deer  and  the  still  wilder  wolf  and  bear.15 

Almost  all  these  German  settlers  were  Catholics.  In  the  winter 
of  1836  and  1837  a  number  of  them  made  the  journey  to  St.  Louis  to 


14  "Illinois'  Early  Settlers,"  pamphlet. 

15  From  Notizen  ueber  die  ersten  Ansiedlungen  der  Plattdeutiselien  Katholikcn 
in  Clinton  County,  Illinois,  "Amerika,"  April  11,  1881. 


i  rz 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


perform  their  Easter  duty.  In  the  following  years  they  enjoyed  the 
presence  of  Father  Charles  Meyer  among'  them.10 

In  the  summer  of  1837  the  settlers  on  Shoal  Creek  bought  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  land  at  $700  for  church  purposes.  At  this  time 
the  place  received  its  name.  Some  who  came  from  Westphalia  would 
call  it  Westphalia,  others  that  came  from  Hanover,  stood  for  Hanover. 
Others  again  would  combine  the  two  interests  by  hyphenating  the  place 
as  Westphalia-Hanover,     Finally  all  agreed  on  Germantown.17 

A  church  building  was  the  next  object  proposed.  But  how  to 
raise  the  funds  Avas  the  crux  of  the  question  ?  At  last  some  one  broached 
the  brilliant  idea  to  lay  out  forty  acres  of  the  church  land  in  lots 
of  one  acre  each  and  to  sell  them  to  the  highest  bidder.  The  remain- 
ing eighty  acres  were  reserved  for  the  Church  and  priests  home  and 
the  cemetery.  Later  on  some  other  portions  of  the  church  land  Avere 
sold  for  building  purposes.  Thus  the  foundation  for  a  thriving  city 
was  laid  for  the  sole  benefit  of  the  spiritual  interests  of  its  future 
population.  The  first  to  erect  a  building  on  the  town-site  was  a  coun- 
try storekeeper  name  Chanton,  the  second  was  old  Lambert  Picker, 
the  third,  Frank  Haukap.  In  this  house  Father  Fortmann  took  up  his 
residence  on  his  arrival  at  Shoal  Creek.18 

The  first  church  was  an  old  dilapidated  blockhouse,  newly  roofed 
and  generally  renovated.  The  altar  and  communion-table  were  of 
rough  ash  wood.  As  the  population  grew,  a  school  was  opened  in  which 
Henry  Hemann  taught  the  children  free  and  gratis.  At  last  Father 
Ostlangenberg,  whom  Bishop  Rosati  had  promised  them,  arrived,  to 
be  succeeded  in  August  1839  by  the  first  resident  Pastor,  Father  John 
Henry  Fortmann. 

"John  Henry  Fortmann,  born  at  Lohne,  Oldenburg,  diocese  of 
Muenster,  in  1802,  entered  the  Seminary  at  the  Barrens,  June  3,  1833, 
after  he  had  made  two  years  of  theology  at  Muenster.  He  was  or- 
dained November  1st,  1837,  but  remained  at  the  Seminary,  attending 
the  German  colonists  at  Apple  Creek,  whilst  Father  Wiseman  served 
the  Kentuckians."19 

In  the  Autumn  of  1839  the  erection  of  a  new  church-building  was 
urged  upon  the  people  by  the  pastor.  Divine  service  was  held  regularly 
on  Sundays  and  Holy  days  of  obligation.  All  members  brought  their 
old  German  hymn  books  to  church  and  sang  the  old  songs  to  the  ac- 
companiment of  a  melodeon  some  one  had  brought  from  St.  Louis. 
Every  Sunday  a  meeting  was  held  in  which  the  new  church  was  thor- 
oughly discussed.     Father  Fortmann  played  the  role  of  architect  and 


is  Notizen  in  "Amerika,"  April  1881. 

IT  Notizen — continued — "Amerika,"    April    1881. 

is  Ibidem. 

la  St.  Louis  Clergy  List. 


The  Early  German  Parishes  of  Southwestern  Illinois  773 

builder.  The  plan  called  for  church,  school  and  pastoral  residence 
under  one  roof.  The  cost  was  estimated  at  $1000,  but  in  the  end 
amounted  to  $1300.  Father  Fortmann  helped  felling  and  moving  the 
logs  in  the  neighboring  forest;  the  logs  were  cut  into  planks  by  means 
of  a  crosscut  saw.  Building  operations  commenced  in  Spring  1840, 
and  were  practically  completed  by  Easter  1840. 20 

Easter  Sunday  was  a  great  and  joyful  day  for  the  good  Catholics  of 
Shoal  Creek :  But  a  correspondingly  great  and  sad  disappointment 
awaited  them.  For  as  the  members  of  the  Congregation  arrived  from 
all  sides  in  their  ox  teams,  they  were  told  by  Father  Fortmann,  that 
there  would  be  no  Mass  in  the  new  church  until  the  deed  to  the  Church- 
property  was  made  over  in  Bishop  Rosati's  name. 

Father  Fortmann  was  inexorable  in  this  demand,  and  during  the 
week  following  Easter  Sunday,  the  Trustees  made  out  the  required  deed, 
and  on  the  following  Sunday  holy  Mass  was  celebrated  in  the  new 
temple  of  God  in  Germantown.21 


20  Notizen,  ibidem. 

21  Notizen,  at  end  of  article. 


Chapter  37 

THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  SPEAKING  PARISHES  OP  SOUTH- 
WESTERN ILLINOIS 


The  venerable  Church  of  Old  Kaskaskia.  the  object  of  so  many 
divine  visitations,  joyous  as  well  as  afflicting,  relinquished  her  privilege 
of  being  a  fruitful  center  of  missionary  activity  among  the  scattered 
settlers  in  the  adjacent  territory,  to  the  neighboring  Church  of  St. 
Joseph  at  Prairie  du  Rocher.  It  was  mainly  Father  Vital  Van  Clostere 
that  was  called  upon  to  do  the  glorious,  but  very  laborious  work.  He 
was  ably  seconded  by  Father  John  Kenny  and  Father  Timothy  Con- 
way. Fathers  Roux  and  Saint  Cyr  were  fully  occupied  with  the  affairs 
of  the  Church  and  the  Convent  at  Kaskaskia.  Harrisonville  in  Ran- 
dolph County  was  visited  by  Father  Hercules  Brassac  as  early  as 
1818.  He  was  one  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  companions  on  the  Caravane: 
but  was  placed  in  Lower  Louisiana  at  an  early  date. 

In  1832,  the  Church  of  St.  James  the  youngsr  at  Harrisonville  was 
confided  to  Father  Van  Clostere,  Pastor  of  Prairie  du  Rocher.  In 
1839  the  Church,  now  under  the  title  of  SS.  Philip  and  James,  was 
turned  over  to  Father  John  Kenny  pastor,  of  St.  Augustin's,  Prairie 
du  Long,  with  the  injunction  to  hold  service  there  every  occurring 
fifth  Sunday,  and  on  all  the  Feast  days  of  obligation. 

The  Church  of  St.  Augustin  of  Canterbury,  in  what  was  called 
English  Settlement,  or  Prairie  du  Long,  in  Randolph  County,  grew  out 
of  a  settlement  made  in  1816,  by  twelve  English  families  from  Lan- 
cashire, England.  It  was  visited  at  regular  intervals  since  1831  by 
the  Pastor  of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  Father  Vital  Van  Clostere.  A  log 
church  was  built  in  1824,  and  blessed  by  the  zealous  Priest  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  Bishop.  A  grant  of  land  of  sixty  acres  was  obtained  for 
the  Parish  by  Bishop  Rosati,  twenty  acres  of  which  are  located  in 
Monroe  County,  and  forty  in  St.  Clair  County.  All  the  buildings  of 
the  Parish  were  located  in  St.  Clair  County.  The  new  stone  church 
was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Rosati  on  November  11th,  1838.  Since 
1837,  Father  John  Kenny  was  Pastor  of  the  Congregation.  In  1842  he 
was  succeeded  by  Father  Ambrose  Heim.  Father  Peter  McCabe  was 
its  last  Pastor  under  the  regime  of  St.  Louis  diocese.1  The  oldest 
organized  English  Congregation  on  the  Mississippi  River  was  that  of 
St.  Patrick's  at  O'Hara's  Settlement,  in  Randolph  County.     The  place 


1     Kaup  and  Beuckmann  in  "History  of  the  Diocese  of  Belleville,"  pp.  41  and 
42. 

(774) 


The  Early  English  Speaking  Parishes  of  Southwestern  Illinois 


i  ID 


was  founded  in  1818  by  Henry  O'Hara,  and  a  number  of  Maryland 
Catholic  families,  as  the  0 'Haras,  Harrells,  Mudds,  Brewers,  Simpsons 
and  Vinsons.  Since  1820  Mass  was  said  in  the  house  of  Henry  O'Hara 
by  Father  Desmoulins,  pastor  of  Kaskaskia.  The  founder  of  the  town 
at  his  death  in  1824  became  the  founder  of  the  Parish  also  by  leav- 
ing for  its  use  one  hundred  acres  of  land.  On  March  30th,  1830,  Bishop 
Rosati  gave  faculties  to  Key.  Regis  Loisel  to  bless  the  new  church  at 
O 'Haras.  It  was  a  wooden  structure,  fifty  feet  long,  twenty  feet  wide 
and  fourteen  feet  in  height.  The  parish  records  date  from  1831 ;  Father 
Vital  Van  Clostere  from  Prairie  Du  Rocher,  regularly  attended  the 
place  from  1832  to  1838.  From  1839  to  1841  Father  John  Kenny  was 
in  charge  to  be  succeeded  in  1843  by  Reverend  McCabe  of  Prairie  du 
Long.  The  place  is  now  called  Euma,  but  the  church  retains  the  old 
glorious  title  of  St.  Patrick.  The  parish  today  consists  of  about  sixty 
families,  fifty  of  whom  are  of  English  or  Irish  descent.2  There  are  two 
other  churches  in  Southwestern  Illinois  dedicated  to  the  Apostle  of 
Ireland:  St.  Patrick's  of  Tiptown  founded  in  1838  by  a  colony  of  Irish 
people  from  Tiperary ;  and  St.  Patrick's  at  Cairo  the  southernmost  town 
of  Illinois.  The  History  of  the  Diocese  of  Belleville  gives  the  names  of 
at  least  fifty  pioneer  and  probably  heads  of  families,  that  arrived  in 
Tiptown  before  1840.  There  is  no  record  of  any  priest  visiting  Tiptown 
before  1851.  Yet  such  visits  were  undoubtedly  made.  New  Design 
which  was  mentioned  by  Father  Ambrose  Heim  as  a  station  visited  by 
him  in  1843  was  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Tiptown,  and  pos- 
sibly was  the  place  of  worship  for  its  first  settlers.3 

The  construction  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  brought  the  first 
Catholics  to  Cairo,  Illinois.  Bryan  Shawnessy  having  the  contract  for 
constructing  three  sections  of  an  embankment  there.  In  1834  a  Church 
was  built,  probably  under  the  supervision  of  Father  Michael  Collins 
C.  M.  of  Cape  Girardeau,  Missouri :  The  building  was  ' '  a  rough  board 
roofed  shanty  in  the  depths  of  the  convenient  woods, ' '  as  an  old  History 
of  Cairo  states.  Father  Collins  continued  to  serve  the  Congregation 
until  1843,  when  Cairo  like  the  other  Illinois  parishes  and  missions  be- 
came parts  of  the  diocese  of  Chicago.4 

Madonnaville  in  Monroe  County  is  the  modern  name  for  the  ancient 
settlement  of  James  Mills  that  was  formed  in  1804  by  Joseph  Austin 
James  a  native  of  Maryland  but  of  Welsh  decent.  The  title  of  the 
Church  was  originally  SS.  Philip  and  James.  In  1838  the  place  is 
visited  by  Father  Van   Clostere.     The   Directory   of  that  year  states 


2     Beuekmann  in  "History  of  Belleville,"  p.  25. 

:i     Van  de  Riet  and  Beuekmann,  ibidem,  p.  42  and  43. 

*     Beuekmann,  op.  cit.,  p.  63. 


776 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


that  a  church  is  to  be  built.     Mass  was  said   in  the  home  of  Thomas 
James,  a  son  of  Joseph  Austin. 

From  1840  to  1842  Father  John  Kenny  Pastor  of  O'llara's  Settle- 
ment attends  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  Catholics  of  James  Mills.  In 
1841  discussion  arose  between  two  factions  of  the  Congregation  as  to 
where  the  new  Church  should  be  built.  Col.  James  A.  James  was  the 
head  of  those  that  favored  the  old  site.  The  Adelsberger  family  of- 
fered a  site  five  miles  north. 

The  Adelsberger  faction  obtained  Bishop  Rosati's  consent  and 
built  a  massive  log  structure  on  the  new  site.  Both  places  were  visited 
from  Waterloo  once  a  month  on  Sundays.  In  1855  a  beautiful  stone- 
church  was  erected  on  the  James  site  which  was  dedicated  to  Saint 
Mary  the  Mother  of  God,  whilst  the  place  itself  changed  its  name  to 
Madonnaville.  In  1911  and  1912  the  logs  of  the  Adelsberger  church 
were  hauled  to  Madonnaville  and  sawed  into  firewood  for  the  parish." 

The  first  great  wave  of  Irish  immigration  to  America  was  the 
result  of  the  uprising  of  1798.  Illinois  and  the  Far  West  was  only 
indirectly  benefited  by  this  event.  Most  of  these  early  emigrants 
settled  down  in  the  South  and  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  In 
New  York  they  founded  an  "Irish  Emigrant  Association"  for  the 
purpose  of  directing  Irish  families  to  the  recently  opening  farming- 
country  of  Illinois.  But,  influential  men  as  the  leaders  of  the  Associa- 
tion were,  they  went  much  further  than  that :  in  presenting  to  Congress 
a  Memorial,  ''for  a  portion  of  the  unsold  lands  in  the  Illinois  Territory," 
they  requested  "that  the  portion  may  be  set  apart  or  granted  to  the 
trustees  for  the  purpose  of  being  settled  by  emigrants  from  Ireland 
on  an  extended  term  of  credit." 

Congress  took  action  in  regard  to  this  Memorial  on  December  16th. 
1818,  by  authorizing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  designate  and 
set  apart  a  number  of  townships,  each  six  miles  square  in  the  State 
of  Illinois,  each  alternate  section  thereof  to  be  settled  by  emigrants 
from  Ireland  and  sold  to  them  at  two  dollars  per  acre,  to  be  paid  in 
three  installments  within  twelve  years,  from  the  date  of  sale. 

This  provision,  no  doubt,  greatly  influenced  the  course  of  Irish  im- 
migration. In  the  Spring  of  1819  hundreds  of  Irish  emigrants  arriving 
at  the  ports  of  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  New  Orleans 
were  directed  into  the  new  land  of  promise,  Illinois.  The  President  of 
the  "New  York  Irish  Emigrant  Association"  was  Thomas  Addis  Em- 
mett,  brother  of  the  Martyr  of  Irish  liberty  Robert  Emmett.6 

The  high  tide  of  Irish  immigration  was  not  reached  until  about 
1847,  when  the  great  famine  threatened  to  depopulate  the  "Island  of 


5  Kaercher  and  Beuekninnn,  ibidem,  51. 

6  "Illinois  Catholic   Historical  Eeview, "  vol.  Ill,  p.   73. 


The  Early  English  Speaking  Parishes  of  Southwestern  Illinois  777 

Saints  and  Scholars."  "A  whole  people  was  in  motion,"  wrote  Henry 
Giles,  "mighty  as  an  ocean,  and  continuous  as  its  waves.  Compared 
with  the  crowds  which  were  then  quitting  Ireland  forever,  the  armies 
that  all  Europe  furnished  for  the  Crusades,  were  trifling  bands."7 
"Multitudes  died  of  hunger,  and  all  who  could  began  to  quit  Ire- 
land."8 "To  the  United  States  came  the  hard-working  Irish,"  they 
came  when  hard  work  was  to  be  done,  when  the  pathways  of  the  future 
were  to  be  laid  down ;  when  the  vast  tracts  of  land  were  a  dead  asset, 
they  came  to  quicken  them  by  their  labor.  Very  poor  as  most  of  them 
were,  they  brought  the  great  gifts  to  our  American  civilization,  their 
strength  of  arm,  their  cheerfulness  of  spirit  and  their  undying  Cath- 
olic Faith. 

So  much  is  plain  to  an}*  student  of  the  Church  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley :  it  was  not  the  wisdom  of  many,  it  was  not  the  collective  wis- 
dom of  Councils  and  Synods,  that  established  the  Church  on  a  firm 
foundation:  it  was.  under  God's  inscrutable  Providence,  the  grandest 
event  of  modern  times,  the  new  wandering  of  nations,  that  accomplished 
it.  It  is  the  magnificient  power  of  immigration  from  Catholic  Ireland 
and  from  the  Catholic  parts  of  Germany,  that  merits  the  main  credit 
of  the  wonderful  success  of  the  Church,  in  this  new  land.  The  Church 
was  not  so  much  founded  in  this  country  but  rather  transplanted  to  its 
soil.  Compared  with  these  two  powerful  elements,  the  remnants  of  the 
French  founders  of  some  of  our  cities  appear  inconsiderable,  as  also 
the  noble  army  of  native  American  Catholics  and  of  converts  from 
heresy  and  infidelity :  Both  classes  have  given  the  Church  beautiful  ex- 
amples of  holiness  and  wise  leadership :  both  have  gained  imperish- 
able renown  in  our  western  Annals :  the  French  Catholics  as  pioneers 
in  the  wilderness,  the  American  converts  as  among  the  brightest  jewels 
in  the  Church's  crown.  The  later  arrivals  from  Southern  Europe  will 
come  in  for  their  proper  share  of  praise,  as  they  follow  in  the  wake 
of  the  Irish  and  German  immigration. 

But  for  some  time  longer,  we  shall  see  the  Irish  and  the  German 
Catholics  working  side  by  side  in  the  wilderness  of  the  western  country, 
reclaiming  the  land  for  the  Church  and  civilization.  Both  of  them 
Americans  to  the  core  in  their  love  of  liberty,  order  and  justice,  yet 
deeply  attached  to  the  land  of  their  birth.  Both  driven  across  the 
sea  by  dire  necessity,  yet  both  accepting  their  lot  with  equanimity 
and  courage. 

For  even  the  illusions  of  hope  must  have  been  considerably  re- 
duced when  the  weary  emigrant  first  set  his  foot  on  the  soil  of  what 
was  to  be  his  new  home.     The   German  emigrant,  atIio  together  with 


'     Giles,  Henry,  "Lecture  and  Essnys,"   1869,  p.   132. 
8     Idem,  ibidem,  p.  136. 


778  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  Irish  formed  the  great  bulk  of  the  Catholic  pioneers  in  the  prairies 
of  Illinois,  must  have  felt,  even  more  deeply  Hum  his  Irish  brother,  the 
haunting  pain  of  homesickness.  Then'  arc  no  people  so  home-loving 
and  yet  so  wanderlust  ing,  to  use  the  German  phrase,  as  the  Irish.  The 
reason  must  be  that  all  the  world  seems  to  appear  to  the  Irishman  in 
the  familiar  light  of  home:  like  a  bird  on  the  wing  he  carries  the  sky 
of  old  Ireland  with  him,  wherever  he  goes.  The  German,  on  the  con- 
trary, when  wandering  abroad,  leaves  the  better  part  of  his  soul  in  the 
place  where  he  was  born,  like  the  plant  that  is  rudely  torn  from  its 
native  soil  and  transplanted  with  but  a  part  of  its  roots.  Still  both 
of  these  nationalities  found  in  their  religion  the  true  bond  of  union  ; 
exemplifying  the  wise  saying  of  the  Canadian  statesman  Thomas  D'- 
Arcy  McGee,  that  "Catholicity  recognizes  nationalities  only  to  unite 
them." 

We  have  in  this  chapter,  touched  very  lightly  on  Cahokia, 
Prairie  du  Rocher  and  Kaskaskia,  leaving  all  we  had  to  say  about  them 
for  the  next  chapter. 

Bishop  Rosati's  predilection  for  the  old  French  parishes  and  mis- 
sions on  the  Illinois  side  of  the  Mississippi  was  well  known.  In  1833 
Bishop  England,  whilst  in  Rome,  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati,  that  Jean- 
jean  had  assured  him  'that  you  (Rosati)  want  to  have  the  missions  on 
the  western  side  of  Illinois  added  to  your  diocese.'  "I  was  amused"  said 
England  "at  the  resemblance  of  a  reason  that  he  gave,  and  the  serious- 
ness with  which  he  urged  it,  viz.,  that  you  could  not  easily  go  through 
your  own  diocese  to  your  Seminary,  if  this,  the  American  Bottom,  was  in 
another  diocese.  I  was  asked  by  Cardinal  Castracane  about  it.  I  said 
that  I  suspected  you  were  very  fond  of  missions  for  which  you  had  done 
so  much,  and  that  they  were  very  fond  of  you."0  Bishop  England's 
suspicion  was,  of  course,  well  founded.  But  the  reason  given  by  Jean- 
jean  for  this  desire  of  Rosati's  was  the  exact  truth. 

For  the  journey  overland  from  St.  Louis  to  the  Barrens,  where 
the  Seminary  was  situated,  was,  in  those  days  of  almost  impassible  roads, 
far  more  dangerous  and  difficult  than  the  journey  over  the  fine  old 
French  highway  on  the  Illinois  side,  pleasantly  relieved  by  brief  visits 
to  the  pastors  of  Cahokia,  Prairie  du  Rocher,  Kaskaskia;  thence  to 
Ste.  Genevieve  across  the  river,  and  after  a  night's  rest,  overland  to 
Perryville.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Bishop  Rosati  obtained  his  request  and 
by  Papal  decree,  the  western  half  of  Illinois  was  incorporated  in  the 
diocese  of  St.  Louis,  and  remained  there  until  the  erection  of  the 
diocese  of  Chicago  in  1844. 


9     Bishop    England's    Correspondence   with    Bishop    Rosati,    "Illinois    Catholic 
Historical  Review,"  vol.  IX,  Nos.  3  and  4. 


Chapter  38 
BISHOP  ROSATI'S  LAST   YEAR  IN  HIS   DIOCESE 


It  was  now  twenty-four  years  since  Joseph  Rosati  had  left  the 
Eternal  City  for  the  Mission  of  Louisiana ;  sixteen  years  since  he  had 
become  coadjutor  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  and  thirteen  years  since  he 
was  assigned  to  the  new  diocese  of  St.  Louis  as  its  first  Bishop.  It 
was,  therefore,  but  natural  that  he  should  answer  the  call  from  home 
and  friends  beyond  the  sea  by  a  visit  ad  limina  as  well  as  to  the  home  of 
his  childhood  and  early  youth  and  manhood.  Besides,  the  much-harrassed 
Bishop  must  have  a  longer  rest  from  work  and  care.  The  last  years  had 
brought  him  many  sore  disappointments.  The  Cathedral  had  cost  much 
more  than  he  had  anticipated,  the  copper  roof  which  was  to  cost  $600, 
came  to  $4,000.  Money  was  scarce,  and  interest  charges  were  from 
10  to  24  % .  The  diocesan  debt  assumed  ever  larger  proportions  whilst 
the  remittances  from  Lyons  and  from  Vienna  had  ceased  for  some  time, 
owing  to  the  report  that  had  been  spread  by  secret  enemies,  as  Rosati 
thought,  "that  St.  Louis  was  very  rich  and  could  help  itself."  Bishop 
Rosati  felt  that  in  a  visit  to  Italy  and  France  lay  his  only  hope  of  liqui- 
dating his  debts  and  meeting  the  necessities  of  the  diocese.1 

Then  the  question  of  obtaining  a  coadjutor  had  become  a  most 
pressing  one.  The  Bishop's  first  choice,  John  Timon,  had  failed  him. 
The  Lazarist  Fathers  were  naturally  averse  to  accepting  the  episcopal 
dignity,  and  their  Superior  General  in  Paris  had  threatened  to  withdraw 
all  the  Lazarists  from  America,  if  any  of  them  should  henceforth  be 
chosen  to  fill  a  see.  The  Holy  Father  would  surely  help  in  all  his 
great  needs,  thought  Bishop  Rosati,  and  so  decided  to  undertake  the 
voyage  that  should  separate  him  for  a  long  time,  perhaps  forever, 
from  the  places  and  the  people  now  so  very  dear  to  his  paternal  heart. 

On  his  way  to  Europe  he  would  have  occasion  to  attend  the  Fourth 
Council  of  Baltimore,  to  which  he  had  received  a  most  courteous  in- 
vitation from  Archbishop  Eccleston.  The  summer  of  1840  was,  there- 
fore, chosen  by  the  Bishop  for  his  first  <i<l  limina  visit,  and  his  joyful 
home-coming  to  Sora  and  Rome.  The  twelve  months  intervening  be- 
tween the  close  of  the  Synod  and  the  opening  of  the  Provincial  Council 
were  set  apart  for  a  scries  of  farewell  visits  to  the  places  that  had 
grown  most  dear  to  his  heart,  through  the  sacrifices  he  had  made  for 
them  and  the  love  that  he  had  found  in  them. 


i     As  all  the  items  of  this  chapter  are  derived  from  Bishop  Rosati's  Diary,  no 
special  references  for  the  individual  statements  arc  given. 

(779) 


780  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Bishop  Rosati  began  these  visits  with  a  brief  journey  to  the  missions 
on  the  east  bank  of  the  river.  On  May  7th,  he  arrived  at  Kaskaskia, 
where  he  held  the  usual  visitation  of  the  Convent  of  the  Visitandines. 
Father  Dutreluingne  was  acting  pastor  of  the  Parish.  The  Bishop 
administered  Confirmation  to  twenty-six  persons,  among  them  one 
convert.  As  the  parish  church  was  in  danger  of  collapsing,  and  the 
people  were  forced  to  worship  in  a  temporary  structure,  the  plan  for 
a  new  church  was  agitated  among  them.  At  a  parish  meeting  it  was 
decided  1)  that  the  new  Church  should  be  built  on  a  lot  donated  to 
the  Bishop  by  Father  Van  Clostere.  2)  that  the  structure  should  be 
of  stone  100x45  feet,  with  an  addition  containing  the  sacristy  and  the 
parochial  residence.  Six  parishioners  were  selected  to  carry  out  the 
project  under  the  leadership  of  the  pastor.  At  the  Convent,  Sister 
Seraphine  "Wickham  was  elected  Superior  with  Sister  Agnes  Brent  as 
Assistant. 

On  Thursday,  May  6th,  Bishop  Rosati  departed  for  Prairie  du 
Rocher,  thence  he  journeyed  to  Cahokia  on  a  visit  to  Father  Loisel, 
and  on  the  18th,  the  Vigil  of  Pentecost,  he  was  back  in  St.  Louis.  On 
Pentecost  Monday  the  First  Communion  services  of  the  Cathedral  were 
held;  one  hundred  and  fourteen  boys  and  girls  were  admitted  to  the 
table  of  the  Lord,  and  together  with  a  large  number  of  others  received 
the  sacrament  of  Confirmation.  On  the  following  day  the  Bishop 
confirmed  twelve  pupils  of  the  Sacred  Heart  Convent.  On  Trinity 
Sunday  Confirmation  services  were  held  at  Florissant,  on  June  2nd  at 
Cahokia.  The  grand  procession  planned  for  Corpus  Christi  day,  for 
which  the  Bishop  had  engaged  the  music  band  of  the  University,  was 
prevented  by  rain.  From  Cahokia  the  Bishop  went  to  Carondelet. 
On  June  21st,  he  administered  the  sacrament  of  Confirmation  to  twenty- 
two  students  of  the  University  of  St.  Louis.  In  the  following  week 
the  Bishop  visited  Cahokia,  Waterloo,  Prairie  du  Rocher  and  Kaskaskia, 
where  Father  Saint  Cyr  was  now  pastor  and  the  Sisters'  Confessor. 
On  Thursday  June  27th,  he  was  in  his  beloved  Seminary  of  the  Barrens, 
and  ordained  Michael  Collins,  and  Thomas  Burke  to  deaconship,  and 
John  Mary  Robert  and  Michael  Domenech  to  the  priesthood.  Among 
the  students  that  received  some  of  the  minor  Orders  on  this  occasion, 
we  meet  for  the  first  time  a  number  of  names  distinguished  in  our  An- 
nals :  Patrick  0  'Brien,  Patrick  McCabe,  Thomas  Cusack,  Michael  Carroll, 
Nicholas  Stehle,  John  Cotter,  Michael  Collins  and  Thomas  Burke. 
Michael  Domenech,  is  the  future  Bishop  of  Pittsburg.  On  July  1st, 
Bishop  Rosati  began  writing  his  book  on  the  Virtues  and  Deeds  of 
Father  De  Andreis.2  At  the  Barrens  on  July  4th,  he  heard  of  the 
death  of  his  friend  Bishop  Brute,  and  on  the  next  day  held  solemn 


2     Published  anonymously  under  the  title,  "Life  of  Very  T?ev.  Felix  de  Andreis," 
1900. 


Bishop  Rosati's  Last  Year  in  His  Diocese  781 

Commemoration  services  for  him.  On  the  following  Saturday  the 
Bishop  in  company  with  Father  Paquin,  rides  to  Apple  Creek,  and  on 
Sunday  administers  Confirmation  to  fourteen  persons.  Father  Fortman 
preached  in  German,  for  the  members  of  the  thirty-five  German  families 
that  formed  the  Congregation.  On  July  10th,  Bishop  Rosati  notes 
that  he  had  completed  the  Life  of  Father  De  Andreis,  and  had  com- 
menced an  account  of  the  Foundation  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Mission  in  America.  On  the  next  day  he  started  for  Fredericktown 
to  visit  Father  Cellini.  Here  he  administered  Confirmation  to  twenty- 
two  persons.  On  June  16th,  he  returned  to  the  Seminary ;  thence  he 
journeyed  to  Cape  Girardeau  to  dedicate  the  new  Church  of  St.  Vin- 
cent de  Paul.  After  the  services,  the  Bishop  pays  a  visit  to  the 
Sisters  of  Loretto,  who  have  but  recently  established  a  Convent  and 
school  in  that  city.  The  Bishop's  next  stop  is  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  where 
the  Lazarist  Fathers  Dahmen  and  Gandolfo  are  stationed.  On  July 
30th,  the  Bishop  in  company  with  Father  Dahmen  crosses  the  river 
to  Kaskaskia  and,  after  a  brief  stay,  returns  to  St.  Louis.  During 
the  month  of  August  the  Bishop  complains  of  fever.  On  September 
5th,  he  received  a  package  from  Cardinal  Frauzoni,  Prefect  of  the 
Propaganda,  Avhich  contained  the  letter  of  appointment  of  Father  John 
Timon  CM.  as  his  coadjutor.  On  the  following  Saturday  the  Bishop 
handed  Father  Timon  his  appointment,  but  received  a  flat  refusal. 
Father  Timon  would  not  accept  the  episcopate,  and  Bishop  Rosati 's 
fondest  hopes  were  shattered.  On  September  18th,  the  two  foremost 
men  in  the  Church  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  met  again  at  Frederick- 
town.  Father  Odin  and  Domenech,  both  destined  for  the  episcopy, 
were  present :  But  Father  Timon  was  obdurate.  On  the  26th,  he 
is  in  St.  Louis.  On  October  2nd,  the  Bishop,  accompanied  by  Fathers 
Timon  and  Lutz  starts  on  his  visit  to  the  northern  missions  in  Illinois. 
Father  Lutz  remains  at  Paddock  Grove,  near  Edwardsville,  but  the 
Bishop  and  Father  Timon  proceed  to  Springfield,  where  Father  George 
Hamilton  is  trying  very  hard  to  form  a  congregation  of  the  widely 
scattered  Catholics,  and  to  build  a  Church  for  them.  From  Spring- 
field the  journey  leads  to  Pekin  and  Peoria.  A  Church  is  being  erected 
at  Pekin,  but  at  Peoria  no  efforts  have  so  far  been  made.  At  Kickapoo, 
however,  there  is  a  stone  church  in  process  of  erection.  Even  at 
Black  Partride  a  church  is  in  contemplation.  On  the  6th  of  October, 
the  travelers  arrived  at  Lasalle,  where  they  were  most  joyfully  received 
by  the  Lazarist  missionaries  Parodi,  Estany  and  Escoffier.  The  Superior 
Father  Raho,  was  absent  on  a  visit  to  the  town  of  Ottawa,  but  re- 
turned in  the  evening.  During  the  week  the  Bishop  visited  Ottawa 
and,  on  the  following  Sunday,  administered  Confirmation  in  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Cross  at  Lasalle.  Father  Timon  had  returned  to  St.  Louis. 
Under  date  of  October  15th,  the  good  Bishop  notes  with  admiration 
the  poverty,  neatness  and  good  order  maintained  in  the  church,  school. 


782  History  of  tin   Archdiocese  of  SI.  Louis 

and  home.  The  Fathers  have  no  servant,  they  cultivate  their  garden 
with  their  own  hands,  they  do  their  own  cooking,  and  scrub  the  church 
and  house.  On  the  15th,  the  Bishop  and  Father  Raho  departed  for 
Pekin,  and  passing  through  Springfield,  Bunker  Hill  and  Carlinville, 
arrived  at  St.  Louis  on  Saturday,  October  19th.  On  the  following  day 
the  Bishop  administered  Confirmation  in  the  Cathedral  to  Ignatius 
Octagleave  and  Peter  Okassaweite,  both  Iroquois  Indians  from  far- 
away Oregon,  who  had  been  baptized  in  Canada  and  had  spread  the 
knowledge  of  Christianity  among  the  Indians  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
but  were  now  petitioning  for  a  Missionary  to  preach  the  gospel 
among  their  Indian  friends. 

On  October  28th,  Bishop  Rosati  set  out  to  visit  his  old  and  tried 
friend,  Bishop  Flaget,  on  his  return  from  Europe.  Father  Fontbonne 
was  his  companion.  They  arrived  at  Vincennes  on  the  30th,  and  at 
Louisville  on  November  1st.  On  the  following  day  they  reached  Bards- 
town.  Great  was  the  joy  of  our  prelate  to  meet  his  saintly  friend  once 
more.  They  visited  Nazareth,  the  home  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  and 
the  foundations  of  Father  Nerinckx,  Gethsemany,  Bethlehem  and  Cal- 
vary. On  the  8th,  they  visited  Loretto.  On  hearing  of  the  arrival  of 
the  newly  consecrated  Bishop  Hailandiere  in  Vincennes,  Bishop  Rosati 
retraced  his  steps  to  that  city,  and  preached  the  Bishop's  installation 
sermon  on  Sunday,  November  17th.  Arriving  in  St.  Louis  on  November 
22nd,  the  Bishop  appointed  Father  James  Busschotts,  S.J.  pastor  of  St. 
Francis  Borgia  Church  at  Washington,  Franklin  County.  On  No- 
vember 29th  the  arrival  of  a  Jesuit  priest  and  seven  postulants  from 
Belgium  is  recorded  in  the  Diary.  Father  Peter  Donnelly  is  appointed 
to  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  at  Gravois.  The  Sisters  of  Charity  re- 
ceive an  accession  of  three  sisters  from  Emmitsburg,  two  for  the  Hos- 
pital, and  one  for  the  Orphanage.  On  December  8th,  1839,  six  years 
after  the  foundation  of  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society  for  the  Poor 
by  Frederick  Ozanam  in  Paris,  Bishop  Rosati  called  attention  to  the 
needs  and  sorrows  of  the  poor  of  St.  Louis,  and  organized  a  Society 
of  laymen  for  their  permanent  relief.  This  movement  eventually  found 
its  proper  form  in  the  organization  of  the  first  Conference  of  the  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul  Society  in  America,  at  the  Old  Cathedral  of  St. 
Louis  in  1845.  Two  days  after  Christmas  the  Catholics  of  St.  Louis 
had  an  unexpected  opportunity  of  helpfulness.  About  two  hundred 
German  emigrants  on  the  way  to  Missouri  on  the  steamer  " The  Missouri 
Belle"  barely  escaping  with  their  lives  from  the  burning  boat,  came 
to  the  city  in  a  pitiable  condition.  They  had  lost  all  their  earthly 
possessions.  Forty  of  them  wTere  received  into  the  Hospital  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charity,  and  for  the  shelter  of  the  remaining  victims  of  the  ex- 
plosion the  Bishop  himself  gave  the  use  of  nine  houses  he  had  built 
near  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  then  in  the  process  of  construe- 


Bishop  Rosati's  Last  Year  in  His  Diocese  783 

tion.  On  the  following  Sunday  the  gentle  Bishop  strongly  recommended 
these  suffering  children  of  the  church  to  the  charity  of  the  faithful. 
On  the  last  day  of  the  year  1839,  Bishop  Rosati  made  a  visit  to  his 
beloved  Kaskaskia.  The  river  is  frozen  over  from  shore  to  shore,  and 
snow  covers  the  wide  landscape.  The  Bishop  spends  the  time  of  in- 
voluntary confinement  by  writing  a  large  number  of  letters :  but  on 
the  8th  day  of  January  he  wends  his  way  back  to  his  episcopal  city, 
where  he  holds  ordinations,  and  on  January  14th,  raises  Joseph  De 
Marchi  CM.  to  the  sacred  priesthood.  On  Sunday,  February  9th,  the 
Bishop  attended  the  meeting  of  the  Society  for  the  Relief  of  the  Poor, 
and  on  the  16th,  he  instituted  a  branch  of  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Faith.  On  the  18th,  he  finished  his  History  of  the  "Founda- 
tion of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission  in  America."  On  Tuesday, 
February  25th,  he  solemnly  blessed  the  Chapel  of  the  Hospital  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  under  the  title  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul.  On  Saturday 
29th,  he  received  a  visit  from  Father  De  Smet,  who  had  come  to  St. 
Louis  from  his  Potawatomi  Mission  in  Council  Bluffs. 

St.  Patrick's  Day  was  kept  at  the  Cathedral  by  the  Irish  people, 
with  the  Bishop  himself  celebrating  the  Mass  and  Father  Carrell,  S.J. 
preaching  the  panegyric  of  Ireland's  saint.  A  collection  of  $117.25 
was  taken  up  for  the  Orphan  Asylum.  On  Friday,  March  26th,  the 
Bishop  and  Father  Gandolfo  were  on  the  way  to  Kaskaskia.  Divine 
services  had  to  be  said  in  the  chapel  of  the  Visitation  Convent,  as  the 
new  church  was  not  yet  completed.  Crossing  the  river  with  difficulty 
and  some  danger,  they  journeyed  by  carriage  to  the  Seminary  where  they 
remained  until  Thursday.  Cape  Girardeau  was  the  next  place  visited, 
then  New  Madrid,  where  Father  Odin  celebrated  Highmass,  and  the 
Bishop  administered  Confirmation.  Ascending  the  river  by  the  steamer 
Carinthia,  the  espiscopal  party  landed  at  Cairo,  where  they  found  a 
large  number  of  Irish  Catholics.  The  city  of  Cairo  was  then  only 
eighteen  months  old.  The  Bishop  promised  to  send  Father  Michael 
Collins  to  the  new  congregation.  Passion  Sunday  was  spent  in  St. 
Charles,  Monday  in  Portage,  Tuesday  at  the  Jesuit  Novitiate  in  Flor- 
issant where  the  Bishop  blessed  the  Cemetery,  and  visited  the  Convent 
of  the  Nuns  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  Thursday  evening  he  was  once  more 
in  St.  Louis,  confirming,  preaching,  hearing  confessions,  and  perform- 
ing the  numberless  duties  of  episcopal  life.  The  Solemn  Highmass  on 
Palm  Sunday  lasted  for  three  and  a  quarter  hours.  In  the  afternoon, 
the  Bishop  and  all  his  clergy  proceeded  to  bless  and  lay  the  corner- 
stone for  the  Church  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,,  which  was  to  be  built  near 
the  College  of  the  Jesuits.  Father  George  Carrell,  S.J.  preached  the 
sermon  before  a  vast  assembly  of  the  faithful.  The  ceremonies  of  Holy 
week  were  performed  by  the  Bishop.  The  Solemn  Highmass  on  Easter 
Sunday  also  was  celebrated  by  the  Bishop.  Father-  Timon  arrived  on 
Good   Friday   and   confirmed   the   report   that   he   had   been    appointed 


784 


His/arii  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


Prefect-Apostolic  of  Texas  and  that  he  would  choose  Father  Odin  as 
\'i  ear-Prefect. 

Under  date  of  April  21st,  1840,  Bishop  Rosati  notes  in  his  Diary:  "I 
made  my  will  and  as  my  heir  appointed  Reverend  Father  Peter  Ver- 
haegen;  if  he  should  fail  to  accept,  the  Reverend  John  Timon,  and  if  he 
in  turn  should  fail,  the  Reverend  John  Elet.  "On  Sunday  April  26th, 
the  Bishop  appointed  Father  John  Peter  Fischer  procurator  of  the  Epis- 
copal residence,  Father  Fontbonne,  Secretary,  Joseph  Renaud,  Prefect 
of  the  Sacristy,  and  Very  Reverend  Peter  Verhaegen,  S.J.  Vicar-General 
and  Superior  of  the  Episcopal  house,  in  which  he  is  to  reside  until 
the  Bishop's  return  from  Europe. 

On  Monday  morning  after  Mass  Bishop  Rosati,  in  company  with 
Father  Joseph  A.  Lutz  and  Peter  Paul  Lefevere,  started  on  his  long  and 
eventful  journey  from  which  he  should  never  return  to  his  beloved 
diocese   of   St.  Louis. 


PART  TWO 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  ST.  LOUIS 

BOOK  II 

Bishop  Peter  Richard  Kenrick 
Coadjutor  to  Bishop  Rosati 


PART  II 

BOOK  II 

Chapter  1 

BISHOP  ROSAT1  AND  HIS  COADJUTOR 


At  the  Fourth  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  which  was  held  from 
May  17th,  to  May  24th,  1840,  Bishop  Rosati  took  a  leading  part.  He 
was  commissioned  to  write,  in  the  name  of  the  Council,  the  Letter  to 
the  noble  Defenders  of  the  Faith  against  Prussian  tyranny,  Clement- 
August,  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  and  Martin  Dunin,  Archbishop  of  Gne- 
sen-Posen.1  He  was  also  appointed  to  report  to  Rome  the  reasons  why 
the  resignation  of  Bishop  Reze  of  Detroit  should  be  accepted  at  once, 
and  to  propose  the  terna  from  which  his  successor  should  be  chosen. 
In  his  Diary  Bishop  Rosati  takes  credit  for  the  speedy  transaction  of 
business  by  the  Council,  he  having  acted  as  First  Promotor,  with  Bishop 
Fenwick  of  Boston  as  Second,  an  arrangement  to  which  three  of  the 
bishops  had  objected. 

Early  on  Monday  May  25th,  Bishop  Rosati  was  on  his  way  to  Wash- 
ington and  Georgetown,  returning  to  Baltimore  in  the  evening.  On 
Wednesday  he  journeyed  to  Philadalphia.  At  the  house  of  Bishop 
Francis  P.  Kenrick  he  met  his  brother,  the  Vicar-General  of  Philadel- 
phia, Peter  Richard  Kenrick.  To  quote  the  words,  as  given  in  the 
Bishops  Diary:  "Admiring  more  and  more  his  piety,  knowledge  and 
modesty  and  his  other  virtues,  I  was  inspired  with  the  desire  to  obtain 
him  from  the  Holy  Fathers  as  my  Coadjutor."  Three  years  previous 
Bishop  Rosati,  after  the  Third  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore,  had  met 
Peter  Richard  Kenrick  in  Philadelphia,  in  a  house  near  St.  Mary's 
Church,  as  Rector  of  the  Seminary,  Vicar-General,  and  Editor  of  the 
Catholic  Herald.  He  is  a  priest, ' '  numeris  omnibus  absolutus : "  "  a  priest 
in  every  regard  perfect,"  was  Rosati 's  comment  then.  But  the  inter- 
vening years  between  the  first  and  second  meeting  had  been  a  period  of 
interior  conflict  for  Father  Kenrick.  He  felt  himself  drawn  to  the 
Society  of  Jesus  and  found  most  strenuous  opposition  to  this  course  among 
his  dearest  friends.  In  order  to  restore  his  equanimity  as  well  as  his 
shattered  health,  he  sailed  for  Rome  via  Ireland  in  1838.     He  had  in- 


i     Rosati 's  Diary,  May  22. 

(787; 


788  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

tended  to  start  on  his  trip  with  Bishop  Purcell,  on  June  16th,  but 
really  started  a  few  days  later  with  Father  J.  McGill.  Father  Ken- 
rick  was  to  present  to  the  Pope  the  dedication  of  Bishop  Francis  P. 
Kenrick's  Theology,  and  incidentally,  to  use  his  powers  of  persuasion  on 
the  Leopoldine  Society  of  Vienna,  from  which  the  diocese  of  Philadel- 
phia had  not  received  any  subsidies  for  the  last  six  years.  Father 
Kenrick  had  written  his  Brother  on  August  8th,  1839,  that  he  intended  to 
return  to  Philadelphia  without  visiting  Vienna,2 

On  September  21st,  of  the  same  year  Bishop  Michael  O'Connor  of 
Pittsburg  the  mutual  friend  of  the  two  Kenricks,  had  written  to  Peter 
Richard  in  the  name  of  Francis  Patrick:  "He  desires  me  to  say  that 
you  must  set  aside  your  whims  and  come  home  as  soon  as  you  can.  The 
terms,  in  my  mouth  may  not  appear  very  courteous,  but  I  suppose  they 
are  intelligible  to  you,  which  is  more  than  they  are  to  me."3  What  was 
the  secret  hidden  under  these  strange  words?  Bishop  O'Connor  lifts 
the  veil  in  his  letter  to  Peter  Richard  in  Rome : 

"I  was  not  aware  of  the  import  of  the  message  I  communicated  in 
my  last  from  the  Bishop.  I  have  learned  it  since,  and  I  must  say,  with 
dismay,  I  assure  you  that,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  I  would  be 
far  from  dissuading  you  from  your  pious  design ;  and  even  now  I  would 
not  venture  to  urge  any  reason  that  I  would  not  think  capable  of  standing 
the  most  strict  scrutiny  of  any  one  fresh  from  the  third,  aye  even  the 
fourth,  week  of  the  exercises  of  St.  Ignatius.  Your  absence  would 
create  a  vacuum  in  the  diocese  which,  I  think,  even  on  the  most  sublime 
principles  of  perfection,  should  prevent  you  from  abandoning  the  field. 
Talking  of  these  things  under  other  circumstances  with  the  same  free- 
dom might  deserve  much  blame,  but  for  such  a  purpose  it  cannot  but  be 

justifiable The  fact  is,  I  fear  very  much  for  the  Seminary 

.  .  .  .  Unless  some  person  popular  in  the  city  is  in  the  Seminary, 
down  it  goes ;  even  the  priests  are  very  easy  about  the  way  it  gets  along ; 
it  is  only  the  excitement  which  yet  lives,  but  is  every  day  fading,  that 
brings  in  contributions.  "4  "  Now  in  the  name  of  God, ' '  Bishop  0  'Connor 
concludes,  "with  the  Seminary  in  such  danger,  with  the  city  and  the 
diocese  so  abandoned,  can  it  be  the  will  of  God  that  you  should  retire 
from  a  field  where  He  blessed  your  labors  and  gave  clear  proof  that 
you  were  doing  His  will?  I  am  sure  that  you  miscalculated  on  the 
state  of  the  diocese,  and  you  took  up  positions  that  were  false.  You 
will  leave  the  bishop  literally  without  aid,  and  many  most  important 
posts  unoccupied  or  worse.  I  knew  that,  in  general,  such  arguments 
have  no  weight  on  such  a  topic ;  but  I  assure  you  that  I  know  of  some 


2  "Records  of  the  American  Catholic  Historical  Society,"  vol.  VII,  p.  299,  ss. 

3  Records,  vol.  VII,  p.  340. 

4  Records,  vol.  VII,  p.  344. 


Bishop  Rosati  and  his  Coadjutor  789 

cases  where  similar  ones,  may  even  be  much  less  strong,  have  weighed 
so  strong  with  most  prudent  Jesuits,  as  to  have  induced  them  to  advise 
the  course  I  would  now  advise  to  you : — to  remain  in  the  field  where 
God  blessed  your  labors  and  where  you  were  certain  you  were  right. '  '5 

Bishop  O'Connor's  letter  was  directed  to  Dr.  Cullen  at  Rome,  for  his 
personal  and  eventual  transmission  to  Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  as  the 
following  brief  note  explains : 

' '  Dear  Mr.  Cullen  : — If  Mr.  Kenrick  has  entered  the  Jesuits,  destroy 
this.  If  not,  give  it  to  him  and  impress  its  contents  on  him.  It  would  be 
a  most  foolish  thing  for  him  to  abandon  Philadelphia ;  the  diocese  will 
suffer  very  severely.    All  right  here.    Compliments  to  all  friends. 

M.  O'Connor."0 

Father  Kenrick  must  have  returned  to  America  soon  after  the  date 
of  this  letter,  November  23rd,  1839 ;  for  on  May  27th,  1840,  he  is  back 
at  his  post  of  Vicar-General  of  the  diocese,  and  President  of  the  Sem- 
inary, and  besides  has  done  a  large  amount  of  literary  work.  But  even 
now  the  thought  of  entering  the  Society  of  Jesus  was  uppermost  in  his 
mind.  On  July  11th,  1840,  Bishop  Francis  Patrick  gives  his  brother 
Peter  Richard  a  formal  testimonial  of  his  excellent  standing  in  the 
diocese  and  grants  him  permission  to  follow  out  his  purpose  of  joining 
a  religious  community.7  On  July  28th,  1840,  M.  G.  Frenaye  informs 
the  Bishop  of  Father  Kenrick 's  departure  from  Philadelphia  with  the 
surmise  :  ' '  probably  he  is  now  on  the  ocean. '  '8  Father  Kenrick 's  stay 
in  Rome  cannot  have  been  of  long  duration,  for  on  October  4th,  he 
preached  at  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Norristown,  Pennsylvania.9  Whether 
he  was  refused  admission  to  the  Society  of  Jesus  or  not,  it  is  certain 
that  his  thoughts  were  still  of  the  Order,  as  Bishop  Kenrick  hints  in 
his  letter  to  Dr.  Cullen,  dated  May  20th,  1841 : 

"My  brother  has  just  published  the  Life  of  St.  Ignatius,  and  is 
engaged  in  preparing  that  of  St.  Francis  Xavier.  You  see  where  his 
heart  lies.  He  also  has  translated  Geramb's  Visit  to  Rome,  which  is 
already  out  of  Press.    Lacordaire's  Apology  for  Religious  Orders  is  in 


5     Kecords,  vol.  VII  p.  344. 
e     Kecords,  vol.  VII,  p.  345  s. 

7  Kenriek-Frenaye   Correspondence   p.    31. 

8  Kenrick-Frenaye  Correspondence  p.  31.  A  writer  in  "The  Western  Watch- 
man" states  the  following: "Bishop  Eosati  sailed  for  Europe  on  the  1st  of  June,  1840. 
Father  Kenrick  soon  followed,  bound  for  England,  with  the  intention  of  entering 
the  Society  of  Jesus.  Turned  down  by  the  Superior  of  the  Society  in  England 
'because  the  letters  he  bore  from  his  brother  were  of  a  too  highly  eulogistic  character' 
he  directed  his  steps  Romeward,  in  the  hope  of  getting  a  better  reception  at  head- 
quarters.    There,  too,  he  was  sorely  disappointed  and  advised  to  return  to  America." 

9  Diary  of  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick,  p.  193. 


790  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Press,  and  Audi  it's  Life  of  Luther  is  ready  for  publication,  corrected 
and  improved.  lie  has  published  The  Month  of  Mary.  These  works  have 
delayed  the  cMTiiii.ni  of  his  purpose  bu1  I  dear  no1  changed.  I  do  ao1 
calculate  with  any  certainty  of  finding  him  on  my  return."10 

As  to  Bishop  Rosati's  meeting  with  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  in 
Koine  there  is  no  evidence  whatever;  in  fact,  there  is  positive  evidence 
to  the  contrary  as  the  sequel  will  show. 

On  Friday,  .May  29th,  1840,  Bishop  Rosati  left  Philadelphia  for 
Xew  York,  and  on  June  the  1st,  set  sail  for  Portsmouth  and  Havre  de 
Grace.  The  Company  consisted  of  the  Bishops  Portier  and  Miles,  and 
the  priests  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz  and  Peter  Paul  Lefevere.  The  ship 
that  carried  them  was  the  "British  Queen."  Sea-sickness  was  the  al- 
most constant  companion  of  Bishop  Rosati.  On  the  15th,  of  June  they 
caught  the  first  glimpse  of  the  coast  of  England.  Having  celebrated 
Corpus  Christi  on  the  eighteenth,  they  hurried  on  to  Paris,  and  were 
most  cordially  received  at  the  Mother  House  of  the  Lazarists. 

On  Wednesday,  July  4th,  the  three  American  bishops  attended 
the  General  Council  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,11  and  explained  the 
condition  and  progress  of  their  dioceses.  After  spending  three  weeks 
in  visiting  various  church-dignitaries,  charitable  and  educational  insti- 
tutions and  a  large  number  of  sisterhoods,  the  Bishop,  accompanied  by 
Father  Lutz  and  the  Superior  General  of  the  Lazarists,  Father  Nozo, 
traveled  over  Sens,  Auxerre,  Avallon,  Chalons,  arriving  on  Thursday 
evening,  July  30th,  at  Lyons,  where  he  attended  a  session  of  the  Central 
Council  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith.  At  St.  diamond  Bishop 
Rosati  met  Fathers  Janvier  and  Roux,  former  missionaries  in  Louisiana, 
and  also  the  novices  he  had  sent  to  Father  Querbe  to  be  initiated  in 
the  Congregation  of  the  Clerics  of  St.  Viateur.  On  entering  Savoy  the 
Bishop  was  stopped  at  Chambery  by  the  Governor  General,  and 
threatened  with  expulsion;  but  at  the  intercession  of  the  Bishop  of 
Chambery,  he  was  at  last  permitted  to  proceed  on  his  way  to  Turin. 
Journeying  on  by  slow  stages  through  northern  Italy,  and  being 
entertained  at  every  stopping  place  with  effusive  demons!  rat  ions  of 
affection  and  honor,  the  Bishop  arrived  in  Rome  about  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  Saturday,  September  12th,  twenty-five  years  after 
his  memorable  call  to  the  Mission  of  Louisiana.  Once  more  at  Monte 
Citorio,  the  good  Bishop's  joy  knew  no  bounds. 

The  first  visit  in  Rome  was  due  to  Cardinal  Fransoni,  Prefect  of 
the    Propaganda,    to   whom    he    delivered    the    Decrees    of    the    Fourth 


io     Kecords,  vol.  VII,  p.  306. 

'1      Paris  and  Lyons  both  were  headquarters  of  the  Association  de  la  Propagation 
de  la  Foi. 


Bishop  Bosati  and  His  Coadjutor  791 

Council  of  Baltimore.  On  September  15th,  Bishop  Bosati  accompanied 
by  Father  Lutz  and  several  Lazarist  Fathers  of  Monte  Citorio  visited 
Castel  Gandolfo,  the  summer  residence  of  the  Pope.  Pope  Gregory  XVI 
was  overjoyed  to  meet  the  celebrated  missionary  Bishop,  and  conversed 
-with  him  for  an  hour  and  three-quarters  in  the  most  familiar  manner.12 

Beturning  to  the  City  Bishop  Bosati  made  a  visit  to  the  Nuns  of 
the  Sacred  Heart,  in  order  to  have  a  talk  with  Bishop  Bese  who  had 
his  residence  in  their  Convent,  but  learnt  there,  that  he  was  absent  from 
home.  On  Tuesday,  September  17th,  Bishop  Bosati  leaves  Borne  for 
Sora,  his  native  city,  whilst  Father  Lutz  goes  directly  to  Naples  to 
witness  the  liquefaction  of  the  blood  of  St.  Januarius.  The  good 
Bishop's  home-coming  to  Sora,  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Liris,  was 
an  event  of  first  magnitude  in  his  life.  It  was  a  triumphal  procession, 
such  as  Sora's  ancient  sons  of  greatness  and  renown,  the  three  Decii, 
Altilius  Begulus,  the  Valerii  and  Caesar  Baronius,  the  great  historian 
of  the  Church,  Avere  never  honored  with.  In  every  town  by  the  way 
the  Church  bells  were  rung  in  his  honor ;  the  chief  dignitaries  came 
out  to  bid  him  welcome,  the  Bishop  of  Sora  gave  him  all  the  episcopal 
faculties  and  asked  him  to  use  them  just  as  if  he  were  in  his  own 
diocese.  Great  crowds  cheered  their  illustrious  fellow-citizen :  bands 
of  musicians  struck  up  their  liveliest  marches:  and  in  the  city  itself 
the  Bishop  conducted  his  distinguished  guest  to  the  Cathedral.  Card- 
inals, Archbishops,  Bishops,  Prelates  of  every  degree,  priests,  nuns,  the 
civil  authorities  of  the  surrounding  towns  and  villages,  all  vied  with 
the  enthusiastic  populace,  to  do  honor  to  the  missionary  bishop  from 
the  fabulous  West.13 

Thus  the  days  passed  on  in  quick  succession  until  the  end  of 
October.  The  Feast  of  All  Saints  was  kept  in  Borne;  On  the  fourth  of 
November  the  Bishop  had  an  audience  with  the  Pope.  On  Saturday, 
the  7th,  Father  Lutz,  arrived  from  Naples.  During  the  first  week  of 
December  Bishop  Bosati,  by  request  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Prop- 
aganda, discussed  with  Bishop  Bese14  the  question  of  his  resignation 
submitted  to  the  Fathers  of  the  Third  Council  of  Baltimore  for  trans- 
mission to  Borne.  As  Bishop  Bese  now  repudiated  this  act,  the 
Propaganda  appointed  Father  Odin  as  his  Coadjutor.  On  his  arrival 
in  Borne,  Bishop  Bosati  was  reqviested  by  Propaganda  to  move  Bishop 


12     Diary  of  Bishop  Eosati. 

is     The  Diary  grows  highly  eloquent  in  relating  these  events. 

i-i  Bishop  Bese,  as  Vicar-General  of  Cincinnati,  was  instrumental  in  founding 
the  Leopoldinen  Stiftung  of  Austrian  Empire,  and  had  obtained  from  it  the  first 
contribution  received  by  Bishop  Eosati.  As  Bishop  of  Detroit,  he  was  :i  failure, 
though  not  through  his  fault,  his  mental  derangement  was  reported  to  Rome,  hence 
Eosati 's  visit. 


792  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Res*''  to  relinquish  to  his  Coadjutor  the  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual 
administration  of  Detroit. 

The  Propaganda  promised  to  pay  him  an  annual  salary  of  $1,200. 
As  Bishop  Rese  would  not  consent  to  this  arrangement,  and  was  known 
to  be  incapable  of  governing  the  diocese,  the  Congregation  of  the  Prop- 
aganda was  forced  to  act.  Another  difficulty  arose  when  the  bulls 
appointing  Father  Odin,  came  back  with  a  courteous  refusal:  but  this 
was  solved  by  the  appointment  of  Father  Peter  Paul  Lefevere,  as 
coadjutor  to  Bishop  Rese  and  administrator  of  Detroit.  Father  Lefevere 
was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick  in  Philadelphia, 
November  21st,  1841.  Clouded  in  mind,  but  always  conscious  of  his 
dignity,  Bishop  Frederic  Rese  of  Detroit  lived  on  in  retirement  until 
December  27th,  1871.  On  the  second  Sunday  of  Advent,  1840,  Bishop 
Rosati  was  appointed  assistant  to  the  Papal  throne.  Among  the  Cardi- 
nals whose  acquaintance  Bishop  Rosati  made  at  this  time,  was  Cardinal 
Mastai  Feretti,  the  future  great  Pope,  Pius  IX. 

The  Bishop's  further  visits  and  labors  in  behalf  of  his  diocese 
we  must  here  pass  over  in  silence.  In  his  letter  of  June  19th,  1841,  to 
the  Leopoldine  Association  of  Vienna,  the  Bishop  expresses  his  deep 
sense  of  obligation  for  the  gift  of  6,000  fl.,  a  gift  all  the  more  acceptable 
at  a  time  when  he  is  sending  twenty  new  missionaries  into  his  extensive 
missionary  field.  "Every  year  we  enlarge,  under  the  blessing  of  the 
Almighty,  the  bounds  of  the  ecclesiastical  field  requiring  cultivation ; 
every  year  we  organize  new  parishes,  every  year  we  must  erect  new 
churches  and  new  institutions  for  the  training  of  those  who  are  to 
increase  the  flock  of  Christ.  This  constant  growth  is  caused  not  only 
by  tlie  frequent  migration  from  Europe,  and  the  other  parts  of  America, 
to  the  states  of  Missouri,  Arkansas  and  Illinois,  but  also  by  the  con- 
versions of  Protestants,  who  return  to  the  fold  of  Christ,  and  no  less, 
by  the  great  number  of  savages,  whom  Ave  have  recently  won  for  the 
Faith.  Our  Missionaries  have  last  year  penetrated  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  founded  new  missions  in  these  remote  regions,  which  are  watered 
by  rivers  that  flow  into  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Father  De  Smet,  the  Jesuit 
Missionary,  alone,  has  converted  more  than  2,000  Indians  to  the 
Church."1' 

One  of  the  great  anxieties  of  Pope  Gregory  was  the  sad  condition 
of  religion  in  the  negro-republic  of  Haiti.  Bishop  England's  mission  to 
President  Boyer  in  1835  had  ended  in  failure.  In  one  of  Bishop 
Rosati 's  conversations  with  the  Holy  Father,  the  question  of  Haiti  was 
broached  and  the  Pope,  realizing  that  the  Bishop's  Avisdom,  gentleness 
and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  negro-character,  eminently  fitted  him 


15     "Berichte  der  Leopoldinen  Stiftung,"  Heft  XV,  pp.  23-25. 


Bishop  Rosati  and  His  Coadjutor  7!):! 

for  the  work  of  restoring  ecclesiastical  affairs  in  that  republic  to  a 
normal  condition,  asked  him  whether  he  would  be  willing  to  accept 
a  mission  as  Delegate  Apostolic  to  Haiti.  Bishop  Rosati  had  but  one 
objection :  the  bereaA^ement  of  St.  Louis  of  its  bishop.  But  if  a  coadjutor 
were  given  him,  he  would  be  ready  at  once  to  go  to  Haiti.  "Well," 
answered  the  Pope,  "If  you  know  a  good  priest,  whom  you  would  like 
to  have  for  your  Coadjutor,  mention  him,  and  I  will  appoint  him  at 
once."  Then  the  remembrance  of  what  he  had  seen  and  heard  of  the 
Vicar  General  of  Philadelphia,  Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  arose  in  the 
Bishop's  mind,  and  the  words  that  he  had  then  set  down  in  his  Diary 
came  back  to  him :  ' '  Most  Holy  Father,  I  desire  that  You  give  me  as 
my  Coadjutor,  the  Very  Reverend  Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  Vicar  General 
of  Philadelphia."  The  Pope  readily  acquiesced:  yet  a  doubt  arose  in 
the  mind  of  the  Bishop.  "Most  Holy  Father,  I  have  been  grievously 
disappointed  on  a  former  similar  occasion.  The  Coadjutor  You  intended 
for  me  some  years  since,  Father  John  Timon,  refused  to  accept  the 
burden :  I  fear,  that  Father  Kenrick  may  do  likewise,  unless  Your 
Holiness  oblige  him  under  obedience  to  accept." 

That  the  Holy  Father  acted  upon  Bishop  Rosati 's  request  is  evi- 
denced by  the  letter  Bishop  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick  wrote  from 
Philadelphia  to  Bishop  Rosati  in  Rome,  under  date  of  June  4th,  1841 : 
"The  positive  wishes  of  His  Holiness  have,  I  believe,  received  my 
brother's  full  acquiescence."16 

Bishop  Rosati  set  sail  for  New  York  in  the  Fall  of  the  year,  and 
proceeding  to  Philadelphia,  whilst  Father  Lutz  started  for  St.  Louis, 
he  consecrated  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  under  the  title  Bishop  of  Drasa 
and  Coadjutor  of  St.  Louis.  This  solemn  act  occurred  in  the  parish 
of  the  new  Bishop,  St.  Mary's:  The  assistant  bishops  were  Francis- 
Patrick  Kenrick,  and  the  newly  consecrated  Peter  Paul  Lefevere.  The 
day  of  consecration  was  St.  Andrew's  day,  November  30th,  1841. 

In  the  joy  of  his  heart  at  having  gained  for  his  diocese  "a  man. 
whose  apostolic  zeal  had  been  so  conspicuous,  and  to  whose  merits  all 
the  prelates  of  the  American  Church  had  on  several  occasions  given 
honorable  testimony,"  announced  the  fact  in  His  Pastoral  Letter  to 
the  Clergy  and  the  Faithful  of  his  diocese,  expressing  the  hope  that  he 
would  have  Bishop  Kenrick  as  his  constant  companion  in  life,  and  that 
"having  received  our  last  breath,  he  will  continue  to  be  Your  Father 
for  a  long  succession  of  vears.  "1T 


I"     Kenrick,  F.  P.,  to  Eosati,  quoted  by  Van  tier  Sanden  in  his  M.  S.  Sketch  of 
St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

i"     Pastoral  Letter  of  Bishop  Eosati,  addressed  to  the  Clergy  and  the   Faithful 
of  his  Diocese. 


794 


llistori/  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.   Louis 


After  the  consecration  Bishop  Rosati  prepared  himself  for  his 
mission  to  Haity.  He  was  received  with  all  kindness  by  President  Boyer 
and  his  advisers.  The  Delegate's  negotiations  for  a  Concordat  were 
successfully  concluded,  and  after  confirming  a  large  number  of  the 
faithful  on  the  Island,  Bishop  Rosati  set  out  for  Rome  on  February 
22nd,  1843,  in  a  French  vessel  of  war,  to  make  his  report  to  Pope 
Gregory  XVI.  All  the  good  results  of  his  mission  were  destroyed  by  one 
of  those  periodical  revolutions  that  have  proved  the  curse  of  the  island. 
President  Boyer  was  defeated  and  exiled.  The  thought  of  returning 
to  his  diocese  was  now  uppermost  in  the  Bishop's  mind.  He  departed 
for  Paris  in  the  company  of  Cardinal  Joachim  Pecci,  the  future  Leo 
XIII.  The  Cardinal  was  on  his  way  to  Brussels  as  Nuncio.  He  was 
delighted  with  the  Bishop's  unaffected  piety,  kindliness  of  manner 
and  sincere  affection  for  the  Holy  Father.  His  words  were :  "  I  have 
never  met  with  a  Bishop  whom  I  considered  such  a  holy  man,  as  the 
first  Bishop  of  St.  Louis." 

Whilst  then  Bishop  Rosati  was  straining  every  nerve  to  bring 
peace  and  salvation  to  a  distracted  people,  the  newly  consecrated  Coad- 
jutor Bishop,  in  company  with  his  friend  Michael  O'Connor,  was 
wending  his  way  to  Pittsburg  and  the  Ohio  River  and  thence,  bidding 
farewell  to  his  company,  pressed  on  to  his  new  field  of  labor  in  St. 
Louis.  We  have  the  testimony  of  Archbishop  Ryan,  to  the  fact  that 
Bishop  Kenrick  on  his  way  to  St.  Louis,  stopped  off  at  Cape  Girardeau 
and  kept  the  Feast  of  Christmas  with  the  Lazarist  Fathers  of  that 
place.  He  entered  St.  Louis  on  December  28th,  1841,  quietly,  unob- 
trusively, as  the  entire  course  of  his  life  had  been. 


f^/^Cj^y 


Chapter  2 
BISHOP  PETER  RICHARD  KENRICK  OF  ST.  LOUIS 


"Noli  irritare  leonen, "  was  the  motto  the  kind  and  gentle  Coadjutor 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis  assumed  at  his  consecration.  There  were  indeed, 
certain  qualities  of  character  and  even  of  outward  appearance,  that 
reminded  one  of  the  lion ;  his  never-failing  sense  of  dignity,  his  firmness 
of  will  and  courage  in  dangerous  situations,  his  disregard  of  obstacles 
and  contempt  for  enemies  and  detractors,  and  his  noble  ideal  of  life  and 
action,  which  was  as  far  above  the  petty  meanness  of  this  world  as  the 
stars  are  above  the  dust  and  turmoil  of  this  earth  of  ours.  Yet  these 
qualities  of  the  lion  were  tempered  by  those  of  the  lamb.  There  was  a 
gentleness  and  consideration  in  his  manner  that  won  the  affection  of 
those  that  came  near  him.  Strong,  yet  pliant,  where  reason  swayed, 
ruggedly  honest  and  fearless  of  consequences,  he  could  be  moved  to 
change  a  decision,  if  the  better  reason  were  offered.  Strong,  but  not 
stubborn,  he  was  tenacious  of  his  convictions  amid  contention  and  ob- 
loquy; yet,  when  the  voice  of  authority  emerged  from  the  noise  of 
contending  factions,  he  bowed  in  humble  submission  to  the  truth  of 
God.  Such  was  the  Coadjutor  and  successor  of  Bishop  Rosati  in  the 
diocese  of  St.  Louis,  Peter  Richard  Kenrick. 

Ireland,  "the  martyr-island,"  that  has  given  so  many  bishops  to 
the  American  Church,  was  the  home  of  our  own  Peter  Richard.  He 
was  born  in  Dublin  on  the  17th  day  of  August  1806,  and  made  his  pre- 
paratory studies  in  the  schools  of  his  native  city,  and  under  his  uncle, 
the  Rev.  Richard  Kenrick,  pastor  of  the  Church  of  St.  Nicholas 
de  Lyra.  Young  Kenrick  had  a  brother,  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick,  a  stu- 
dent in  the  Urban  College  in  Rome,  who  was  in  the  course  of  time  to  attain 
the  high  station  of  Bishop  of  Philadelphia  and  Archbishop  of  Balti- 
more. Among  his  early  friends  the  great  Irish  poet,  James  Clarence 
Mangan,  seems  to  have  made  the  deepest  impression  on  his  mind.  The 
Author  of  ' '  My  Dark  Rosaleen, ' '  and  ' '  Twenty  Golden  Years  Ago ' '  was 
frequently  quoted  by  the  Bishop  all  through  life.  After  completing  his 
classical  studies  the  youthful  aspirant  for  the  priesthood  entered  St. 
Patricks  Royal  College  of  Maymooth.  On  March  6th,  1832,  he  was 
ordained  priest  in  the  college  chapel  by  Archbishop  Murray  of  Dublin. 
After  exercising  the  sacred  ministry,  first  at  the  Cathedral  of  Dublin, 
and  then  in  the  Parish  of  Rathmines,  Father  Kenrick  received  an  ur- 
gent invitation  from  his  brother,  the  Coadjutor  Bishop  of  Philadelphia, 
to  join  him  in  his  labors  for  the  western  church.  Archbishop  Murray 
gave  his  consent,  and  in  October,  1833,  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  arrived 
in  his  brother's  Episcopal  City.     Appointed  Pastor  of  the  Cathedral, 

(795) 


79G  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Father  Kenrick  became  President  of  the  Seminary  and  Vicar-General 
of  the  Diocese.  He  attended  the  Third  Provincial  Council  of  Balti- 
more as  theologian  to  the  saintly  Bishop  Brute  of  Vincennes.  The  ener- 
getic Vicar-General  assumed  in  addition  to  his  other  duties,  the  editor- 
ship of  the  "Catholic  Herald,"  a  weekly  publication  appearing  in  Phil- 
adelphia. The  amount  of  literary  work  Father  Kenrick  did  for  the 
"Catholic  Herald"  was  unquestionably  very  great,  and  might  have 
satisfied  the  most  active  and  tireless  mind.  But  it  is  usually  the  busiest 
men  that  readily  find  time  and  energy  for  extra  work  that  is  imposed 
upon  them  by  the  exigencies  of  the  hour  or  the  secret  spell  of  a  sudden 
inspiration.  It  was  during  the  seven  years  of  his  missionary  life  in 
Philadelphia  that  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  composed  the  solid  works  of 
genuine  peity  and  scholarship,  that  placed  him  among  the  chief  writers 
of  American  Church,  namely  "The  Validity  of  Anglican  Ordinations" 
(Philadelphia  1841)  "New  Month  of  Mary"  and,  "History  of  the  Holy 
House  of  Lorctto."1 

Kenrick 's  "The  Validity  of  Anglican  Ordinations"  is  remarkable, 
not  only  for  its  being  the  first  comprehensive  treatise  on  the  subject 
published  in  America,  but  even  more  so  for  the  wonderful  historical 
grasp  with  which  he  summed  up  the  various  branches  of  the  argument 
and  combined  them  into  one  irresistible  onslaught  on  the  Anglican  posi- 
tion. Pope  Leo  XIII  dealt  with  the  matter  chiefly  from  the  doctrinal 
point  of  the  sacramental  validity :  Father  Kenrick  from  the  historical 
grounds  upon  which  the  Anglican  Church  based  its  claim.  Both  came 
to  the  same  conclusion :  the  Anglican  ordinations  were  invalid.  When 
we  recall  to  mind  that  Father  Kenrick 's  treatise  was  published  in  1841, 
we  may  well  feel  surprised  at  the  clearness  of  vision  and  fullness  of 
learning  of  the  still  youthful  controversialist.  Father  Kenrick 's  book 
made  quite  a  stir  among  the  Anglican  clergy.  In  1844  a  certain  Hugh 
Davy  Evans  published  in  Baltimore  a  book,  entitled  Essays  to  Prove  the 
Validity  of  Anglican  Ordinations;  in  answer  to  the  Bight  Reverend 
Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  R.C.  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  by  a  L^ayman,  and 
in  1846  John  Fuller  Russell  followed  with  Anglican  Ordinations 
Valid.  A  refutation  of  certain  statements  in  the  second  and  third 
chapters  of  The  Validity  of  Anglican  Ordinations,  examined,  by  the 
Very  Reverend  Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  V.G.  by  John  Fuller  Russell, 
London,  Masters,  1846.  "Bishop  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick  sent  these 
books  to  his  brother  in  St.  Louis  with  the  request: 

"I  am  hoping  that,  after  you  have  read  this  (work)  of  your  ad- 
versary, you  will  make  a  new  edition  of  your  own  work,  which  is  of  great 
value ;  especially  that  you  will  correct  the  error,  which  I  pointed  out  to 
you,  of  a  quotation  that  is  incomplete."2 


1  O'Shea,  John  J.,  "The  Two  Archbishops  Kenrick,"  p.  268  ss. 

2  Kenrick-Frenaye   Correspondence,   p.   231. 


Bishop  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  of  St.  Louis  797 

A  second  edition  of  The  Validity  of  Anglican  Orders  Examined 
came  out  in  1848.  The  Cursus  Gompletus  Theologicus  of  Abbe  Mignet, 
Vol.  25,  p.  61  s.  contains  a  chapter  of  Father  Kenrick 's  treatise.  In 
the  course  of  time  the  work  met  -with  unmerited  neglect  and  has  become 
very  rare.  John  J.  O'Shea  in  his  "The  two  Archbishops  Kenrick" 
reprints  the  leading  arguments  of  the  book.3 

"The  Holy  House  of  Lorctto"  is  intended  to  be  an  examination 
of  the  historical  evidence  of  its  miraculous  translation  from  Nazareth 
to  the  Adriatic  Shore.  As  the  history  of  the  Holy  House  was  well 
known  in  America,  the  authorities  however,  on  which  the  history  rests, 
remained  almost  unknown,  the  author  undertook  the  present  work,  stat- 
ing that  the  subject  was  not  a  matter  of  divine  Faith,  but  only  of  histori- 
cal credibility.  Many  books  have  been  written  since  Kenricks'  day  con- 
cerning the  wonderful  event,  or  if  you  will,  this  most  attractive  legend ; 
but  for  sanity  of  argument,  clearness  of  statement  and  limpid  flow  of 
language,  Kenrick 's  "Holy  House  of  Lorctto,"  the  "House  of  Our  Lady 
on  the  Adriatic  Shore"  still  holds  the  palm.  Several  editions  of  the 
book  appeared,  the  last  one  we  know  of  in  1876.  An  Italian  transla- 
tion by  a  gentleman  of  rank  appeared  about  1847,  and  a  German  one 
by  Canon  Salzbacher,  printed  in  beautiful  type,  in  1854. 

Concerning  the  third  beautiful  fruit  of  Father  Kenrick 's  missionary 
days,  "The  New  Month  of  Mary"  1840,  we  are  glad  to  state  that  the 
fragrance  and  life  of  it  is  still  a  cherished  possession  of  our  Catholic 
people.  You  may  still  hear  it  said  on  all  sides :  The  best  book  for  May 
devotions  is  Kenrick 's  "New  Month  of  Mary."  Father  Faber  repub- 
lished it  in  England ;  in  America  it  has  never  gone  out  of  use.  It  was 
greatly  instrumental  in  promoting  the  devotion  of  the  Month  of  our 
Blessed  Lady  in  English-speaking  countries. 

From  these  three  remarkable  literary  works  of  his  earlier  days 
it  would  appear  that  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  was,  indeed,  worthy  of 
high  honors  in  the  Church,  but  might  not  be  fitted  for  the  place  in 
which  the  choice  of  Bishop  Rosati  placed  him.  A  quiet  studious  profes- 
sor and  writer  of  books  did  not  seem  to  meet  the  hard  practical  require- 
ments of  western  clerical  life.  For  a  time  appearances  went  far  to 
prove  the  fact.  Bishop  Kenrick  received  a  cold  reception  from  the  old 
French  priests,  and  his  first  attempts  to  regulate  the  financial  affairs  of 
the  diocese  met  with  passive  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  people  of 
the  city.  There  was  a  debt  of  $58,000.00  incurred  by  Bishop  Rosati 
in  building  his  Cathedral,'  and  in  establishing  necessary  institutions. 
Aid  had  come  from  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  in 
Lyons,  and  from  the  Leopoldine  Society  of  the  Austrian  Empire.  But 
there  were  so  many  financial  hollows  to  be  filled  up,  and  so  many  new 
demands  arising,  that  the  diocesan  debt  grew  apace.    We  have  read  two 


3     Op.  cit.,  p.  422-479. 


798  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

letters  written  by  Bishop  Kenrick  to  Bishop  Rosati  recounting  to  him 
in  the  most  insistent  manner  what  sums  were  due,  and  had  to  be  paid, 
and  earnestly  requesting  him  not  to  spend  any  part  of  the  money  he 
should  obtain  at  Rome  and  Paris  and  Vienna,  but  to  send  all  amounts 
for  the  payment  of  his  most  pressing  debts.4 

St.  Louis  itself  was  not  as  pleasant  a  place  to  dwell  in  as  the 
Bishop  had  found  Philadelphia.  The  city  proper  only  extended  west- 
ward as  far  as  Seventh  Street.  Beyond  that  line  there  were  some  scat- 
tering residences,  gutters,  and  prairie.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Washing- 
ton Avenue,  there  were,  west  of  the  boundary  of  Seventh  Street  for  a 
little  distance  around,  more  buildings  than  in  any  other  quarter  in 
that  direction,  as  the  St.  Louis  College  was  situated  in  that  neighbor- 
hood; but  on  Chestnut  and  Market  Streets,  and  all  South  Broadway 
were  gutters  and  ponds — and  then  broken  ridges  and  prairie  beyond 
Seventh  Street  to  the  west.  To  the  north  the  city  extended  to  Middle 
Street,  and  to  the  south,  just  below  the  Convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 
Outside  of  these  limits,  north  and  south,  the  residences  were  scattering, 
and  the  population  inconsiderable.  The  population  of  the  city  was 
16,187.5  At  the  close  of  1841  it  had  grown  to  about  20,000,  half  of  the 
population  being  Catholic,  of  French,  English,  Irish  and  German 
descent.  The  French  and  English-speaking  Catholics,  the  great  majority 
of  whom  were  Irish  immigrants,  worshipped  at  the  Cathedral.  The 
German  Catholics  attended  services  in  St.  Mary's  Chapel,  the  former 
St.  Louis  College,  where  Father  Fischer  continued  the  good  work  of 
Father  Lutz,  and  at  the  Jesuit  Chapel  of  St.  Aloysius,  near  the  Uni- 
versity.6 The  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  at  the  coming  of  Bishop  Kenrick, 
embraced  the  states  of  Missouri,  Arkansas,  the  western  portion  of  Il- 
linois, and  the  territories  now  constituting  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Indian 
Territory,  Oklahoma,  with  all  the  wilderness  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. The  diocese  contained  65  churches  and  chapels  and  74  priests, 
and  had  several  Indian  missions,  one  of  them  on  the  western  slopes 
of  the  Rockies.7 


4  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

5  Cf.  Edwards'  "Great  West,"  p.  406,  on  the  unsanitary  condition  of  St.  Louis 
streets  and  alleys  as  late  as  1848. 

c  Hohveck,  F.  G.,  "Public  Places  of  Worship  in  St.  Louis  before  Palm  Sunday 
1843,"  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  IV,  pp.  6  and  7. 

7  Those  interested  in  the  growth  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  America  will  enjoy 
the  following  quotation  from  "The  Catholic  Luminary,"  printed  in  1840  in  Ireland: 
' '  The  number  of  churches  or  chapels  in  the  Catholic  Diocese  of  St.  Louis,  in  the 
West  of  the  United  States  of  America,  is  not  less  than  43,  many  of  which  would  do 
credit  to  the  handsomest  cities  of  Europe,  and  eleven  others  have  been  begun,  but 
cannot  yet  be  finished  for  want  of  means.  This  diocese  comprises  the  states  of 
Arkansas,  Missouri,  part  of  that  of  Illinois,  and  the  western  territory  as  far  as 
the  frontiers  of  Mexico.  The  clergy  consists  of  68  priests — 24  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  20  to  the  Mission,  and  24  to  the  secular  clergy  of  the  diocese.     In  the  several 


Bishop  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  of  St.  Louis  799 

From  a  letter  written  by  Francis  Patrick  to  his  brother  Peter 
Richard,  January  10th,  1842,  we  may  gather  some  of  the  thorns  in  the 
crown  of  the  Coadjutor  Bishop : 

"I  am  pleased  to  know  that  you  reached  St.  Louis  safely,  but 
sorry  to  learn  that  sadness  mingles  with  your  joy.  Indeed  it  is  the 
all-wise  arrangement  of  Providence  to  keep  us  humble  in  the  very  en- 
joyment of  success.  As  to  the  burden  of  debt,  it  will  not  appear  so  great, 
if  you  consider  what  has  been  done,  and  that  almost  without  aid  of 
the  faithful :  though  just  now  it  may  seem  to  press  very  heavily,  when 
many  things  are  out  of  harmony,  by  reason  of  the  absence  of  the  good 
Bishop :  that  some  buildings  were  destroyed  by  fire ;  that  a  certain  Ger- 
man whom  the  Bishop  had  kindly  recommended  by  going  his  security, 
had  absconded,  and  that  a  collector  had  failed  to  turn  in  the  money 
which  he  received.  All  this  the  Bishop  told  me  before  I  received  your 
letter ;  and  he  expressed  much  regret  that  you  have  to  take  up  the 
administration  of  the  diocese  in  the  midst  of  these  difficulties.  More- 
over, it  will  be  his  whole  care  to  help  you  in  any  way  that  he  can;  and 
I,  if  I  can  do  anything,  will  not  be  wanting.  Have  courage  therefore ; 
and  if  the  burden  becomes  very  heavy,  let  me  know  of  your  difficulties. '  '8 

To  cheer  up  his  brother  of  St.  Louis  the  Bishop  of  Philadelphia 
wrote :  ' '  You  know  that  Bishop  Rosati  is  sure  to  return  to  his  see  as 
soon  as  he  has  settled  the  affairs  of  the  Republic  of  Haiti.  He  has  told 
me  that  he  expects  to  leave  the  Island  after  Easter.  Therefore,  it  is 
very  probable  that  you  will  be  relieved  soon  of  a  most  responsible  care. '  '9 
And  again:  "Do  not  worry  so  much  about  the  Bishop:  think  more 
kindly  of  his  temporal  affairs  and  the  burden  of  his  debts."  And  once 
more  on  Dec.  21:  "It  is  evident  that  he,  (Rosati)  is  troubled  in  mind. 
I  think,  therefore,  that  unwelcome  communications  are  to  be  sent  to 
him  not  without  some  words  to  console  him.  I  fear  your  straightforward 
way  of  bringing  to  his  notice  the  condition  of  things  has  made  him 
sad."10 

But  Bishop  Kenrick  knew  well  the  saying  of  Virgil:  "Labor  omnia 
vincit,"  and  determined  to  win  his  way.  First,  he  set  his  own  house 
aright  by  appointing  Father  Lutz,  who  had  been  specially  recommended 
to  him  as  one,  who,  on  account  of  his  disturbed  imagination,  merits 
great  charity,  as  his  secretary:  he  sent  Father  Fontbonne  from  the 
Cathedral  to  Carondelet,  and  placed  Father  George  Hamilton,  as  the  best 


establishments  of  education  or  charity,  entrusted  to  clergymen  or  nuns,  there  are 
more  than  500  boys  and  girls;  29  male  and  female  orphans  are  supported  and 
educated  in  asylums  of  charity.  The  hospital  of  St.  Louis  lodges  and  feeds  1,362 
infirm,  poor  persons,  and  receives  annually"  more  than  560  sick. 

s     Kenrick-Frenaye  Correspondence,  pp.  138  and  139. 

s     Kenrick-Frenaye  Correspondence,  p.  144. 
io     Kenrick-Frenaye  Correspondence,  pp.  151-158. 


800  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

English  speaker,  iu  the  Cathedral  pulpit.  Father  Saulnier  is  sent  to 
French  Village  in  Illinois  and  eventually  to  New  .Madrid,  and  Father 
P.  R.  Donnelly  to  Alton,  whilst  Father  Ambrose  Heim  is  transferred  to 
English  Settlement  in  Illinois.  In  writing  to  Bishop  Rosati  in  Rome 
he  emphasises  necessity  of  priests  who  speak  the  languages  of  the  Cath- 
olic immigrants,  saying  with  great  stress:  "We  want  English  and  Ger- 
man priests."  He  gave  dimissorial  letters  to  Revs.  J.  Conway,  J.  Healy 
and  H.  Meinkmann.  Within  the  year  1843  he  ordained  nine  priests ;  on 
May  21st,  Rev.  .James  Tiernan,  CM ;  on  May  30th,  Rev.  Adrian  Hoecken. 
S.J. ;  on  August  21st,  Rev.  Joseph  Kuenster  and  Rev.  Patrick  McCabe, 
both  of  the  diocese;  Rev.  Thomas  Cusack,  also  for  the  diocese  and  Rev. 
Alphonse  Montuori,  CM.  and  Rev.  John  Larkin,  CM.  On  December  8th, 
Rev.  Michael  Carroll,  for  the  diocese  ;  on  December  21st,  Rev.  Maurice  van 
der  Eycke,  S.J." 

The  statistics  for  the  year  1842  are  as  follows: 

Churches  with  resident  priest  39 ;  Chapels  6 ;  Missions  with  churches, 
about  36 ;  Stations  50 ;  Bishops  2 ;  Secular  Priests,  27 ;  Lazarist  Fathers, 
21;  Jesuit  Fathers  28.     Total,  80. 

Ecclesiastical  Seminaries,  4 ;  Clerical  Students  30 ;  College  3 ;  Acad- 
emies for  girls,  10 ;  Schools,  5 ;  Charitable  Institutions,  7 ;  Catholic 
Population,  100,000.u 

In  April  the  sum  of  5,000  fl.  equal  to  2300  dollars  arrived  from  the 
Leopoldine  Association  of  Vienna,  Austria.  The  Bishop  at  once  wrote 
his  letter  of  thanks,  and  assured  Archbishop  Milde  of  having  devoted 
a  part  of  this  sum  to  the  use  of  the  German  Catholics,  and  of  his  in- 
tention to  devote  the  rest  for  their  good  also."12  Bishop  Rosati  wrote 
with  expressions  of  deepest  gratitude  to  the  Archbishop  of  Vienna  say- 
ing: "The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  of  Lyons,  and  the 
Leopoldine  Society  are  almost  the  only  supports  upon  whom  I  can 
rely. '  '13 

Bishop  Joseph  Rosati 's  earthly  days  were  now  drawing  to  a  close 
Father  Hercules  Brassac,  who  kept  a  watchful  eye  on  all  the  ecclesi- 
astical doings  at  Paris  and  Rome  wrote  to  Bishop  Purcell  on  April  5th, 
1842:  "Bishop  Rosati  has  returned  from  Haiti  quite  satisfied  with  his 
mission  there.  He  returns  to  Rome  in  a  few  days."  Again  under  date 
of  December  30th,  he  says :  ' '  Bishop  Rosati  is  still  at  Rome,  but  will  be 
here  (Paris)  ere  long.  I  may  have  to  go  to  Haiti  very  shortly."  On  Feb- 
ruary 22nd,  1843:  he  communicates  the  news  to  Bishop  Purcell;  "That 
Bishop  Rosati  has  insisted  so  pressingly  on  his  (Brassac)  going  with  him 
to  San  Domingo,  that  he  has  consented  to  do  so."    On  April  10th,  comes 


11  Annual  Statement  of  Chancery. 

12  "Berichte  der  Leopoldinen  Stiftung,"  Heft  XVI,  pp.  43-46. 

13  Berichte,  Heft  XVI,  pp.  41  and  43. 


Bishop  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  of  St.  Louis  801 

the  news  that  ' '  Bishop  Rosati  is  too  sick  to  cross  the  ocean.  "14  "  There 
is  no  hope  of  recovery  of  the  Bishop  (Rosati),  as  I  gather  from  the  Re- 
port of  Bishop  Chabrat,"  wrote  the  Bishop  of  Philadelphia  to  his 
brother  Peter  Richard,  "In  consequence  you  must  be  prepared  to  bear 
the  burden  of  government  alone."13  Bishop  Joseph  Rosati  died  at  Rome 
on  the  25th  day  of  September  1843  in  the  54th  year  of  his  age.  "He  was 
a  prelate  worthy  of  the  brightest  ages  of  the  church,  eminent  for  his 
ecclesiastical  learning,  as  well  as  for  piety,  prudence,  zeal,  suavity  of 
manners,  humility,  and  all  the  virtues  becoming  his  high  station,"16  as 
a  St.  Louis  priest  wrote  of  him  immediately  after  having  received  the 
notice  of  his  death.  Though  not  gifted  with  the  secret  power  to  make 
all  the  golden  streams  turn  towards  him,  he  knew  how  to  diffuse  sparse 
favors  of  charity  and  of  the  world  in  the  many  places  where  they  pro- 
duced so  much  of  golden  fruits  for  eternity.  Not  worldly-wise,  but 
wise  in  his  childlike  trust  in  Providence,  he  is  one  of  the  saintly  men 
of  whom  the  Church  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  will  forever  be  proud. 


14  Messmer,  Archbishop   S.   G.,   Hercules   Brassac's    Correspondence,    "Catholic 
Historical  Eeview, "  vol.  Ill,  pp.  464,  467. 

15  Kenrick-Frenaye  Correspondence,  p.  173. 
is     "Catholic  Cabinet,"  December,   1843. 


Vol.  1—26 


Chapter  3 
THE   CATHEDRAL  PARISH  OF  ST.  LOUIS 


In  his  long  and  jubilant  letter  to  Pope  Gregory  XVI,  written  on 
the  26th  day  of  October  1834,  Bishop  Rosati  gives  the  following  de- 
scription of  the  surroundings  of  the  new  Cathedral  he  had  just  con- 
secrated with  all  the  ceremonial  pomp  then  possible :  ' '  The  new  Cathe- 
dral is  alongside  the  residence  of  the  Bishop,  from  which  it  is  separated 
only  by  an  alley  eighteen  feet  wide.  The  secular  priests  residing  in 
St.  Louis  and  exercising  the  parochial  ministry  with  the  Bishop,  live 
with  him  a  kind  of  community  life,  with  its  rules,  its  regular  exercises 
of  piety,  spiritual  conferences,  reading  of  Holy  Scripture  at  table,  etc. 
Their  life  is  one  of  retirement  from  all  useless  relations  with  seculars, 
from  whom  they  never  accept  any  invitations  either  to  dinner  or  to 
supper  outside  the  house,  so  that  they  may  always  be  ready  for  any 
calls.  Their  number  is  still  inadequate  to  the  needs,  which  in  this  city 
are  harder  to  satisfy  than  elsewhere,  because  the  population  speaks 
three  languages,  French,  English  and  German.  A  large  number  of 
German  Catholics  have  come,  and  are  continuing  to  come,  to  settle  in 
the  Diocese  and  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  As  a  rule,  they  are  very  pious, 
industrious  and  they  do  honor  to  the  religion  which  they  profess  by  word 
and  deed.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  to  preach  in  these  three  languages ; 
yet  all  the  clergy  employed  in  the  service  of  the  parish  at  present  con- 
sists only  of  the  Bishop,  two  priests  and  a  cleric.  From  time  to  time 
a  Jesuit  comes  from  the  College  to  preach  in  English ;  and  on  solemn 
feast  days  these  Fathers  come  to  help  for  pontificial  functions,  so  that, 
with  the  further  aid  of  altar  boys  vested  in  red  cassocks  and  surplices, 
who  fulfill  the  minor  offices,  the  solemnities  may  be  celebrated  with 
proper  dignity.  On  the  west  side  of  the  Cathedral  there  is  a  beautiful 
piece  of  ground  belonging  to  the  church  which  might  otherwise  have  been 
turned  into  a  source  of  revenue ;  however,  to  obviate  the  inconvenience 
resulting  from  hiring  houses  so  near  the  church,  the  Bishop  has  re- 
served this  piece  of  property  for  the  Orphan  Asylum.  The  charity  of 
the  faithful  is  much  interested  in  these  children,  of  whom,  after  the  out- 
break of  the  cholera,  twenty-five  were  gathered  together  and  are  raised 
in  a  small  house ;  a  fair  held  by  the  most  respectable  ladies  of  the  city 
in  view  of  the  Orphanage  has  returned  $1,000,  besides  $800  for  the 
building  of  a  new  asylum.  Providence  will  certainly  do  the  rest. 
Building  operations  for  this  new  Orphanage  will  commence  next  spring. 
Thus  shall  the  infant  Church  of  St.  Louis  follow,  at  least  from  afar, 
the  examples  given  by  the  first  churches  of  the  world  from  the  earliest 
Christian  centuries  in  the  particular  care  they  took  of  the  poor,  the 

(802) 


The  Cathedral  Parish  of  St.  Louis  803 

orphans  and  the  sick.  These  orphan  boys  housed  near  the  Cathedral  will 
be  very  useful  as  altar  boys  and  will  supply  the  want  of  clerics."1 

The  priests  here  mentioned  were  the  Very  Rev.  Philip  Borgna 
CM.  Vicar-General  and  Joseph  Anthony  Lutz ;  the  cleric  "was  Louis 
Tucker.  Father  Edmond  Saulnier  had  his  residence  near  the  Church 
of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel  in  Carondelet,  or,  as  it  was  popularly 
known,  "Vide  Poche, "  a  suburb  of  St.  Louis.  In  1835  the  same  clergy- 
men were  with  Bishop  Rosati  at  the  Cathedral,  but  their  duties  had 
increased.  "On  Sunday,"  says  the  Directory  for  1836,  "besides  the 
Highmass  at  10  o'clock,  at  which  there  is  an  English  and  a  French  ser- 
mon alternately,  there  is  mass  and  a  sermon  in  the  German  language 
at  9  o'clock.  After  Vespers  there  is  a  meeting  of  the  Confraternity 
of  the  Rosary." 

The  services  rendered  to  the  Cathedral  by  the  Jesuits  from  the 
St.  Louis  College  were  more  important  than  Bishop  Rosati 's  words 
would  seem  to  imply.  From  the  opening  of  the  College  in  1829  until 
the  opening  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  Church,  the  Jesuits  of  St.  Louis  had 
no  parochial  standing.  In  fact  there  were  under-currents  among  the 
secular  clergy  against  the  Jesuits  having  a  parish  church  in  the  city. 
"These  gentlemen,"  wrote  Father  Saulnier  to  Bishop  Rosati  "are 
going  to  have  a  church  and  they  have  spread  a  rumor  in  town  that  the 
English  speaking  people  shall  soon  have  an  English  priest  there  who 
will  preach  to  them  every  Sunday.    Beware  ! '  '2 

Father  Niel,  the  founder  of  St.  Louis  College,  bravely  seconds  the 
former  pastor  of  the  Cathedral:  "I  hear  a  report,  that  the  Jesuits  are 
going  to  build  a  church.  If  this  be  true,  and  if  you  give  them  per- 
mission, you  will  incur  the  danger  of  preaching  to  empty  pews  in 
your  Cathedral.  You  destroy  the  parish  of  St.  Louis.  Bishop  Du  Bourg, 
although  half  a  Jesuit  himself  often  told  me  at  St.  Louis  that  in  the 
deed  of  the  donation  of  the  land  where  they  build  their  college,  he  had 
made  the  condition,  that  they  should  have  there  a  chapel  only  for  their 
pupils,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  general  public.  Beware !  You  will 
create  for  yourself  a  lot  of  difficulties,  if  you  permit  them  to  have  a 
church.  I  forsee  the  time,  when  the  Cathedral  will  be  deserted,  when 
the  only  occupation  of  the  Bishop  in  St.  Louis  shall  be  to  give  con- 
firmation, and  when  he  can  have  only  two  or  three  diocesan  priests."3 

These  fears  were  based  on  the  admitted  fact  that  the  Jesuits  had 
better  English  preachers  than  those  at  the  Cathedral,  and  would  cer- 
tainly attract  the  Irish  and  the  American  converts  to  their  church 
near  the  College.  Bishop  Rosati,  however,  entertained  no  such  fears, 
but  made  the  best  use  of  these  talented  and  highly  cultured  priests  as 


i     Eosati  to  Pope  Gregory  XIV. 

2  Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

3  Xiel  to  Eosati,  from  Paris  about   1820. 


804 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  SI.   Louis 


preachers  and  confessors  in  his  Cathedral  and  as  substitutes  for  the 
Cathedral  clergy  in  the  discharge  of  sick  calls  during  the  absence  of 
the  latter. 

"In  1835  Fathers  Verhaegen,  Blel  and  Van  de  Velde,"  as  Father 
Garraghan  assures  us,  "were  taking  turns  regularly  as  Cathedral 
preachers,  while  Father  Smedts  was  hearing  confessions  weekly  in 
the  same  church.  The  year  following  Father  Elet  was  preaching  in 
the  Cathedral  in  English  and  Father  Helias  in  German.  The  sermons 
of  the  Fathers  sometimes  drew  large  crowds,  as  in  1836,  when  people 
flocked  to  the  Cathedral  even  from  the  outskirts  of  the  city  to  attend 
an  evening  course,  carrying  lanterns  with  them,  as  no  system  of  street 
lighting  then  existed.4  Father  Verhaegen,  who  at  this  period  was 
residing  at  the  Cathedral  in  the  capacity  of  Administrator  of  the  diocese, 
writes  in  reference  to  a  sermon  which  he  preached  there  on  All  Saints 
Day,  1840:  "In  the  evening  I  preached  on  purgatory.  More  than 
3,000  persons,  so  I  am  told  came  to  hear  me  and  many  more  had  to 
go  away,  not  being  able  to  get  into  the  church.  If  I  could  give  my 
instructions  in  the  evening,  I  believe  they  would,  with  God's  grace, 
accomplish  considerable  good.  A  number  of  Protestants,  have  been  to 
see  me,  asking  for  books  to  read  and  four  of  them  are  now  being 
prepared  to  enter  the  Church."5 

As  late  as  1840  the  preaching  at  the  St.  Louis  Cathedral  was  still 
partly  in  French.  "French  sermons,"  so  Father  Verhaegen  informed 
Bishop  Rosati,  then  in  Europe,  "are  poorly  attended,  and  religion 
suffers  in  consequence.  If  Monseigneur  could  bring  back  with  him  a 
good  French  preacher  for  his  Cathedral,  he  would  fill  a  great  void.  As 
to  the  English  preaching,  I  cannot  myself  complain  of  my  audience — 
but  I  cannot  any  longer  conceal  from  you  the  fact  that  if,  on  my  de- 
parture from  the  episcopal  residence,  some  competent  English  or  Irish 
priest  does  not  replace  me,  religion  will  be  very  much  the  loser."6 

Bishop  Rosati  had  but  words  of  praise  for  the  valuable  assistance 
given  him  at  the  Cathedral.  "I  sincerely  applaud  and  highly  value 
their  exertions,"  he  wrote  in  a  letter  to  the  press,  in  answer  to  the 
charge  that  the  Jesuits  were  not  doing  their  full  duty  to  religion. 

Bishop  Rosati  fully  realized  that  the  long  hours  spent  in  class 
day  by  day  required  a  time  of  rest  and  recuperation ;  Father  Verhaegen 
addressed  Bishop  Rosati  on  March  26th,  1831 : 

"Aware  as  you  are  of  our  willingness  to  render  your  Lordship 
every  service  in  our  power  compatible  with  our  occupations,  I  am  sure 
you  will  appreciate  the  liberty  I  respectfully  take  to  inform  you,  that 
we  can  manage  to  absent  ourselves  from  the  College  only  on  those  days 


4  Litterae  Annuae,  1836. 

5  Verhaegen  to  Kosati,  ]840.     Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 

6  Verhaegen  to  Eosati,  July  1840.     Archives  of  St.  Louis  Archdiocese. 


The  Cathedral  Parish  of  St.  Louis  805 

on  which  Your  Lordship  celebrates  Mass  in  Pontiflcalibus,  that  is,  ac- 
cording' to  our  calculation,  only  eight  or  ten  times  a  year.  This  en- 
gagement Rev.  Father  Superior  (De  Theux)  makes  with  you  after  hav- 
ing inquired  of  us  what  each  of  us  could  do.  To  do  more  would  be 
beyond  our  power."7 

In  the  Fall  of  1836,  a  priest  from  the  diocese  of  Boston,  Father, 
Jamison,  came  to  St.  Louis  to  the  great  delight  of  everybody  concerned. 
He  had  arrived  whilst  Bishop  Rosati  was  on  the  confirmation  trip  in 
Ste.  Genevieve,  St.  Francis  and  Perry  Counties.  The  Bishop  found 
Jamison  at  the  episcopal  residence,  when  he  returned  to  St.  Louis,  Oc- 
tober 27th,  1832,  and  incorporated  him  at  once  into  the  diocese  for  the 
English  speaking  members  of  the  parish.  As  soon  as  Father  Verhaegen, 
then  President  of  St.  Louis  University,  heard  of  this  arrangement,  he 
wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati : 

"Our  Fathers  told  me  that  under  present  circumstances  they  would 
feel  mortified  to  appear  in  pulpit  before  a  congregation  which  must  con- 
tribute to  Dr.  Jamison's  support  and  would  not  see  him  at  his  post. 
They,  therefore,  wish  that  Mr.  Jamison  should  preach  in  the  morning 
and  they  will  gladly  assist  him  in  the  great  work  of  preaching  as  often 
as  their  services  are  required.  You  will,  therefore,  permit  us,  Mon- 
seigneur,  to  retire  from  the  exercise  of  this  function.  Rest  assured,  that 
when  circumstances  later  on  shall  demand  that  we  take  up  our  former 
post  again,  we  shall  do  so  with  all  our  heart."8  But  Father  Jamison 
did  not  stay  long.  Conditions  in  the  West  did  not  suit  his  taste  and 
he  returned  to  the  East  (first  to  Cincinnati).  The  Jesuit  Fathers 
again  took  the  charge  of  preaching  in  English  at  the  morning  services, 
much  against  their  wish.  Again  Father  Verhaegen  sought  to  have  his 
subjects  released  from  the  duty  of  preaching  in  the  Cathedral.  "I 
believe  it  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  our  holy  religion  in  St.  Louis,  that 
there  be  an  American  priest  at  the  Cathedral  to  give  consecutive  in- 
structions. This  gentleman  would  make  himself  doubly  useful  by  assum- 
ing the  spiritual  direction  of  the  boarding-school  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Sa- 
cred Heart,  Avhich  more  than  any  other  external  ministry  weighs  heavily 
on  our  shoulders.  Deign,  Monseigneur,  to  reflect  on  what  I  have  just 
set  down  and  to  arrange  things  in  such  wise  that  those  who  are  al- 
ready overburdened  at  home  may  no  longer  have  reason  to  complain 
because  exterior  functions  of  the  ministry  are  imposed  upon   them."9 

During  the  absence  of  Bishop  Rosati  at  the  Council  in  Baltimore 
and  on  his  trip  to  Italy,  until  Bishop  Kenrick's  arrival.  Father  Yer- 


"  Verhaegen  to  Rosati,  July  8,  1840.  Cf.  Hohveck,  "The  Language-Question 
at  the  Old  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis"  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review," 
vol.  II,  pp.  417. 

8  Verhaegen  to  Rosati,  November  14,  1836.     Archives. 

9  Verhaegen  to  Rosati,  August  4,  1839. 


806  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

haegen  was  the  Administrator  of  the  diocese,  with  residence  at  the 
Cathedral  rectory.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Coadjutor  was  to  re- 
move Father  Saulnier  from  Carondelet  to  French  Village,  Illinois, 
Father  Joseph  Fontbonne  from  the  Cathedral  to  Carondelet,  and  Father 
George  Hamilton,  from  Alton  to  the  Cathedral.  The  French  regime 
in  the  Church  of  St.  Louis  was  now  over,  the  rivalry  between  the  Irish 
and  the  German  elements  had  begun. 

In  1842  Bishop  Kenrick  abolished  French  at  the  morning  services 
altogether,  fearing  that  the  English-speaking  members  of  the  Cathedral 
congregation  might  be  drawn  entirely  to  the  new  College  church,  which 
was  then  in  process  of  construction  and  in  which  the  preaching  was  to 
be  entirely  in  English.  French  sermons,  however,  continued  to  be 
given  in  the  Cathedral  in  the  afternoon  after  Vespers,  but  in  the  course 
of  the  forties  these  also  were  discontinued,  and  the  language  of  the 
founders  of  St.  Louis  ceased  to  be  heard  from  the  Cathedral  pulpit. 

The  French  Fathers,  Joseph  Renaud  and  Benedict  Roux  were  still 
retained  at  the  Cathedral  for  the  care  of  the  old  Creoles;  the  younger 
generation  preferred  the  English  language.  1845  Father  Simon  Paris, 
a  native  of  France,  but  through  his  long  missionary  services  in  Arkan- 
sas, rather  proficient  in  English,  became  Rector  of  the  Cathedral,  with 
Roux,  Renaud,  Ambrose  Heim,  Patrick  O'Brien  and  John  Higginbotham 
as  assistants.  Father  Lutz  had  been  appointed  to  St.  Patrick's,  as 
pastor. 

In  the  year  of  grace  1845,  the  first  "Conference  of  the  St.  Vincent 
de  Paul  Society"  in  America  was  established  at  the  Cathedral.  It 
was  twelve  years  after  the  inauguration  of  this  noble  work  for  the 
poor,  by  Frederick  Ozanam,  a  brilliant  young  lawyer  at  Paris,  that 
Bryan  Mullanphy,  the  son  of  John  Mullanphy,  just  returned  from  his 
studies  in  Paris  and  full  of  enthusiasm  for  the  achievements  of  the 
society  in  France,  called  together  a  few  of  the  prominent  Catholic  lay- 
men of  St.  Louis,  and  in  the  little  school-house  attached  to  the  Cathe- 
dral,— a  building  destroyed  in  the  great  fire  of  1849 — established  the 
first  council  of  the  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  Society  in  America.  In  the 
minutes  of  this  meeting  we  read  that  Mr.  Mullanphy  presided ;  and  the 
election  of  officers  took  place.  Dr.  M.  L.  Linton  was  elected  President : 
Bryan  Mullanphy,  1st  Vice  President ;  Dennis  Galvin,  2nd  Vice  Presi- 
dent ;  James  McGuire  Jr.,  Secretary,  and  Patrick  Ryder,  Treasurer.  A 
committee  was  at  once  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  Bishop,  to  acquaint 
him  with  the  establishment  of  the  Society  and  ask  his  approbation, 
which  was  gladly  given.  The  next  step  was  to  gain  affiliation  with 
the  General  Council  in  Paris.  Accordingly  on  the  11th  day  of  December 
1845  the  application  for  aggregation  was  forwarded  to  France.  The 
act  of  admission  to  the  General  Council  was  effected  on  February  2nd, 
1846.  Among  the  early  members  of  the  Cathedral  Conference  the  Irish 
names  predominated  with  the  German  in  second  place.    The  most  prom- 


The  Cathedral  Parish  of  St.  Louis  807 

inent  are  Bryan  Mullanphy,  Dr.  M.  L.  Linton,  John  Amend,  H.  J. 
Spaunhorst,  Patrick  Fox,  Joseph  O'Neill  and  A.  S.  Heim,  Francis  Saler, 
Owen  V.  Timon.10 

The  name  of  Bryan  Mullanphy  needs  no  introduction  to  the  people 
of  St.  Louis.  Born  to  abundant  wealth,  educated  in  the  best  schools 
of  America  and  Europe,  he  was  in  no  way  affected  by  pride  or  selfish- 
ness, but  was  filled  with  enthusiasm  for  all  things  Christian  and  charit- 
able. He  was  an  accomplished  French  scholar.  His  purse  was  ever 
open  and  his  generosity  unbounded.  It  was  due  to  him  that  there  were 
no  financial  ailments  in  the  infant  days  of  the  Cathedral  Council.  He 
was  the  "Good  Angel"  of  the  young  Society  and  regarded  it  with 
paternal  kindness  to  the  time  of  his  death.11 

Dr.  M.  L.  Linton  was  a  native  of  Nelson  County,  Kentucky  born 
to  an  humble  position  in  life.  Hard  work  and  much  sacrifice  enabled 
him  to  attend  the  Transylvania  University  from  which  he  graduated 
as  a  Doctor  of  Medicine.  Not  content  with  this  he  afterwards  con- 
tinued his  studies  abroad  at  Paris  and  Edinburg.  On  his  return  to  the 
United  States  he  was  invited  to  take  a  professor's  chair  in  the  St. 
Louis  University.  Dr.  Linton  became  a  Catholic  in  February  1841. 
He  was  assailed  in  a  vicious  pamphlet  for  taking  this  step.  Dr.  Linton's 
replies,  written  in  a  spirited  style,  and  full  of  learning,  were  much  ad- 
mired even  by  those  who  did  not  approve  of  his  conversion.  In  what 
was  probably  his  last  letter,  dated  May  14th,  1872,  he  gave  thanks  for 
his  long  acquaintance  with  the  Jesuit  Fathers.  He  closed  it  with  the 
significant  words:  "I  believe  in  the  Catholic  church — every  article 
of  her  Creed,  from  the  divinity  of  Christ  to  the  infalibility  of  the  Pope. 
I  want  a  firm  faith  now,  as  the  time  of  my  going  hence  approaches."12 

He  established  the  St.  Louis  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  in  1843, 
the  first  periodical  of  its  kind  west  of  the  Mississippi.13  Dr.  Linton  is 
the  Author  of  "Outlines  of  Pathology,"  and  of  many  able  treatises  on 
Medical  subjects.  Francis  Saler,  the  President  of  the  Society  in  1856, 
was  a  native  of  the  Austrian  Tyrol,  who  became  the  favorite  building 
contractor  of  the  Catholic  sisterhoods  and  the  publisher  of  a  German 
daily  paper,  the  Taegliche  Chranik  (The  daily  Chronicle)  and  of  a 
number  of  valuable  books. 

He  was  a  staunch  Catholic  and  a  man  of  utmost  generosity  in  the 
cause  of  religion  and  charity.  Joan  Amend,  or  "Papa  Amend,"  as 
the   older   generation   of   Catholic    Germans   affectionately   called   him, 


io     Cf.  Schulte,  Rev.  Paul,  "The  Old  Cathedral  Conference  of   St.  Vincent   de 
Paul, "  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review, ' '  vol.  Ill,  pp.  5-14. 
■11     Idem,  ibidem. 

12  Dr.  Moses  L.  Linton  died  in  1872.     His  name  is  among  the  famous  ones  of 
Missouri  Medical  History. 

13  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  1843,  vol.  I,  No.  3. 


SOS 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


was  not  a  man  of  higher  learning,  hut  he  had  a  full  share  of  good  common 
sense,  and  the  ability  to  express  himself  clearly  and  forcibly,  as  a  leader 
of  men.  He  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  organizing  the  great  associa- 
tion of  German  Catholic  Societies  of  the  United  States  which  still  lives 
on,  after  more  than  seventy  years,  as  the  Central  Verein.  For  many 
years  John  Amend  held  the  position  of  President  of  this  strong  Catholic 
organization. 

Henry  J.  Spaunhorst,  John  Amend 's  successor,  drifted  into  poli- 
tics, without  losing  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church  and  of  Cath- 
olic Societies,  rose  to  the  position  of  State  Senator  from  St.  Louis.  He 
was  trying  hard  to  have  a  bill  passed  by  which  the  public  school 
funds  of  Missouri  should  be  available  for  the  support  of  private 
and  parochial  schools,  but  desisted  from  his  efforts  at  the  urgent  re- 
quest of  the  defenders  of  our  parochial  school  system,  who  feared, 
the  state  would  demand  supervision  of  the  parochial  schools,  with  all 
that  it  implied,  as  a  quid  pro  quo.1* 

Patrick  Fox  is  still  well  remembered  as  the  Publisher  of  a  number 
of  books  by  St.  Louisans,  among  them  Bishop  Kenrick's  Sacred  Cos- 
mogony. It  was  to  Father  Ambrose  Heim,  that  the  Society  owes 
much  of  its  success.  He  was  its  first  Spiritual  Director.  His  expendi- 
tures for  the  poor  were  invariably  the  greatest.  To  relieve  distress 
was  the  aim  and  object  of  his  life.  He  died  in  1854.  On  the  simple 
marble  slab  erected  over  his  grave,  the  terse  epitaph  is  written:  "Father 
Ambrose  J.  Heim,  the  priest  of  the  poor."  The  Cathedral  Con- 
ference was  the  only  one  established  in  St.  Louis  until  1858,  when 
Dr.  L.  Sillman  Ives,  a  convert  to  the  Faith,  delivered  a  stirring  lecture 
in  the  Mercantile  Library  Hall,  on  the  works  of  the  Society  and  strongly 
urged  the  erection  of  more  Conferences.  As  the  result  of  his  efforts 
St.  Francis  Xavier's  Parish  at  once  organized  an  independent  Con- 
ference. This  example  was  soon  followed  by  others.  Year  after  year 
witnessed  the  establishment  of  new  Councils.  At  present  our  fair 
city  boasts  of  seventy. 


14     Journal  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  1875,  pp.  107  and  108. 


Chapter  4 
THE  ST.  LOUIS  UNIVERSITY  AND   THE   COLLEGE   CHURCH 


One  of  the  last  public  acts  of  Bishop  Rosati  before  his  departure 
for  Europe,  was  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  College  Church 
dedicated  to  St.  Francis  Xavier.  The  church  was  completed  early  in 
1843,  and  opened  for  divine  service  on  Easter  Sunday  of  that  year. 
It  was  an  imposing  edifice  in  the  classic  style,  and  one  of  the  favorite 
places  of  worship  in  the  city,  until  in  1888  when  it  had  to  make  room  for 
the  expanding  commerce  of  St.  Louis.1 

It  was  rich  in  art-treasures  brought  or  sent  from  Europe  by 
Father  De  Smet,  and  the  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  Father 
Roothan.  Under  one  of  the  altars  reposed  the  body  of  St.  Florentin 
which  Father  Van  de  Velde  had  brought  from  Rome  in  1842.  The 
first  pastor  of  St.  Xavier 's  Parish  was  Rev.  John  Shoenmakers.  It  was 
during  his  administration  that  the  church  was  built.  After  the  dedi- 
cation, Father  George  A.  Carrell,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Covington,  was 
installed  as  pastor,  to  be  succeeded  in  1844  by  Rev.  Lucian  Glekal, 
in  1846  by  Fathers  Aelen  and  Arnold  Damen,  the  latter  of  whom 
remained  until  1857. 

"The  first  parish  school  for  girls  in  St.  Louis  was  the  one  attached 
to  St.  Francis  Xavier 's.  It  was  opened  May  8th,  1S4:$,  by  a  group  of 
Sisters  of  Charity,  who  had  arrived  in  the  city,  on  Low  Sunday  of 
that  year,  from  their  headquarters  in  Emmitsburg,  Md.  This  Congre- 
gation of  Sisters  had  been  established  in  St.  Louis  since  1829,  when 
they  came  to  assume  charge  of  the  hospital  founded  through  the 
munificence  of  Mr.  John  Mullanphy.  Later,  they  took  in  hand  the 
direction  of  St.  Philomena's  Orphan  Asylum  and  Free  School  at 
Fifth  and  Walnut  Streets  in  the  Cathedral  parish,  and  of  St,  Mary's 
Female  Orphan  Asylum  on  Biddle  and  Tenth  Streets.  St.  Xavier 's 
parish  school  for  girls,  first  known  as  St.  Vincent's  Free  School,  was 
a  success  from  the  start.  It  opened  in  temporary  quarters  with  one 
hundred  and  thirty  pupils,  as  the  new  school  building  on  Tenth  Street 
was  not  ready  for  occupancy.  In  1845  the  average  number  of 
pupils  in  attendance  was  two  hundred  and  eighty,  the  teaching  staff 
consisting  of  five  Sisters.  Attached  to  St.  Vincent's  was  a  select  or 
pay-school,  the  revenue  of  which  went  to  the  support  of  the  Free  School, 
ruder    the    skilful    direction    of    Sister    Olyinpia,    St.    Vincent's    Free 


i     The  former  site  of  St.  Louis  University  is  now  occupied  by  business  houses. 

(809) 


810  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

School,  or  "Sister  Olympia's  School,"  as  it  came  to  be  known,  became  an 
important  factor  in  the  upbuilding  of  St,  Louis  Catholicity."2 

"St.  Xavier's  parish  school  for  boys  was  in  a  sense  an  outgrowth 
of  the  day-school  department  of  St.  Louis  University.  At  first  the 
day-scholars  of  the  institution,  as  told  above,  were  not  admitted  to 
the  classical  course,  but  were  merely  given  instruction  of  a  rather 
elementary  kind  in  the  usual  branches  of  an  English  or  mercantile 
education.  Later,  in  1842,  they  were  admitted  on  an  equal,  or  almost 
equal  footing  with  the  boarders  to  all  the  educational  opportunities  of 
the  University.  At  the  same  time  provision  was  to  be  made  for  poor 
boys  unable  to  meet  the  expense  of  a  collegiate  education,  as  a  circular 
issued  from  the  University  August  29th,  1842,  informed  the  public : 
"It  is  not  intended,  however  to  exclude  from  the  benefits  of  a  good 
education  such  as  are  unable  to  defray  the  expense  of  a  collegiate 
course. 

Some  of  the  gentlemen  connected  with  the  Institution  will  devote 
themselves  to  the  gratuitous  education  of  such  children,  and  a  spacious 
hall  is  now  being  fitted  up  for  their  accommodation  within  the  precincts 
of  the  University.'5 

Father  Arnold  Damen  was  the  Founder  of  the  Convent  of  the 
Sisters  of  Mercy  in  St.  Louis,  as  will  be  recounted  in  Chapter  treating 
of  that  distinguished  Sisterhood. 

The  succession  of  pastors  at  St.  Francis  Xavier's  after  Father 
Damen  is  as  follows :  John  Gleizal  to  1859,  Cornelius  Smarius  to  1861, 
John  O'Neill,  to  1864;  M.  Corbett  to  1870;  John  F.  O'Neill  to  1873; 
E.  A.  Higgins  to  1875;  John  Condon  to  1876;  F.  J.  Ward  to  1883; 
E.  A.  Higgins  to  1885 ;  M.  Corbett  to  1886 ;  P.  Boyce  to  August  5th, 
1888,  when  Mass  was  said  for  the  last  time  in  the  venerable  temple  of 
God  before  its  destruction.4 

The  importance  and  wide  celebrity  of  the  Church  of  St,  Francis 
Xavier  was  largely  owing  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the  Church  of  Vice 
Province  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  and  of  the  St.  Louis  University.  The  St. 
Louis  College  established  by  Father  Van  Quickenborne,  on  the  remnants 
of  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  College,  having  received  a  charter  as  a  University 
from  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  December  28th,  18325.   The  institution 


2  Garraghan,  S.J.,  "Early  Chapters  in  the  History  of  St.  Louis  University, " 
in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review,"  vol.  V,  p.  121.  In  the  distribution 
of  the  John  Thornton  legacy  the  Archbishop  remembered  Sister  Olympia's  School 
with  a  share  of  $L,000. 

3  Garraghan,  1.  c,  pp.  121  and  122. 

4  Chancery   Records. 

5  For   the   Charter   see   Hill,   "History   of    St.    Louis   University,"    pp.   41-47. 


The  St.  Louis  University  and  the  College  Church  811 

did  not  rise  at  once  to  its  full  stature.  Until  1842  it  confined  itself 
to  two  undergraduate  courses,  the  classical  and  the  mercantile.  The 
classical  course  embraced  five  years  of  Latin,  Greek,  English,  Mathe- 
matics and  one  year  of  Philosophy. 

The  first  attempt  to  systematize  the  course  of  study  and  formulate 
definite  requirements  for  graduation  was  made  in  1837.  "On  May 
6th,  of  that  year  the  trustees  of  the  University  in  meeting  assembled 
appointed  a  committee,  of  which  Rev.  James  Van  de  Velde  was  made 
chairman,  with  instructions  considerately  "to  specify  what  studies  and 
acquirements  shall  henceforth  be  deemed  necessary  for  finishing  the 
classical  course,  and  being  found  qualified  for  taking  the  degree  of  A. 
B.  in  the  St.  Louis  University."6  The  report,  offered  by  the  committee 
on  the  eighth  of  the  following  December  was  amended  and  recommitted 
with  instructions  to  report  also  on  the  conditions  to  be  prescribed  for 
obtaining  the  degree  of  A.  M.  The  report,  as  finally  adopted  by  the 
board  of  trustees  on  July  28th,  1838,  provided:  "First:  that  the 
classical  course  shall  comprehend  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  Greek, 
Latin,  and  English  languages ;  of  Geography,  use  of  globes,  ancient 
and  modern  history,  logic  and  the  principles  of  moral  philosophy,  in- 
cluding ethics  and  metaphysics ;  of  rhetoric  and  mathematics,  including 
arithmetic,  algebra,  plane  and  solid  geometry,  trigonometry,  surveying, 
mensuration,  conic  sections  and  the  principles  of  natural  philsophy.  "7 

In  the  Autumn  of  1842  the  Medical  faculty  was  inaugurated  in 
the  University,  in  a  building  erected  for  the  purpose  on  Washington 
Avenue  west  of  Tenth  Street.  The  list  of  Professors  contained  such 
eminent  names  as  Dr.  Daniel  Brainard,  Moses  L.  Linton  and  Charles 
Alexander  Pope.  In  1850,  John  O 'Fallon,  father-in-law  of  Dr.  Pope, 
erected  the  stately  building  on  Seventh  and  Myrtle  Streets,  at  a  cost 
of  $80,000,  in  which  the  Medical  Department  of  the  St.  Louis  University 
was  housed.  The  Museum  and  the  collection  of  surgical  instruments 
cost  at  least  $30,000.  Thus  the  St.  Louis  University  Avas  placed  in 
possession  of  unequalled  facilities  for  medical  instruction  of  the  highest 
order.  In  1855,  the  connection  between  the  University  and  its  Medical 
School  was  severed  by  nmtal  consent. 

"A  Law  Department  was  opened  in  the  fall  of  1843  with  a  matric- 
ulation of  eighteen  students.  At  its  head  was  Judge  Richard  Aylett 
Buckner  of  Kentucky,  a  man  of  high  legal  attainments  and  a  conspicuous 
figure  in  the  national  politics  of  his  day.  He  was  the  supreme  controlling 
and  vitalizing  influence  of  the  St.  Louis  University  Law  School  during 


o     Hill,  op.  cit.,  p.  3fi. 

7     Idem,  iibidem,  pp.  56  and  57. 


812  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  three  years  that  lie  presided  over  it  and  when  he  died,  December 
8th,  1S47,  the  school   passed   away  with   him."8 

Father  P.  J.  Verhaegen,  the  first  President  of  St.  Louis  University, 
on  March  24th,  1836  was  made  Superior  of  the  Jesuil  .Mission  in  Missouri. 
Through  his  initiative  the  Superior  of  the  Mission,  even  after  the 
Mission  became  a  Vice-Province  and  finally  a  Province  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  no  longer  resided  at  Florissant  the  Mother-house,  but  at  the 
University,  as  being  more  centrally  Located.  The  number  of  members 
under  Father  Verhaegen  was  thirty-seven.  Father  J.  A.  Elet  became 
President  of  the  University. 

Under  Father  Verhaegen 's  administration  a  large  tract  of  land 
300  acres  on  Bellefontaine  Road,  the  North-Broadway  of  today,  in  the 
region  still  called  College  Hill,  was  bought,  for  the  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing on  it,  far  from  the  noise  and  dust  of  the  city,  their  institution 
of  learning  and  piety.  Plans  for  the  new  building  were  made  and  work 
was  begun,  when  proceedings  were  stopped  temporarily  by  the  death  of 
the  contractor,  then  postponed  to  more  favorable  time,  and  finally  aban- 
doned. In  the  course  of  time  this  land  became  very  valuable,  and  was 
laid  out  as  a  new  addition  to  the  city,  and  the  lots  sold  at  a  handsome 
price.  The  College  Farm,  as  it  was  called,  must  have  been  a  very  beauti- 
ful sight.  Edmond  Flagg,  who  visited  St.  Louis  and  its  vicinity  in  1838, 
was  delighted  with  its  appearance : 

"By  far  the  most  delightful  drive  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis 
is  that  of  four  or  five  miles  in  its  northern  suburbs,  along  the  river 
bottoms.  The  road,  emerging  from  the  streets  of  the  city  through  one 
of  its  finest  sections  and  leaving  the  "Big  Mound"  upon  the  right, 
sweeps  off  for  several  miles  upon  a  succession  of  broad  plateaus, 
rolling  up  from  the  water's  edge.  To  the  left  lies  an  extensive  range 
of  heights,  surmounted  by  ancient  mounds  and  crowned  with  groves  of 
the  shrub-oak  which  afford  a  delightful  shade  to  the  road  running  below. 
Along  this  elevated  ride  beautiful  country-seats  with  graceful  piazzas 
and  green  Venetian  blinds  are  caught  from  time  to  time  glancing  through 
the  shrubbery;  while  to  the  right,  smooth  meadows,  spread  themselves 
away  to  the  heavy  belt  of  forest  which  margins  the  Mississippi.  Among 
these  pleasant  villas  the  little  white  farm-cottage,  formerly  the  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  Clark,  beneath  the  hills,  surrounded  by  the  broad  leaved 
catalpa,  the  willow,  the  acacia,  and  other  ornamental  trees,  presents 
perhaps,  the  rarest  instance  of  natural  beauty  adorned  by  refined  taste. 
A  visit  to  this  delightful  spot  during  my  stay  in  St.  Louis  informed  me 
of  the  fact  that,  within  as  well  as  abroad,  the  hand  of  education  and 


8     Garraghan,  "Early  Chapters,"  in  "St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Eeview, " 
vol.  V,  p.  100. 


The  St.  Louis  University  and  the  College  Church  813 

refinement  had  not  been  idle.  Paintings,  busts,  medalions,  Indian 
curiosities,  etc.,  tastefully  arranged  around  the  walls  and  shelves  of  an 
elegant  library,  presented  a  feast  to  the  visitor  as  rare  in  the  Far 
West  as  it  is  agreeable  to  a  cultivated  mind.  Near  the  cottage  is  the 
intended  site  of  the  building  of  the  St.  Louis  Catholic  University,  a 
lofty  and  commanding  spot."9 

From  1837  to  1847  the  College  Farm  served  as  a  place  of  rest  and 
recreation  for  the  Jesuit  Fathers  and  scholastics.  One  of  the  rooms 
in  the  former  Clarke  Mansion  was  converted  into  a  chapel  named 
for  St.  Francis  Xavier,  where  Sunday  services  were  held  for  the  Catholic 
men  and  women  employed  on  the  farm  or  in  the  laundry,  and  even 
for  residents  of  the  neighborhood.  Father  James  Busschotts  was  the 
first  priest  to  reside  at  the  Farm,  he  was  followed  by  Father  John 
Schoenmakers,  who  remained  in  the  position  until  1847. 

At  a  later  date  St.  Thomas  Church  was  built  by  the  Fathers  (in 
College  Street,  which  in  a  manner  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  present 
parish  of  the  Holy  Name,  in  Lowell  or  North  St.  Louis. 

The  progress  of  the  collegiate  department  was  slow  but  steady  ; 
about  onedialf  of  the  students  coming  from  Louisiana.  In  1839,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Jesuits  had  started  a  College  in  Grand  Coteau, 
the  number  of  students  at  the  University  had  increased,  so  that  ad- 
ditional class-rooms  had  to  be  provided. 


9     Flagg,   "The   Far  West"    in   "Early   Western   Travels,"   vol.    26,   pp.    258 
and    259. 


PART  TWO 


THE  DIOCESE  OF  ST.  LOUIS 
BOOK  III 

Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis 


PART  II 

BOOK  III 

Chapter  1 

BISHOP  KENRICK  AND  THE  LEOPOLDINE  SOCIETY 

The  year  1843  was  a  rather  tempestuous  one  for  the  two  great 
missionary  Associations  of  Europe,  the  Society  of  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith  of  Lyons,  France,  and  the  Leopoldine  Society  of  Vienna,  Aus- 
tria. Complaints  were  coming  in  from  many  missionaries  in  America 
that  the  German  Catholics,  who,  with  the  Irish,  formed  the  main  body 
of  the  rising  Church  in  the  United  States,  were  neglected  by  the  bishops 
and  deprived  of  their  fair  share  of  financial  support  from  Europe.  As 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  derived  a  large  part  of  its 
income  from  the  Kingdom  of  Bavaria  and  some  of  the  other  German 
States,  there  was  danger  that,  through  a  defection  of  the  German  as- 
sociates from  the  French  Society,  the  resources  of  the  Society  would 
be  greatly  diminished,  whilst  a  mass  of  funds  would  eventually  be  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  Germans  of  the  United  States.  The  Central  Council 
of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  accordingly  wrote  to  Bishop  Francis 
Patrick  Kenrick  of  Philadelphia  to  use  his  influence  in  silencing  these 
complaints. 

"They  report  to  us  from  Munich  that  the  Branch  of  the  Work  (for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Faith)  in  Bavaria  has  received  numerous  com- 
plaints from  German  missionaries  in  the  United  States.  These  complaints 
unite  in  saying  that,  while  there  are  many  Germans  in  America,  the 
Bishops,  in  one  accord,  disregard  their  needs;  that  churches  built  by 
German  congregations  are  left  without  aid  from  the  prelates ;  that  even 
donations  made  by  Germans  in  Europe,  destined  for  special  purposes, 
are  not  available  to  compatriots  in  America;  that  there  is  need  of  a 
much  greater  number  of  German  priests  in  America,  but  that  it  is  the 
aim  of  the  Bishops  to  oppose  everything  generally  that  concerns  the 
German  people ;  that  even  in  the  Council  of  Baltimore  an  ordinance 
which  was  to  have  been  favorable  to  this  people,  was  finally  cut  out. 
They  add  that  the  King  of  Bavaria  may  be  informed  personally  of  these 
things,  that  his  will  is  very  strong  and  effective,  and  that,  if  these 
conditions  come  to  his  notice,  he  will  interdict  all  communication  between 
the  associates  of  his  kingdom  and  the  Central  Council  of  Lyons.    Thev 

(817) 


•sl>s  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

close  by  requesting  us  to  appeal  to  the  Bishops  of  the  United  States, 
asking  that  the  faithful  of  German  nationality  may  be  treated  fairly, 
as  other  nations  are.  That  is  all  that  they  say,  and  their  protest  is 
serious."1 

Similar  complaints  had  been  made  to  the  Leopoldine  Society  of 
the  Austrian  Empire,  which  had  up  to  this  time  aided  the  dioceses  of 
the  United  States  to  an  extent  of  about  700,000  fls.,  or  about  $280,000.  of 
which  sum  Bishop  Rosati  had  received,  directly  or  indirectly,  the  sum  of 
44,000  fl.  -  $17,600.00.  Investigations  were  instituted  by  both  organi- 
zations, the  outcome  of  which  was  not  divulged  r  but  from  this  time 
on  there  appears  a  stronger  anxiety  about  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
German  Catholic  immigrants  than  had  been  shown  before.  The  com- 
plaints were  overdrawn,  no  doubt :  but  the  cry  for  justice  certainly 
found  a  more  sympathetic  hearing. 

Bishop  Kenrick  was  the  very  soul  of  honor.  On  November  9th, 
1843  he  wrote  to  Archbishop  Milde,  the  President  of  the  Leopoldine 
Society  of  Vienna : 

"I  take  the  liberty  of  informing  your  Grace  concerning  the  needs  of 
the  German  Catholics  of  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  and  especially  of  this 
city,  the  number  of  whom  has  now  risen  to  6000.  No  serious  attempt 
has  so  far  been  made  to  provide  a  church,  exclusively  for  the  use  of  the 
German  Catholics,  but  they  have  been  obliged  until  now,  to  attend 
divine  service  in  the  church  which  belongs  to  the  French  and  American 
Catholics.  That  they  are  not  altogether  neglected  will  appear  from  the 
following  report,  which  will  show  that  opportunity  to  attend  public  wor- 
ship has  always  been  offered  to  them. 

1.  In  the  Cathedral,  where  two  German  priests  are  stationed,  one  of 
whom  is  assigned  to  them  and  holds  divine  service  for  them  every 
Sunday  and  Holyday  of  obligation  at  8  o'clock  with  sermon  in  their 
language. 

2.  In  the  chapel  of  St.  Aloysius,  near  the  University,  which  is 
attended  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers. 

3.  In  the  chapel  of  the  Seminary,  dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Trinity, 
where  a  German  priest  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission  preaches  in 
German  every  Sunday  and  Holyday  at  an  early  hour. 

' '  Bishop  Rosati  of  Blessed  Memory,  had  long  desired  to  erect  a  large 
church   for  the   exclusive   use   of  the   German   portion   of  his   diocese 


i     Kenriek-Frenaye  Correspondence. 

2  Canon  Joseph  Salzbaeher  of  St.  Stephen's  Cathedral,  Vienna,  was  sent  over 
by  the  Leopoldine  Society  in  1842.  His  book  of  "Travels  in  North  America" 
appeared  in  Vienna  in  1845.  It  is  fair  in  its  judgments  and  very  valuable  as  a 
source-book  on  our  early  Catholic  days  in  the  West.  The  Diocese  of  St.  Louis  is 
treated   pp.  213-223. 


Bishop  Kenrick  and  the  Lcopoldinc  Society  819 

in  this  city,  and,  if  no  practical  effort  has  so  far  been  made,  to  acquire 
a  plot  of  ground  whereon  to  realize  this  wish,  it  must  be  ascribed  to 
circumstances  over  which  he  had  no  control,  certainly  not  to  any  lack 
of  zeal  to  attain  this  worthy  object.  Although  the  general  population 
of  St.  Louis  has  increased  with  extraordinary  rapidity  within  the  last 
few  years,  yet  in  this  regard  no  single  nationality  can  compare  with 
the  Germans  as  far  as  number  of  immigrants  is  concerned.  Four  years 
ago,  when  the  German  Catholics  were  not  as  yet  so  numerous,  the 
Bishop  bought  a  beautifully  located  piece  of  ground,  with  the  intention 
of  building  thereon  a  German  church.  In  view  however,  of  the  fact 
that  the  place  seemed  to  be  at  too  great  a  distance  from  those  parts  of 
the  city  in  which  the  Germans  dwelt,  it  appeared  advisable  to  relinquish 
the  plan  or  at  least  to  postpone  its  execution. 

"On  coming  hero,  towards  the  end  of  1841,  I  found  that  the  erection 
of  a  German  church  was  an  absolute  necessity ;  still,  however  crying 
the  need  was,  I  had  no  means  to  remedy  matters.  No  diocese  in  the 
United  States  is  more  richly  endowed  with  religious  institutions,  and 
few,  if  any,  can  boast  of  a  grander  cathedral,  than  the  diocese  of 
St.  Louis.  All  this  was  the  work  of  Bishop  Rosati ;  who  in  all  these 
splendid  and  charitable  undertakings,  was  forced  by  circumstances  to 
accept  personal  responsibility  for  the  cost  of  these  institutions  and  es- 
pecially of  the  cathedral.  In  consequence  of  this,  I  found  at  my  coming 
here,  a  debt  of  $60,000,00,  most  of  it  at  a  high  rate  of  interest.  It 
therefore  seemed  utterly  impossible  to  buy  a  new  lot  for  the  necessary 
church-building,  and  my  first  plan  was  to  await  a  more  favorable  time. 
But  I  began  to  fear,  that  it  would  soon  become  impossible,  and  there- 
fore, I  all  the  more  willingly  acceded  to  the  request  of  the  Vice-Provincial 
of  the  Jesuits  in  Missouri,  to  entrust  him  with  the  erection  of  a 
German  church.  I  considered  that,  if  the  purpose  could  be  attained 
more  easily  through  others,  than  through  me,  I  should  gladly  let  the 
good  work  go  on.  But  I  was  mistaken ;  after  a  few  months  of  waiting, 
I  now  see  myself  disappointed. 

"The  Jesuits  had,  through  the  erection  of  a  large  and  costly  church, 
which  they  recently  opened  for  public  services,  incurred  a  heavy  debt, 
so  that  they  would  not  be  able,  for  a  long  time,  to  enter  upon  any  new 
venture.  Accordingly,  I  resolved  not  to  let  the  year  pass  by  without 
accomplishing  something  in  the  matter  of  the  German  church,  espec- 
ially as  Divine  Providence  moved  a  French  lady  of  this  city  to  donate 
to  me  her  half  of  a  lot,  which  she  owned  in  common  with  her  brother, 
as  a  suitable  site  for  a  church. 

"This  generous  deed  induced  me  to  buy  her  brother's  part  also, 
at  the  price  of  $2500.00.    For  this  amount  I  am  personally  responsible. 


820  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Upon  this  first  piece  of  ground  we  have  built  a  church,  which  will  be 
dedicated  to  Our  Lady  of  Victories. 

"The  building  is  cruciform,  and  can,  if  circumstances  should  demand 
it,  be  enlarged  so  as  to  form  one  of  the  largest  and  most  beautiful 
churches  of  the  city.  The  cost  of  the  present  building  is  about  $8000.00. 
$6000.00  of  which  sum  have  already  been  expended.  By  way  of  sub- 
scription, we  have  realized  only  $1000.00;  I  myself  have  given  $1000.00, 
so  that  a  debt  of  $4000.00  rests  upon  the  building,  in  addition  to  the 
$2500.00,  which  I  still  owe  for  the  half  lot.  Yet,  before  the  church 
can  be  opened  for  public  services,  another  outlay  of  $2000.00  will  be 
necessary.  As  it  would  be  unreasonable  in  me  to  increase  my  obligations 
at  the  present  moment,  I  am  constrained  to  suspend  work  on  the 
building,  which  is  so  near  completion. 

"The  German  Catholics,  for  the  most  part,  belong  to  the  working 
classes,  and  feel  all  too  keenly  the  pressure  of  hard  times,  to  give  any 
hope  of  assistance.  Under  such  circumstances  I  considered  it  my  duty 
to  make  an  appeal  to  the  Leopoldine  Society,  and  I  do  so  all  the  more 
hopefully,  as  I  am  conscious  of  having  spent  in  the  cause  of  the 
German  Catholics,  a  few  thousand  dollars  above  the  sum  I  have  received 
for  them  from  Your  Society."3 

Bishop  Kenrick,  in  conclusion  promised  to  devote  the  entire  allot- 
ment that  may  be  made  next  year,  to  their  use.  His  petition  was  not 
in  vain. 

Full  of  gratitude  for  favors  received  Bishop  Kenrick  wrote  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Vienna,  from  St.  Louis,  August  29,  1844: 

"I  have  received  your  Grace's  letter  containing  the  pleasant  news 
that,  through  the  charitable  Leopoldine  Society,  3000  fl.  have  been 
assigned  to  me  for  the  benefit  of  the  church  for  the  Germans  erected  in 
this  city.  Shortly  afterward,  I  received  through  Messrs.  Faber  and 
Bienwirth  of  New  York  the  sum  of  $1450.  According  to  the  wish 
of  Your  Grace  I  have  devoted  the  entire  amount  for  the  use  of  the 
German  church,  cancelling  a  part  of  the  debt  of  $6000,  still  resting 
on  the  property,  and  buying  the  various  articles  needed  for  divine 
service.  The  church  is  now  completed  and  will  be  dedicated  in  honor 
of  Our  Lady  of  Victories:  the  solemn  consecration  shall  be  postponed 
until  I  can  extend  the  building  to  the  form  of  a  cross  as  planned. 

"Another  church,  also  for  the  use  of  the  Germans,  under  the  title 
of  St.  Joseph,  was  begun  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in  the  beginning  of 
April,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  city.  The  cornerstone  was  laid  with 
great  solemnity.  Accordingly,  the  Germans  of  St.  Louis,  whose  number 
already  exceeds   6000  souls,   will   have   two   fine   churches   in   the  city. 


3     "BericMe  der  Leopoldinen  Stiftung,"  Heft  XVII,  pp.  19-23.     The  origin:)! 
was  in  English ;  it  is  here  retranslated  by  me  from  the  German. 


Bishop  Kenrick  and  the  Leopoldine  Society  821 

for  which  I  am  very  grateful  to  God,  because  I  realize  that  through 
them,  spiritual  wants  can  be  satisfied  in  the  most  desirable  manner."' 

In  answer  to  Archbishop  Milde  's  request  for  a  detailed  account  of  the 
diocese,  Bishop  Kenrick  wrote  to  Vienna  on  December  10,  1844: 

"The  diocese  of  St.  Louis  which  comprises  the  state  of  Missouri 
is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  United  States,  and  has,  together  with  the 
Indian  Territory  to  the  West,  a  vast,  almost  boundless  extent.  The 
Catholic  population  is  estimated  at  50,000  souls,  of  whom  at  least  one 
third  arc  emigrants  from  various  parts  of  Germany.  This  population 
is  unequally  dispersed  over  the  state.  The  larger  portion  is  found  in 
the  cities,  or  in  close  proximity  to  the  cities,  along  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi  and  Missouri.  Prior  to  the  year  1843  the  diocese  was  still 
larger:  for  the  entire  state  of  Arkansas,  (now  a  separate  diocese) 
and  the  western  portion  of  the  state  of  Illinois,  formed  a  part  of  it. 
The  latter  territory  is  now  a  part  of  the  diocese  of  Chicago,  which 
comprises  the  entire  state  of  Illinois.  The  circumstances  and  the 
relatively  small  number  of  priests  at  my  disposal  must  account  for  it, 
that  we  know  very  little  about  the  interior  of  the  state  of  Missouri ; 
But  I  know  for  a  certainty  that  many  Catholics  have  scattered  through- 
out its  extent.  In  spite  of  my  earnest  desire  I  did  not  find  it  possible 
so  far,  to  send  missionaries  to  explore  this  part  of  my  diocese. 

"St.  Louis  is  the  chief  city  of  the  state,  increasing  its  population 
more  rapidly  than  any  other  city  in  America.  Its  population  is  now 
between  35,000  and  40,000  souls,  of  whom  one  half  or  at  least  two-fifths 
profess  the  Catholic  religion. 

"The  entire  German  Catholic  population  of  the  city  can  be  set  at 
7000  souls ;  the  rest  is  composed  of  French  and  English-speaking  people, 
the  latter  class  being  for  the  most  part,  immigrants  from  Ireland.  As 
no  city  of  the  United  States  enjoys  greater  opportunities  for  the 
practice  of  the  Catholic  religion,  so  there  is  none  that  expresses  Cath- 
olic life  and  Catholic  character  better  than  St.  Louis.  Besides  the 
Cathedral,  a  very  beautiful  building,  which  will  long  remain  a  memorial 
of  the  zeal  and  the  pious  enterprise  of  my  predecessor,  the  late  Bishop 
of  St.  Louis,  we  have  also,  the  church  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  attended 
by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  the  St.  Louis  University,  as  well  as  tin1 
church  of  Our  Lady  of  Victories,  which  was  opened  quite  recently, 
and  is  devoted  to  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Germans.  In  addition  to 
this,  we  may  mention  two  other  congregations;  one  of  Germans  who 
now  assemble  for  divine  worship  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Aloysius  near  tin1 
University   of   the   Jesuit    Fathers,    and    the    other,    half    German    and 


*     "Berichte  der  Leopoldinen   Stiftung, "   Heft   XVIII,   pp.   4-6.     The  original 

was  in  Latin. 


822  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

half  English,  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city,  entrusted  to  the  Lazarist 
Fathers  of  my  diocesan  seminary. 

The  Jesuits  are  busy  at  present  with  the  erection  of  the  church  of 
St.  Joseph,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city,  among  an  almost  exclu- 
sively German  population.  In  order  to  aid  them  in  this  undertaking 
I  have  given  them  $300  out  of  the  allotment  made  to  me  by  the 
Association  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  in  Lyons.  Half  of  the 
amount  allotted  to  me  by  the  Society  of  which  Your  Grace  is  Presi- 
dent, was  used  for  the  completion  of  the  German  church  of  Our  Lady 
of  Victories. 

The  priests  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission  have  built  a  very 
large  church  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city,  which,  when  completed 
will  be  a  very  beautiful  house  of  God.  This  church  although  not 
exclusively  devoted  to  the  Germans,  still  accommodates  every  Sunday 
and  Holyday,  a  large  number  of  the  Germans  living  in  the  vicinity, 
for  mass  and  christian  instructions,  at  an  hour  that  does  not  interfere 
with  the  services  for  the  English-speaking  Catholics.  In  order  to  aid 
the  zealous  priests  in  their  efforts,  I  have  made  a  contribution  of  $1000. 
But  with  this  I  have  exhausted  the  means  that  were  placed  at  my  dis- 
posal by  the  generosity  of  the  faithful  of  Europe.  The  church  to  be 
dedicated  to  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  is  already  covered,  and  will  be  com- 
pleted next  year. 

Accordingly  the  German  population  of  St.  Louis  possesses  three 
commodious  churches;  St.  Joseph's  on  the  north  side,  Our  Lady  of 
Victories  in  the  center,  and  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  in  the  southern  part. 
As  I  recur  in  memory  to  the  condition  of  his  part  of  my  flock  two  years 
since,  and  compare  its  former  sad  state  of  penury  and  want,  occasioned 
by  the  rapid  increase  in  numbers  and  absolute  lack  of  means,  with 
their  present  state,  I  am  forced  to  recognize  the  finger  of  God  in  the 
present  favorable  prospects  for  the  future  of  the  foster  children  com- 
mitted to  my  episcopal  care,  and  to  raise  my  hands  to  Heaven  in 
thanksgiving  for  the  help  and  encouragement  extended  to  me  amid  so 
many  distresses  and  afflictions.  Should  the  Leopoldine  Society  be  dis- 
posed to  make  an  allotment  from  their  funds  to  me  for  the  next  year,  I 
will  devote  the  entire  amount  to  the  payment  of  the  debt,  incurred  in 
building  the  church  of  Our  Lady  of  Victories,  an  amount  of  $5000  at 
8  %  interest.  I  shall,  of  course,  be  always  prepared  to  the  full  extent  of 
the  means  with  which  the  generosity  of  the  charitable  societies  of 
Europe  may  favor  me,  to  succor  all  in  their  needs,  without  any  regard 
to  person  or  nationality,  but  only  as  duty  and  conscience  demand. 

"Besides  the  churches  just  mentioned,  a  new  church  intended  prin- 
cipally for  the  English-speaking  Catholics  under  the  title  of  St.  Patrick, 
is  in  process  of  erection.    The  building  will  be  completed  within  a  few 


Bishop  Kenrick  and  the  Leopoldine  Society  823 

months,  at  least  in  so  far  that  divine  service  can  be  held  within  its 
bare  walls. 

"Your  Grace  will  see  from  this  statement  that  we  have  even  now 
six  churches  for  the  Catholic  people  of  this  city ;  a  goodly  number,  but 
one  that  is  most  necessary,  and  at  the  same  time,  exerts  a  happy  influence 
upon  the  religious  and  moral  character  of  our  population. 

"Besides  the  churches,  we  have  in  our  city  four!  chapels,  one  in  the 
convent  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  the  second  in  the  Hospital 
of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  the  third  and  fourth  in  the  convents  of  the 
Sisters  of  the  Visitation. 

"These  three  communities  of  Sisters  also  conduct  educational 
establishments  for  girls,  so  that  Catholics  need  not  send  their  daughters 
to  schools  conducted  by  Protestants. 

"The  University  of  St.  Louis,  which  belongs  to  the  Jesuits  and  the 
College  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  at  Cape  Girardeau  devote,  their  attention 
to  the  education  of  young  men  and  boys.  Besides  the  institutions  of 
higher  learning,  we  have  three  or  four  of  a  lower  rank  in  St.  Louis.  .  . 
Four  Free  schools,  two  for  boys  and  two  for  girls,  offer  Catholic  edu- 
cation to  800  or  900  children,  who  would  otherwise  be  induced  to 
attend  the  schools,  from  which  all  instruction  in  Catholic  doctrine  is 
positively  excluded. 

"We  have  two  or  rather  three  orphan  asylums  in  St.  Louis,  one  for 
girls  in  thai  Convent  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  founded  by  the 
munificence  of  an  honorable  Catholic  (Mr.  Mullanphy)  who  died  some 
years  since.  Two  other  orphanages,  one  for  boys,  and  one  for  girls 
founded  and  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity. 

"During  this  year  I  have  built  a  new  Home  for  Orphan-girls, 
which  cost  me  $8000.  In  connection  with  which  fact,  I  must  remark, 
that  the  ground  upon  which  the  building  stands  was  given  me  by  a 
charitable  woman,  who,  in  addition  to  this  gift,  generously  contributed 
$3000  to  the  building  fund.  In  order  to  supply  the  need  of  missionaries, 
I  have  formed  two  Seminaries,  exclusively  devoted  to  the  training 
of  young  men  for  the  ecclesiastical  state.  The  so-called  Little  Seminary 
is  in  Perry ville,  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state,  and  is  attended  by 
nineteen  young  levites;  the  Grand  Seminary  is  in  St.  Louis,  near  the 
episcopal  residence,  where  there  are  now  ten  students.  Both  institutions 
are  entrusted  to  the  care  of  the  priests  of  the  Congregation  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul. 

"The  entire  number  of  church-buildings  in  the  diocese  does  not  ex- 
ceed fifty,  and  in  regard  to  construction,  they  are,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Cathedral,  the  church  at  Perryville,  and  a  few  others,  unpretentious 
and  for  the  most  part  of  wood. 


824  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

"Along  the  borders  of  the  Missouri  River  there  are  a  few  parishes 
in  which  the  Germans  form  the  majority,  and  which  are  subject  to 
the  Jesuits ;  There  are  also  many  Germans  in  St.  Charles,  Washington, 
Jefferson  City,  Westport,  etc.  But  this  part  of  the  diocese  should  have 
twice  as  many  priests  as  it  now  has.  .  . 

"In  addition  to  the  care  of  the  Seminaries  and  the  College  at  Cape 
Girardeau,  The  Lazarist  Fathers  attend  various  missionary  stations 
throughout  the  diocese,  and  always  show  a  readiness  to  assist  the  Bishop 
in  urgent  cases. 

"The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  have,  besides  their  Convent  in 
St.  Louis,  two  other  houses:  one  at  St.  Charles,  and  the  other  at 
Florissant.  The  St.  Louis  convent  also  conducts  a  boarding  school  for 
young  ladies,  and  a  free  school  for  girls. 

"The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  have  two  establishments  in  the  diocese, 
one  at  Carondelet  conducted  as  a  boarding  school  for  young  ladies,  and 
the  other  in  St.  Louis,  with  an  educational  institution  and  also  day-school 
for  negro  girls.  We  also  have  three  houses  of  the  Sisters  of  Loretto, 
the  foundation  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,  a  Belgian  priest  of  great 
zeal  and  holy  life.  These  houses  are  at  Bethlehem  near  Perryville,  at 
Cape  Girardeau  and  at  Ste.  Genevieve.  All  these  communities  conduct 
schools.  The  Jesuit  Fathers  preside  over  a  very  interesting  mission 
among  the  Potawatomi  Indians  in  the  western  part  of  the  state,  and 
that,  with  such  splendid  success,  that  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  that 
through  their  exertions,  the  influence  of  our  holy  religion  will  soon 
extend  itself  to  many  if  not  all  the  larger  tribes  in  the  vicinity. 

"Thus,  I  have  tried,  according  to  Your  Grace's  wish,  to  give  some 
details  concerning  the  religious  condition  of  my  diocese :  they  may  not 
appear  very  noteworthy;  yet  they  certainly  will  show  how  wisely  my 
Venerable  Predecessor,  Bishop  Rosati,  provided  for  the  progress  of  this 
diocese  through  the  introduction  of  so  many  religious  and  charitable 
institutions  and  the  helpful  solicitude  he  always  extended  to  them.": 

Bishop  Kenrick's  argument  in  proof  of  the  fact  that  the  German 
Catholics  of  his  diocese  were  treated  as  well  as  any  other  nationality, 
was,  indeed,  convincing  and  bound  to  bring  the  happiest  results. 


5     "Beriehte    der  Leopoldinen    Stiftung,"    Heft    XVIII,   pp.    6-14,    original    in 
English.     Re-translated  from  the  German. 


Chapter  2 
THE  FIRST   FRUITS   OF  BISHOP  KENRICK'S   SOLICITUDE 


It  is  a  memorable  fact  that  in  the  three  years  of  Bishop  Kenrick's 
coadjutorship,  the  City  of  St.  Louis  was  enriched  with  five  splendid 
churches,  St.  Francis  Xavier,  near  the  University  on  Washington  Avenue 
and  Green  Street,  Our  Lady  of  the  Victories  on  Third  and  Gratiot, 
St.  Joseph's  on  Ninth  and  Biddle,  St.  Vincent's  on  Ninth  and  Decatur, 
and  St.  Patrick's  on  Sixth  and  Biddle.  These  structures  were  so  well 
planned  and  built  that,  with  one  exception,  they  remain  to  this  day, 
not  only  as  venerable  monuments  of  the  olden  days,  but  as  ornaments 
of  the  living  present.  The  letters  of  Bishop  Kenrick  revealed  to  us 
the  strategy  employed  by  the  head  and  leader  of  the  movement :  this 
chapter  is  intended  to  explain,  in  some  detail,  the  various  phases  of  its 
development  and  surprising  success. 

The  Jesuit  Fathers  of  the  College  were  destined  to  lead  the  way  in 
the  erection  of  new  parish  churches  in  St.  Louis.  The  University 
chapel  of  St.  Aloysius  had  become  too  small  for  the  large  congregation 
of  Irish  and  German  Catholics  that  assembled  there  on  Sundays  and 
Holy-days  of  obligation.  Accordingly  the  erection  of  two  large  churches 
was  determined  on  by  the  Fathers,  St.  Francis  Xavier  for  the  Irish 
and  St.  Joseph's  for  the  Germans.  On  March  13th,  1840,  a  meeting  of 
the  Catholics  of  the  neighborhood  was  held  in  St.  Aloysius  Chapel 
to  deliberate  on  ways  and  means  towards  the  erection  of  the  new  church. 
The  great  majority  of  subscribers  were  Irish  immigrants.  Of  the  Irish 
names  may  be  noted  those  of  the  two  St.  Louis  pioneers,  Edward  Walsh 
and  Hugh  O'Neil. 

Among  the  subscribers  from  the  French  and  native  American 
elements  were  Emilie  Chouteau,  M.  P.  LeDuc,  Julius  DeMun,  L.  A. 
Benoist,  James  H.  Lucas,  William  P.  Clark,  George  Rogers  Clark, 
Lewis  M.  Clark  and  Dr.  Farrar.  The  subscription  list  also  contains 
a  large  number  of  German  names,  about  ninety,  though  its  printed 
caption  declares  that  in  the  new  church  "the  Sermons,  Instructions 
and  Lectures  will  be  exclusively  in  the  English  language."  Apparently 
there  was  an  understanding  by  which  the  German  Catholics  of  the 
district  were  to  use  the  church,  pending  the  erection  of  a  church  of 
their  own.1 


1     Garraghan,   "Early   Chapters   in   the    History   of    St.   Louis   University"    in 
"St.  Louis  Catholic  Historical  Review, "  vol.  V,  pp.  119-121  passim. 

(825) 


826  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

On  March  23rd,  ground  was  broken  for  the  new  church  and  on 
Sunday,  April  12th,  the  corner  stone  was  laid  by  Bishop  Rosati,  Father 
Elet,  Rector  of  the  University,  addressing  the  assembled  people  from 
the  east  balcony  of  the  main  University  building. 

On  Easter  Sunday,  1843,  the  church,  under  the  name  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier,  was  opened  for  divine  services.  It  was  an  imposing  edifice 
in  the  classic  style  and  from  its  first  days  down  to  its  dismantling 
in  1888,  after  the  University  had  been  moved  to  another  site,  remained 
a  favorite  shrine  of  devotion  for  the  Catholic  residents  of  St.  Louis, 
to  whom  it  was  familiarly  known  as  the  College  Church.  The  interior 
finishing  of  the  church  was  in  keeping  with  its  fine  architectural  design. 
Paintings  and  statues  of  great  merit  adorned  the  walls,  some  of  them 
gifts  from  Father  Roothaan,  others  brought  by  Father  De  Smet  from 
Belgium.  Great  throngs  gathered  to  view  these  works  of  Catholic  art, 
when  they  were  first  put  in  place.  The  five  altars  were  the  work  of 
Paschal  Lincetti,  a  lay-brother  attached  to  the  University.  Under  one 
of  the  altars  rested  the  body  of  St.  Florentin  which  Father  Van  de 
Velde  brought  from  Rome  in  1842. 2 

The  Female  Free  School,  attached  to  the  Church  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier,  was  opened  on  the  4th  of  September,  in  the  new  and  conven- 
ient school  house,  corner  of  St.  Charles  Street  and  Tenth  Street.  One 
hundred  and  seventy-five  were  admitted  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity, 
who  take  charge  of  this  institution.  On  the  24th  instance  the  Male 
Free  School  was  reopened  in  the  basement  of  the  church.  It  was  under 
the  charge  of  four  scholastics  of  the  Society  of  Jesus ;  three  hundred  and 
fifty  were  admitted  at  the  opening."3 

"On  the  10th  of  October,  1844,  a  new  Catholic  Free  School  was 
opened  in  St.  Louis  on  the  corner  of  Ninth  and  Green  Streets.  It  was 
destined  exclusively  for  the  German  male  children,  and  superintended  by 
the  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus."4 

The  number  of  German  Catholics  in  St.  Louis  had  during  the 
thirties  grew  to  such  immense  proportions,  relatively  speaking,  that 
Bishop  Rosati  felt  it  his  duty  to  provide  foi"  them  a  church  of  their 
own.  The  location  chosen  was  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city,  where 
the  larger  part  of  them  had  their  homes:  but  the  place  he  bought  for 
this  purpose  was  not  well  chosen,  as  Chouteau's  Pond  shut  off  direct 
access.  Bishop  Rosati  paid  $3,000.  for  the  plot  of  ground  and,  on 
starting  for  Europe  in  1840,  ordered  Father  J.  Fischer  and  Mr.  Weit- 
zenecker  to  take  up  subscriptions  among  the  Germans  for  the  proposed 


2  Garraghan,  1.  c,  pp.  120  and  121. 

3  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  vol.  I,  October,  1843. 

4  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  vol.  I.  May,  1843. 


The  First  Fruits  of  Bishop  Kennck's  Solicitude  827 

church.  Nothing,  however,  was  accomplished  in  the  matter.  Bishop 
Kenrick  sent  Father  Fischer  to  Meramec  (now  Maxville,  Jefferson  Co.) 
and  confited  the  care  of  the  Germans  to  Father  Lutz.  Services  were 
continued  for  them  at  St.  Mary's  Chapel,  near  the  Cathedral.  As  the 
distance  to  the  Cathedral  was  too  great  for  many  of  the  German  Cath- 
olics of  the  south  side,  Bishop  Rosati,  ordered  that  Father  Dahmen, 
C.  M.  should  hold  special  services  for  them  in  the  Chapel  of  the 
Blessed  Trinity  near  the  Seminary  of  the  Lazarists.5  The  Germans  of 
the  north  side  found  a  ready  welcome  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Aloysius. 
Gratifying  as  these  various  provisions  were,  they  could  not  satisfy 
the  needs  of  the  German  immigrants.  Bishop  Kenrick  saw  this  at 
once  and  determined  to  set  matters  aright.  A  pious  French  lady, 
Mrs.  Hunt,  donated  her  half  of  plot  of  ground  on  Third  and  Gratiot 
Sts.,  to  the  Bishop  for  the  use  of  the  German  Congregation,  the  Bishop 
then  bought  the  other  half  from  her  brother,  J.  H.  Lucas,  and  building 
operations  were  begun  at  once. 

On  Sunday  the  25th  of  June,  1843,  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans, 
Anthony  Blanc,  officiated  at  High  Mass  in  the  Cathedral.  At  five 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  the  same  prelate  solemnly 
blessed  the  corner  stone  of  the  proposed  German  Church  of  Our  Lady 
of  Victory,  at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Mulberry  Streets.  The  Rt.  Rev. 
Dr.  Odin,  Vicar-Apostolic  of  Texas,  and  the  Coadjutor  Bishop  of  this 
diocese,  assisting  at  the  ceremony.  A  large  number  of  people  assembled 
to  view  the  interesting  ceremony;  the  Hibernian  Benevolent  Society 
was  also  on  the  spot.  Previous  to  the  ceremony,  the  Coadjutor  Bishop 
addressed  the  assembly  on  the  nature  of  the  rite  at  which  they  were 
about  to  assist.  Father  Cotting,  S.  J.,  preached  in  the  German  language 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  ceremony.  The  collection  taken  up  in  aid 
of  the  new  church  was  $149.00.  "6 

"On  the  15th  of  September,  1844,  the  new  German  Church,  on 
the  corner  of  Third  and  Mulberry  Street,  was  solemnly  blessed  by  the 
Very  Rev.  John  Timon,  C.  M.,  with  the  permission  of  the  Bishop.  High 
Mass  was  celebrated  at  ten  o'clock  by  the  Rev.  F.  X.  Dahmen,  C.  M., 
assisted  by  deacon  and  subdeacon ;  and  the  Rev.  J.  Cotting,  S.  J., 
delivered  an  eloquent  discourse  in  the  German  language  to  a  vast 
concourse  of  people,  on  the  text:  'This  day  is  salvation  come  to  this 
house'  (Luke  xix,  9).  This. church  is  dedicated  to  the  Almighty 
under  the  invocation  of  'Our  Lady  of  Victory'."7 

It  was  a  great  day  of  joy  and  jubilation  for  the  German  Catholics 
of  St.  Louis:  Father  John  Fischer  was  recalled  from  Meramec  and  put 


5  Eosati's  Diary. 

6  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  June,   1843. 

7  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  vol.  II,  4,  October,  1844. 


SL>S 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


in  charge  of  the  new  church.  Father  Lutz,  as  we  shall  see,  was  employed 
at  the  time  in  building  a  church  for  the  Irish  Catholics.  From  Bishop 
Kenrick's  letters  we  learn  what  large  sums  were  contributed  to  the 
erection  of  St.  Mary's  Church  by  the  Leopoldine  Society  of  the  Austrian 
Empire.  For  three  years  Father  Fischer  was  pastor  of  this,  the  first 
German  Church  in  the  city,  to  be  succeeded  in  L847  by  Father  Joseph 
Melcher,  to  whom  Father  Fisher  was  assigned  as  assistant. 

In  regard  to  the  Church  of  St.  Patrick  the  following  quotation  from 
the  Catholic  Cabinet  will  give  the  necessary  data: 

"The  erection  of  St.  Patrick's  church,  in  the  northern  part  of 
this  city,  was  commenced  after  Easter,  and  there  is  every  possibility 
that  the  work  will  be  carried  on  with  energy.  The  first  stone  of  this 
church  was  solemnly  blessed  by  the  Coadjutor  Bishop  on  Sunday,  the 
17th  of  October,  1843 ;  it  was  then  hoped  that  the  foundations  of  the 
building  would  be  laid  before  the  setting  in  of  winter;  but,  this  having 
been  found  impracticable,  the  work  was  necessarily  deferred  until  the 
present  season.  St.  Patrick's  will  be  a  free  church.  Contributions 
toward  this  truly  Catholic  undertaking  will  be  thankfully  received  by 
Rev.  Geo.  A.  Hamilton,  at  present  assistant  at  the  Cathedral,  who  is 
to  be  the  pastor  of  the  congregation ;  as  also  by  any  of  the  Catholic 
clergymen  of  the  city.  The  lot  on  which  this  church  is  being  built  is 
the  gift  of  Mrs.  Anne  Biddle,  and  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars 
was  generously  contributed  towards  the  new  church  by  her  excellent 
mother,  the  late  Mrs.  Mullanphy.8 

"Mr.  James  Lucas,  brother  of  Mrs.  Hunt,  has  given  a  large  lot, 
in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  city,  for  the  purpose  of  a  Catholic 
Church,  in  which,  we  have  been  informed,  the  German  congregation 
that  at  present  assembles  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Aloysius,  attached  to  the 
University,  will  commence  the  erection  of  a  church  in  the  course  of 
next  year  under  the  direction  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.'' 

The  building  operations  at  St.  Patrick's  made  but  slow  progress, 
owing  to  lack  of  means,  and  the  rapid  changes  in  leadership  from 
Father  Hamilton  to  Father  Lutz  and  from  the  latter  to  Father  Wheeler. 

At  last  the  work  was  completed  after  a  struggle  of  three  years  in 
which  the  Bishop  himself  was  forced   to  take  the  lead. 

"On  the  4th  of  May,  1845,  the  new  church  of  St.  Patrick,  situated 
on  the  corner  of  6th  and  Biddle  Streets,  in  this  city  was  solemnly 
dedicated  to  divine  service.  The  ceremony  was  performed  by  Very  Rev. 
J.  Timon,  Superior  of  the  Lazarists  in  the  United  States,  who  also 
delivered  an  able  discourse  appropriate  to  the  occasion. 


8     "Catholic  Cabinet,"  May,  1843. 


The  First  Fruits  of  Bishop  Kenrick's  Solicitude  829 

The  church  measures   120  by   60  feet. 

Besides  Mrs.  Biddle  and  her  mother,  other  citizens,  too,  have 
contributed  towards  this  meritorious  object;  although,  we  regret  to 
state,  a  very  considerable  debt  has  been  incurred  by  the  Bishop  in  its 
erection. '  '9 

The  contractor  and  builder  of  the  church  as  well  as  of  St.  Vincent's, 
Avas  Francis  Saler,  the  well  known  Catholic  publisher,  and  general 
benefactor  of  the  Church  in  St.  Louis. 

Canon  O'Hanlon  relates  in  his  pleasant  sprightly  way  how  the 
foundations  of  the  Church  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity  in  Soulard's 
Addition  laid  in  1839  were,  at  the  invitation  of  Fathers  Timon  and 
Paquin,  rooted  up  by  the  students  of  the  Seminary,  with  borrowed  picks 
and  shovels  and  crowbars  and  the  stones  carted  away  to  the  new 
location  on  which  St.  Vincent's  Church  was  soon  to  arise. 

"On  the  17th  of  March,  1844,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Kenrick  laid 
the  cornerstone  of  a  church  in  Soulard's  addition  of  St.  Louis.  The 
edifice  will  be  cruciform;  in  length  including  the  portico,  150  feet; 
breadth  in  the  nave  60  feet,  in  the  transepts  80.  The  well-selected 
location  and  the  truly  classic  proportions  of  the  plan,  drawn  by  Barnet 
&  Co.,  will  make  this  building  an  ornament  to  the  city,  whilst  affording 
the  consolations  of  religion  to  a  numerous  population,  who  are  now 
almost  suffocated  in  the  crowded  temporary  chapel  in  which  they 
worship.  The  vast  concourse  of  our  fellow  citizens,  the  Hibernian 
Society,  the  Catholic  Temperance  Society,  the  Young  Catholic's  Friend 
Society,  with  their  appropriate  flags  and  badges;  the  clergy  in  their 
robes,  singing,  during  the  imposing  ceremonial  of  the  Church,  appro- 
priate hymns  in  the  solemn  Gregorian  chant,  brought  powerfully  to 
memory,  but  under  happy  auspices,  the  Scripture  text :  ' '  And  when 
the  masons  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Temple  of  the  Lord,  the  priests 
stood  in  their  ornaments  with  trumpets  and  the  Levites,  the  sons  of 
Asaph,  with  cymbals,  to  praise  God  by  the  hand  of  David,  king  of 
Israel.  And  they  sung  together  hymns  and  praise  to  the  Lord,  because 
He  is  good ;  for  His  mercy  endureth  forever.  And  all  the  people 
shouted  with  a  great  shout,  praising  the  Lord,  because  the  foundations 
of  the  temple  of  the  Lord  were  laid."  (Edras,  Chap.,  iii.) 

In  the  cornerstone  was  placed  a  glass  jar  hermetically  sealed,  con- 
taining some  American  coins,  some  public  documents  regarding  the 
events  that  have  occurred  since  the  foundation  of  this  Republic,  and  a 
Latin  inscription  on  parchment,  in  words  of  which  the  following  is  a 
translation : 


9     "Catholic  Cabinet,"  vol.  II,  9. 


S.'Jl) 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


In  the  Fear  of  the  Redemption  MDCCCXLIV,  whilst  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff,  Gregory  XVI,  ruled  the  universal  Church  of  Christ  in  the  XIV 
year  of  his  Pontificate,  John  Tyler,  Chief  Magistrate,  presiding  over  the 
United  States  of  America  the  LXYI1  year  of  American  liberty  happily 
established,  the  State  of  Missouri  having  the  Hon.  M.  M.  Marmaduke, 
acting  Governor,  the  XVII  of  March  being  the  IV  Sunday  of  Lent,  in 
the  evening,  this  first  Stone-  of  the  Temple  about  to  be  erected-to  the 
Lord  Thrice  Holy  and  Mighty-the  Eternal  Living  God,  under  the  in- 
vocation-of  St.  Vincent  of  Paul,  Cnnfe>snr.  was  duly  and  canonically  laid. 
by  the  Right  Rev.  Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  the  very 
Rev.  John  Timon  being  Assistant  Priest-Rev.  Benedict  Rous  and  Joseph 
A.  Lutz,  being  Assistant  Priests — Rev.  Benedict  Roux  and  Joseph  A. 
Lutz,  assistant  Deacons,  a  numerous  clergy — and  the  students  of  the 
Seminary — were  present;  also,  the  Hibernian  Benevolent  Society,  the 
Catholic  Temperance  and  Young  Catholic's  Friend  Societies — had  places 
assigned,  whilst — a  vast  concourse  of  people  surrounded  the  spot."10 

St.  Vincent's  church  was  intended  to  serve  both  the  English  speaking 
as  well  as  the  German  Catholics  of  the  South  Side.  St.  Joseph's  church 
was  destined  for  the  use  of  the  German  Catholics  of  the  North  Side. 
The  Leopoldine  Society  took  deep  interest  in  these  undertakings.11 

The  building  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Kenrick  on  November  16th, 
1845,  assisted  by  the  Jesuit  Provincial  Van  de  Velde  and  the  pastor 
of  St.  Vincent's  the  Rev.  Thaddaeus  Amat,  C.  M.  and  F.  Seretta.  The 
solemn  High-Mass  coram  episcopo  was  celebrated  by  Father  Francis 
Cellini.  This  year  also  marks  the  opening  of  the  parish  school,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph;  Mother  Delphine  Fontbonne  was 
the  first  Superior,  Father  Francis  X.  Dahmen  the  first  Director  of  the 
School.  Among  the  early  priests  attending  St.  Vincent's  Church,  the  one 
that  endeared  himself  most  to  all  classes  of  people  was  the  saintly  John 
Gerard  Uhland. 

The  propert.y  on  Marion  Street,  on  which  Bishop  Rosati  had  intended 
to  build  the  Church  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity,  was  assigned  by  Bishop 
Kenrick  as  a  temporary  home  for  the  Sisters  of  the  Visitation,  whom 
the  great  flood  of  1844  had  driven  away  from  their  convent  at  Kas- 
kaskia. 

The  beginnings  of  St.  Joseph's  Church  coincide  with  the  large  Ger- 
man immigration  of  1835-1850.  In  order  to  meet  the  spiritual  wants  of 
these  sturdy  but  poor  Catholics  who  had  their  homes  in  the  north- 
western portion  of  the  city,  the  Fathers  of  St.  Louis  University  opened 
for  their  use  the  Chapel  of  St.  Aloysius,  where  the  Fathers  Helias, 
Busschotts,  Eysvogels  and  Emig  labored  faithfully  among  them,  until 


io     "Missouri  Republican, "  March,  18,  1844. 
ii     Father  James  Duggan  preached  the  sermon. 


The  First  Fruits  of  Bishop  Kenrick's  Solicitude  831 

in  1844  Father  James  Cotting,  a  native  of  Switzerland,  was  appointed 
pastor  of  the  proposed  new  church  to  be  erected  under  the  invocation  of 
St.  Joseph. 

The  first  mention  of  St.  Joseph's  Church  is  taken  from  the  Cath- 
olic Cabinet,  April  1844: 

' '  On  the  first  of  March  a  new  Catholic  church  was  commenced  by  the 
Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  on  the  corner  of  11th  and  Biddle  Streets, 
destined  for  the  German  Catholics  in  the  Avestern  part  of  the  city. 
The  church's  dimensions  are  100  feet  long  by  60  feet  wide.  It  is  on  a 
beautiful  and  elevated  spot,  measuring  150  feet  by  100,  being  a  donation 
of  Mrs.  Anne  Biddle  of  this  city  for  that  purpose.  The  ceremony  of 
blessing  the  cornerstone  will  take  place  this  month."12 

The  Provincial  of  the  Western  Province  of  the  Society  of  Jesus 
in  America,  Father  James  Van  de  Velde,  on  the  20th  of  March  1844 
acknowledged  the  receipt  of  10,000  florins  from  the  Leopoldine  Society 
of  Austria,  and  explains  the  various  uses  to  which  he  had  devoted  this 
generous  gift : 

"Father  Helias  received  2000  frs.  for  the  benefit  of  his  church  at 
Harrville  (now  Taos)  .  .  .  This  church  is  to  be  the  central  point  from 
which  he  will  visit  the  various  other  missions  under  his  jurisdiction. 

' '  Father  Busshotts  also  received  2000  frs.  He  intends  to  build  next 
Spring  a  church  of  brick  in  the  little  town  of  Washington,  the  main 
place  of  his  missions,  as  the  old  wooden  chapel,  situated  two  miles 
from  the  town,  is  falling  to  pieces. 

"Father  Walters  will  use  a  part  of  1,000  fr.  that  fell  to  his  share, 
for  the  purchase  of  a  plat  of  ground  for  a  church  and  divide  the  balance 
among  the  missions  dependent  on  Dardenne. 

The  remaining  5,000  frs.  were  intended  to  buy  a  suitable  lot  and  to 
erect  upon  it  a  church  of  brick  for  the  use  of  the  numerous  German 
Catholics,  that  heretofore  worshiped  in  the  little  chapel  of  our  Univer- 
sity. A  favorable  stroke  of  fortune  helped  greatly  to  advance  our  pur- 
pose. A  wealthy  and  charitable  lady  of  the  city,  whom  I  visited,  offer- 
ed me  as  a  gift  a  fine  parcel  of  land  for  the  good  work  and  I  am  now  deter- 
mined to  make  an  immediate  beginning  with  the  5,000  frs.,  of  building 
the  church  so  very  necessary  for  the  Germans.  We  also  asked  for  sub- 
scriptions, but  as  the  people  are  mostly  of  the  poorer  class,  subscriptions 
were  not  forthcoming  in  larger  amounts :  but  many  of  the  people  of- 
fered their  labor  in  the  work  of  excavating  and  raising  the  foundation. 
Since  March  4th,  Avhen  we  started  the  work,  they  have  been  faithful  in 
the   performance   of  what  they  promised."13      The   Father   Provincial 


12  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  April,  1844. 

13  "Bcrichte  der  Leopoldinen  Stiftung,"  Heft  XVII,  p.  38. 


832  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

was  not  disappointed  in  his  expectations.  As  the  Catholic  Cabinet  of 
May  1844  informs  us  : 

"On  the  14th  of  April  1844  took  place  the  ceremony  of  laying  the 
cornerstone  of  the  new  Catholic  church,  St.  Joseph's  in  the  northwestern 
part  of  this  city,  destined  for  the  use  of  the  German  Catholics.  The 
imposing  rites  of  the  occasion  were  witnessed  by  a  great  concourse  of 
people,  who  had  assembled  on  the  ground  or  accompanied  the  solemn 
procession  of  the  ecclesiastics  from  the  Church  of  St.  Francis  Xavier. 
The  Hibernian  Society  attended  with  their  banners,  badges  and  music, 
and  also  the  children  of  the  various  Catholic  Free  Schools.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  inscription  on  the  parchment  deposited  in  the  corner  stone.  It 
was  in  the  Latin  language,  a  translation  of  which  into  English  we  sub- 
join : 

"For  the  greater  glory  of  God,  the  honor  of  the  Catholic  religion, 
and  the  benefit  of  the  faithful  of  this  diocese,  Gregory  the  XVI,  being 
Sovereign  Pontiff;  John  Tyler,  President  of  the  United  States;  M.  M. 
Marmaduke,  acting  Governor  of  the  State  of  Missouri ;  in  the 
MDCCCXLIV  year  of  our  Redemption,  theLXVIIof  our  Independence  ; 
on  the  first  Sunday  after  Easter ;  the  day  after  the  Ides  of  April,  at  the 
request  of  the  Very  Rev.  James  Van  de  Velde,  Provincial  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus ;  the  Rt.  Rev.  Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis, 
solemnly  and  canonically,  laid  and  blessed  the  corner  stone  of  this  Temple 
to  be  dedicated  to  the  Triune  God,  under  the  invocation  of  St.  Joseph. 
The  Very  Rev.  John  Timon,  Visitor  Cong,  of  the  Mission,  being  assistant 
priest,  and  the  Revs.  Joseph  Irissarri  and  John  B.  Druits,  Soc.  Jesus, 
assistant  deacons.  The  clergy  of  the  city,  the  Catholic  societies,  and 
a  vast  concourse  of  people  assisting  at  the  celebration."14 

' '  The  plan  of  the  edifice  was  furnished  by  Mr.  Geo.  Purvis,  architect. 
It  is  to  be  of  the  Ionic  order,  with  a  portico  supported  by  four  fluted 
columns,  and  with  an  octagonal  turret  and  spire  of  beautiful  design 
and  correct  proportions.  The  foundations  are  already  laid.  The  size 
of  the  building  will  be  107  by  60  feet,  and  when  completed,  will  furnish 
accommodations  for  a  large  congregation  and  be  an  ornament  to  the 
city.  The  Rev.  Father  Cotting,  S.  J.  delivered  the  sermon  on  the  oc- 
casion in  German,  and  paid  an  eloquent  tribute  to  the  generosity  of  Mrs. 
Anne  Biddle,  who  presented  to  the  Society,  the  valuable  lot  on  which  the 
church  is  to  be  erected."15 

A  school  for  girls  taught  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity  was  opened 
August  17,  1846,  and  for  boys  in  1848.     The  succession  of  pastors  was : 


14  "Catholic.  Cabinet,"  January,  1844.  The  actual  cost  of  St.  Francis  Xavier 
Church  was  $40,000;  that  of  St.  Mary's  $12,000  and  that  of  the  Cathedral  $85,000, 
as  Canon  Salzbacher  states  in  1845. 

15  Ibidem. 


The  First  Fruits  of  Bishop  Kenrick's  Solicitude  833 

James  Cotting  1844-1846;  John  N.  Hofbauer,  1846-1852;  Joseph  Pat- 
schowski,  1854-1859;  Joseph  Weber,  1859-1869,  Peter  Tschieder,  1869- 
1875 ;  Frederic  Hagemann,  1875-1881,  a  name  that  brings  us  down  to 
quite  modern  times.  Besides  the  actual  pastors,  a  goodly  number  of 
other  Priests  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  have  labored  at  St.  Joseph's.  So 
Father  Martin  Seisl,  who  founded  the  first  German  Catholic  Paper  in 
St.  Louis  (1848)  and  greatly  helped  to  build  up  the  St.  Vincent  Orphan- 
age. The  famous  Missionary  Father  F.  N.  Weninger,  the  two  Fathers 
Niederkorn,  Francis  Braun  and  Nicholas  L.  Schlechter,  all  men  of  dis- 
tinction were  among  the  number.16 

During  the  cholera  epidemic  of  1849  St.  Joseph's  Parish  lost  many 
faithful  members,  at  times,  to  the  extent  of  ten  to  fifteen  a  day.  To 
provide  for  the  many  orphans  of  the  German  parishes  St.  Vincent's 
Orphanage  was  founded,  and  the  spiritual  care  of  the  bereaved  ones 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  priests  of  St.  Joseph  \s. 

Another  memorable  activity  of  the  Fathers  of  St.  Joseph's  was 
their  colonization  work  performed  during  the  first  twenty  years  of  the 
parish. 

Many  German  immigrants  landing  in  St.  Louis  wished  to  settle  on 
farms.  The  Fathers  of  St.  Joseph's  who  were  in  constant  communica- 
tion with  their  Jesuit  brethren  in  the  interior  of  the  state,  directed 
the  newcomers  to  Osage,  Franklin,  St.  Charles,  and  adjoining  Counties,17 
where  they  would  find  priests,  churches  and  schools.  Thus  the  numer- 
ous flourishing  parishes  west  and  north  of  St.  Louis  sprang  up,  increased 
and  multiplied  under  the  blessing  of  God. 

Up  to  Sunday,  the  25th  of  May  1845,  the  Cathedral  had  been  the 
Parish-Church  for  the  entire  City  of  St.  Louis.  On  that  day  a  pastoral 
letter  of  the  Bishop,  addressed  to  the  Catholics  of  St.  Louis  was  read 
in  all  the  churches  of  this  city,  announcing  the  division  of  this  portion  of 
the  Diocese  into  four  ecclesiastical  districts  or  parishes,  to  be  called 
the  parish  of  St.  Louis,  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  of  St.  Patrick,  and  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  to  which  the  limits  designated  in  the  following  extract 
from  the  pastoral,  have  been  assigned.  This  arrangement  is  to  come 
into  effect  on  the  1st  of  July,  1845.  "The  parish  of  St.  Louis  is 
bounded  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  western  extremity  of  Chouteau  Ave- 
nue, and  running  in  an  eastward  direction  to  its  intersection  with 
Fifth  Street ;  thence  in  a  southward  direction  through  the  middle  of 
Fifth  Street  to  its  termination  on  Carondelet  Avenue,  hence  in  a  north- 
easterly direction  to  the  top  of  Wood  Street,  and  thence  through  the 
middle  of  Wood  Sreet  to  the  river ;  thence  in  a  northerly  direction,  coinci- 


16  Chancery  Records. 

17  Report  of  St.  Joseph's  Church,  St.  Louis  M.  S. 

Vol.  1—27 


834 


History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 


dent  with  the  city's  eastern  limit,  to  the  foot  of  Laurel  Street  and 
Washington  Avenue,  to  the  latter 's  intersect  ion  with  Fifth  Street,  thence 
through  the  middle  of  Fifth  Street  to  the  intersection  of  this  latter  with 
Olive  Street,  thence  through  the  middle  of  Olive  Street  to  its  western 
extremity,  i.  e.,  18th  Street,  and  from  this  point,  coincident  with  the 
western  limit  of  the  city,  to  the  extremity  of  Chouteau  Avenue. 

"The  parish  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  will  be  bounded  by  a  line  com- 
mencing from  the  middle  point  of  Olive  Street  running  eastwardly  to 
its  intersection  with  Fifth  Street;  thence  through  the  middle  of  Fifth 
Street  to  its  intersection  with  Franklin  Avenue,  from  which  point  it 
will  run  in  a  westernly  direction  through  the  middle  of  Franklin 
Avenue  to  its  Western  extremity,  Eighteenth  Street,  and  from  .this  to 
the  western  extremity  of  Olive  Street. 

"The  Parish  of  St.  Patrick  will  be  bounded  by  a  line  drawn  from 
the  western  extremity  of  Franklin  Avenue  running  eastwardly  through 
the  middle  of  Franklin  Avenue  to  its  intersection  with  Fifth  Street, 
thence  southwardly  through  the  middle  of  Fifth  Street  to  its  intersec- 
tion with  Washington  Avenue ;  thence  in  an  eastward  direction  through 
the  middle  of  Washington  Avenue  and  Laurel  Street  to  the  river,  and 
thence  proceeding  northwardly,  and  coincident  with  the  line  bounding 
the  limits  of  the  city,  north  of  the  one  so  drawn  throxigh  Franklin  and 
Laurel  Street. 

"The  Parish  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paid  will  include  all  that  part  of 
the  city  south  of  the  Southern  limit  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Louis. 

"To  meet  the  wants  of  the  German  portion  of  the  Catholic  popula- 
tion included  within  the  parish  of  St.  Louis,  we  hereby  declare  the 
Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Victory,  in  said  parish  a  succursal  church,  or 
chapel  of  ease  to  the  above  parish,  for  this  portion  of  its  Catholic  in- 
habitants and  for  these  alone.  We  likewise  declare  the  present  chapel 
of  St.  Aloysius,  a  chapel  of  ease  for  the  German  Catholic  population 
of  the  parishes  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  and  St.  Patrick,  until  St.  Joseph's 
new  church,  now  in  the  course  of  erection  in  this  latter  parish,  be  com- 
pleted and  no  longer.  When  the  church  of  St.  Joseph  shall  be  dedicated 
to  public  worship,  we  hereby  declare  that  it  will  be  a  chapel  of  ease 
to  the  aforesaid  parishes  of  St.  Patrick  and  St.  Francis  Xavier,  but  only 
the  German  Catholic  population  residing  within  said  parishes.  In  these 
succursal  churches  or  chapels  of  ease,  the  reception  of  the  Sacraments 
and  other  religious  duties  can  be  complied  with  by  those  for  whose  ex- 
clusive use  we  have  assigned  them,  as  validly  and  lawfully  as  in  their 
parish  church. '  '18    This  system  of  succursal  churches  or  chapels  of  ease 


18     "Catholic  Cabinet,  vol.  Ill,  I.  Pastoral  Letter  May  1845. 


The  First  Fruits  of  Bishop  Kenrick's  Solicitude  835 

introduced  by  Bishop  Kenrick  in  1845,  was  a  cause  of  friction  between 
the  various  congregations  of  the  city,  and  after  a  decree  from  Rome  in 
the  matter,  June  8th,  1887,  was  finally  abrogated  by  Archbishop  Kain, 
in  the  Third  Synod  of  St.  Louis,  1896 : 

"We  declare  that  the  parishes  of  other  than  the  English  languages, 
German,  Bohemian,  Polish,  shall  be  held  as  altogether  equal  to  those 
of  the  English  language,  and  entirely  independent  of  them,  and  that 
there  shall  be  no  distinction  between  them  in  as  far  as  parochial  rights 
and  privileges  are  concerned."19 


19     Diocesan  Synod  of  St.  Louis  III,  p.  60. 


Chapter  3 
THE  DIOCESAN  SEMINARY 


On  his  arrival  in  Paris  in  April  1842  Bishop  Rosati  wrote  among 
a  number  of  other  important  things  a  memorable  sentence  in  regard 
to  the  Seminary,  over  which  he  had  presided  so  long,  and  which  was 
still  his  dearest  place  on  earth :  ' '  We  must  transfer  the  Seminary  to 
St.  Louis  and  separate  the  diocesan  Seminarians  from  those  of  the 
Congregation  of  the  Missions.  A  lady  has  given  me  land  in  one  of  the 
suburbs,  valued  at  20,000  francs.  I  bought  the  tract  next  to  it  for  the 
same  amount.  There  we  shall  build  a  church  and  a  Seminary  near  the 
church,  both  buildings  are  now  fifteen  feet  high."1 

The  place  was  called  Soulard's  Addition.  Bishop  Rosati  had  built 
a  row  of  small  houses,  on  the  tract,  but  some  of  them  had  been  consumed 
by  flames,  and  building  operations  on  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
which  was  to  be  the  Seminary  Church,  had  been  suspended  for  lack  of 
means. 

The  transfer  of  professors  and  students  was,  however,  effected  in 
1842,  the  Coadjutor  Bishop  and  the  Lazarist  Visitor  co-operating  in  the 
most  friendly  spirit.  The  Catholic  Almanac  of  1843  reports:  "The 
Seminary  heretofore  connected  with  St.  Mary's  College,  Perry  County, 
is  now  placed  at  St.  Louis." 

The  Very  Rev.  John  Timon,  Visitor  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Mission  and  Vicar  General  of  St.  Louis,  Superior;  Rev.  Thaddaeus 
Amat,  C.  M.,  and  James  Tiernan,  C,.  M.,  Professors.  The*  number  of 
theological  students  was  six.  None  were  admitted  into  the  Seminary 
but  those  capable  of  commencing  the  study  of  philosophy. 

The  Preparatory  Seminary  of  St.  Louis  was  conducted  by  the 
Clerks  du  Saint  Viateur,  whom  Bishop  Rosati  had  lately  sent  to  St. 
Louis  from  their  Motherhouse  in  France,  and  of  whom  Bishop  Kenrick 
wrote:  "The  Freres  du  St.  Viateur  have  arrived.  Three  of  them  are 
with  Rev.  Mr.  Fontbonne  at  Carondelet,  two  are  about  to  occupy  a 
house  which  Mrs.  Biddle  has  placed  at  their  disposition  for  two 
years.    - 

The  College  of  St.  Mary's  at  the  Barrens  continued  its  educational 
work  under  Father  Hector  Figari  C.  M.  as  President  and  the  Vincentian 
Fathers  Joseph  Paquin,  John  Larkins,  J.  B.  Robert  and  J.  B.  Escoffier, 
as  professors. 


i     Rosati  to  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  Paris,  April  14,  1842. 
2     Kenrick  to  Rosati,   February  20,   1842,   Archives  of   St.   Louis  Archdiocese. 

(836) 


The  Diocesan  Seminary  837 

The  Preparatory  Seminary  of  the  Clerks  du  Viateur,  at  Caron- 
delet,  however,  proving  a  sad  failure,  another  great  change  was  made 
at  the  Barrens,  which  the  following  announcement,  will  explain : 

"On  the  1st  of  May,  1843,  under  the  patronage  of  Bishop  Kenrick, 
Coadjutor  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Perry  County, 
Missouri,  was  appropriated  solely  to  the  reception  and  instruction  of 
youth,  who  feel  a  desire  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  Sacred  ministry 
and  who  give  some  indications  that  God  has  called  them  to  so  holy  a 
state."3 

"The  department  of  collegiate  studies  for  secular  pursuits  will 
be  removed  to  Cape  Girardeau,  so  that  the  clerical  students  alone 
will  remain  at  St.  Mary's  of  the  Barrens,"  was  the  annoucement  made 
by  Father  Hector  Figari,  C.  M.,  the  President  of  the  College,  about 
to  be  transported  to  Cape  Girardeau. 

During  the  first  two  years  Fathers  Amat,  Paquin  and  Dahmen 
conducted  the  Seminary  at  St.  Louis,  with  eight  and  then  sixteen 
students  in  attendance,  whilst  the  Visitor  resided  at  the  Barrens.  Father 
Thaddeus  Amat  was  a  Spaniard  of  very  dark  complexion  and  medium 
sized  figure.  He  was  a  rather  rigid  disciplinarian  and  consequently 
not  very  popular  with  the  students.  But  he  was  a  just  man,  a  sound 
scholar  and  an  excellent  professor.  In  1854  Father  Amat  was  made 
Bishop  of  Monterey  and  Los  Angeles. 

A  short  time  after,  John  O'Hanlon',  the  future  Canon  of  Dublin, 
entered  the  Theological  Seminary  of  St.  Louis,  and  1843,  the  Very 
Reverend  Joseph  Paquin,  a  native  of  Florissant,  became  Superior  at 
St.  Louis,  Father  Amat  having  been  transferred  to  the  Barrens.  The 
students  were  fifteen  in  number,  and  all,  with  the  exception  of  one 
Italian,  two  Frenchmen  and  one  native  Kentuckian,  had  made  their 
preparatory  course  in  some  Irish  College.  Archbishop  Kenrick,  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  earlier  sentiment  addressed  to  Bishop  Rosati :  ' '  We 
need  German  and  English-speaking  priests,"  obtained  three  separate  con- 
tingents from  Germany  through  the  persuasiveness  of  his  Vicar-General 
Joseph  Melcher,  and  a  steady  stream  of  English-speaking  helpers  through 
his  own  personal  efforts  at  Maynooth  and  Carlow,  in  Ireland.  Both  were 
very  successful,  not  only  in  regard  to  numbers,  but  also  as  to  the  quality 
of  these  acquisitions.  "There  is,"  as  Bishop  England  informed  Bishop 
Rosati  in  1832,  "a  greater  number  of  candidates  for  orders  than  the 
Irish  Church  requires  and  each  Bishop  selects  at  examinations  those 
whom  he  thinks  most  useful  for  his  diocese.  Amongst  the  remainder  are 
several  excellent  subjects,  the  better  amongst  them  are  in  the  habit 
of  then  offering  for  the  English  Missions;  and  a  few  have  gone  across 


3     Church  Directory  for  1843. 


838  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

the  Atlantic,  but  generally  these  last  were  those  who  had  least  hopes 
in  Europe.  The  Irish  Prelates  are  now  disposed  to  give  a  preference 
to  the  church  of  the  province  and  to  afford  us  every  aid  to  secure 
good  priests."4  Archbishop  Kenrick,  no  doubt,  enjoyed  this  preference 
in  an  eminent  degree,  as  the  many  "excellent  subjects"  he  obtained 
from  Ireland  for  his  Seminary  would  prove. 

Father  Melcher's  first  band  of  young  levites  had  not  as  yet  arrived 
at  the  time  of  which  John  O'Hanlon  wrote,  giving  us  the  following 
pleasant  glimpses  of  student  life  at  the  St.  Louis  Seminary,  in  those 
far  off  days: 

"Our  Seminary  had  been  located  within  the  Soulard  Addition, 
in  St.  Louis — the  estate  of  a  Creole  Catholic  gentleman,  whose  fine 
brick  mansion  was  near  us — At  one  of  the  evening  recreations,  Father 
Timon  came  in  to  meet  the  assembled  students,  and  he  informed  us, 
that  soon  we  might  be  in  preparation  for  flitting  to  Monsieur  Soulard 's 
fine  house ;  that  a  large  plot  had  been  secured  on  which  foundations 
and  walls  had  been  already  placed,  that  these  should  be  torn  down 
and  transferred  to  another  site,  where  the  present  church  of  St.  Vincent 
de  Paul  stands.  About  this  time,  also,  the  slight  rafters  supporting 
the  plank  flooring  of  our  temporary  church  had  given  way  on  Sunday, 
while  a  numerous  congregation  was  present.  A  panic  ensued.  Several 
persons  having  been  seriously  injured  in  their  eagerness  to  escape 
through  the  doors  and  windows.  High  Mass  had  been  interrupted  until 
something  like  order  was  effected ;  and  it  was  found  that  only  in  one 
particular  section  the  floor  had  sunk  down  for  a  few  feet.  To  save 
expense  the  Seminarians  unanimously  proposed  to  Fathers  Timon  and 
Paquin,  that  they  should  have  a  holiday,  that  picks,  crowbars  and 
shovels  might  be  borrowed,  while  they  engaged  to  level  the  walls, 
and  to  root  up  the  foundation  stones,  so  that  they  could  be  carried  away 
to  the  new  site.  Permission  was  obtained,  and  the  very  next  day  all 
went  cheerfully  to  work.  A  perfect  demolition  was  effected  before  the 
day  was  far  advanced,  and  not  one  stone  was  left  upon  another,  except 
in  a  loose  state,  and  separated  from  mortar  or  cement. 

' '  The  new  house  and  its  garden  were  soon  ready  for  our  reception, 
and  with  all  expedition  we  removed  our  furniture  and  effects  to  a  much 
better  site. . . 

"In  the  year  1839,  the  foundation  for  a  new  and  large  church  had 
been  laid  beside  our  former  seminary ;  and  in  the  humble  chapel  of  the 
Holy  Trinity5   attached,  English  speaking  and  German  congregations 


4  Bishop  England's  correspondence  with  Bishop  Bosati,  "Illinois  Catholic  His- 
torical Beview,"  vol.  IX,  p.  268. 

5  O'Hanlon  wrote  "St.  Mary's  Chapel,"  but  that  it  a  palpable  mistake  as 
St.   Mary's  Chapel  was  near  the  Cathedral. 


The  Diocesan  Seminary  839 

met  at  stated  hours.  Now  we  had  uprooted  all  those  foundations,  and 
the  stones  had  been  carted  away  to  the  better  site  selected.  A  new  design 
was  formed,  and  an  edifice  cruciform  in  shape  was  planned.  Great 
preparations  were  made  to  have  all  things  in  readiness  to  lay  the 
foundation  stone  on  the  17th  of  March  1844 — under  the  invocation 
and  title  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul. . . . 

"Meanwhile  our  new  church  was  progressing,  while  our  Sundays 
and  Holydays  were  still  spent  in  the  old  chapel,  during  the  hours  of 
High  Mass  and  Vespers. 

"In  the  summer  of  1845,  the  latter  was  abandoned  and  the  former 
was  opened  for  Divine  Service."0 

The  Seminary  of  St.  Louis,  now  established  in  the  fine  old  Mansion 
of  the  Soulards,  continued  under  the  rectorship  of  Father  Paquin, 
whom  Canon  O'Hanlon  describes  as  "a  most  amiable  man  who,  whilst 
training  the  students  in  piety,  delighted  in  promoting  cheerfulness 
and  hilarity."  In  the  Spring  of  1844,  his  Superior,  Father  Timon 
spoke  in  his  presence  about  the  arduous  and  painful  mission  of  Texas, 
and  the  difficulty  of  providing  for  the  needs  of  the  people  there,  when 
Father  Paquin  exclaimed:  "Lo,  here  I  am  send  me."  His  generous 
offer  was  accepted  and  in  a  short  while  Father  Paquin  was  on  his 
way  to  Galveston.  The  yellow  fever  was  raging  in  the  towns  of  southern 
Texas.  Houston  called  for  his  ministrations,  but  ere  he  could  answer  the 
call,  he  himself  was  stricken  and  died  of  the  dread  disease,  August 
13th,  1844. 

The  two  Spanish  Vincentians,  Jerome  Cercos  and  Joseph  J.  Saretta, 
who  served  as  professors  under  the  Rector  Joseph  Paquin,  "were  able 
to  tell  many  interesting  stories  respecting  the  war  in  Spain."  Both 
were  forced  by  the  revolutionists  to  fly  from  their  native  land,  and 
to  seek  refuge  in  the  motherhouse  of  their  Congregation  in  Paris,  from 
where  they  were  sent  to  the  mission  in  St.  Louis.  Father  Cercos  died 
at  Cape  Girardeau,  on  March  28th,  1845.  Shortly  before  that  date 
(February  4th)  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission  suffered  another  loss 
in  the  death  of  Father  John  B.  Robert,  one  of  the  French  clergymen 
that  had  accompanied  Father  Odin  to  America  in  1835,  and  had  served 
as  professor  on  the  staff  of  St.  Mary 's  Seminary. 

But  of  all  the  professors  of  that  time  at  the  St.  Louis  Diocesan 
Seminary,  it  was  Francis  X.  Dahmen,  the  German  cavalry  soldier  of 
Napoleon's  great  campaigns,  that  won  the  highest  degree  of  love  and 
admiration  from  his  youthful  friends,  not  only  by  the  glamour  of  his 
early  military  career,  but  even  more  so,  by  his  undoubted  courage,  his 


s     "Life   and    Scenery   in    Missouri,   Reminiscences    of    a    Missionary   Priest," 
Dublin,  1890,  p.  88. 


840  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

strict  sense  of  honor  and  his  integrity  of  character.  His  roughness 
never  trenched  on  rudeness,  his  courtesy  was  no  mere  form,  hut  the 
unstudied  product  of  a  natural  kindness  of  heart.  It  is  to  Father 
Dahmen's  great  credit  that  he  used  his  fluency  in  German  speech  for 
the  benefit  of  the  German  immigrants  of  Ste.  Genevieve  and  St. 
Louis. 

Before  the  completion  of  St.  Vincent's  College  at  Cape  Girardeau 
the  Preparatory  Seminary  for  the  education  of  youthful  aspirants 
to  the  priesthood,  as  well  as  a  novitiate  of  the  Vincentians,  was 
established  in  the  former  mansion  of  the  Spanish  Governor  on  the 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  .  .  .  Rev.  Michael  Domenec,  CM.,  afterwards 
Bishop  of  Pittsburgh,  was  Superior  of  the  Seminary,  and  Rev.  James 
Rollando,  C.  M.,  was  Master  of  Novices.  In  1843  the  College  of  St. 
Vincent  was  occupied  by  the  students  from  the  Barrens,  whilst  the 
"Little  Seminary''  and  the  Novitiate  were  transferred  to  the  Barrens. 
Of  Joseph  Rosati's  three  foundations  in  the  Barrens,  the  Diocesan 
Seminary  was  now  in  St.  Louis,  the  College  was  at  Cape  Girardeau, 
and  only  the  Novitiate  of  the   Order  remained  in  the  old  place. 

In  1848,  the  Diocesan  Seminary  of  St.  Louis  was  established  by 
Archbishop  Kenrick  at  a  new7  place  and  under  a  new  management.  The 
new  place  was  the  ancient  village  of  Carondelet  wThich  had  grown  up 
on  the  very  site  of  the  first  settlement  of  Europeans  in  Missouri,  and 
the  new  management  was  composed  of  secular  priests. 

"The  start  was  made  with  twelve  students.  But  there  were  thirty- 
two  others  in  the  Preparatory  Seminary  of  St.  Mary's  Perryville, 
of  whom  twTenty  were  maintained  and  educated  at  the  expense  of  the 
diocese,  five  on  a  perpetual  foundation  made  by  the  late  John  Mul- 
lanphy,  Esq.,  and  the  remaining  seven  at  the  expense  of  their  parents 
or  other  guardians."7 

In  February  1849  the  Archbishop  wrote:  "The  Theological  Semi- 
nary of  St.  Louis  has  been  transferred  to  Carondelet.  where,  under  the 
direction  of  three  competent  Professors,  eight  young  men  are  engaged 
in  the  study  of  Philosophy  and  Theology — the  building  occupied  as 
a  seminary  not  admitting  a  greater  number.  As  it  wall  be  necessary, 
in  the  course  of  this  year,  to  transfer  to  the  Seminary  at  Carondelet 
a  considerable  number  of  those  who  are  at  present  in  the  Seminary 
at  Perryville,  and  who  will  have  completed  their  preparatory  studies, 
we  find  ourselves  obliged  to  make  additions  to  the  small  building  which 
is  now  occupied  as  a  Seminary.  To  meet  these  various  expenditures  we 
have  no  other  resource  than  your  cordial  and  general  co-operation,  a 


7     Pastoral  Letter,  February  1849,  p.  6. 


The  Diocesan  Seminary  841 

co-operation  you  can  afford  without  interfering  with,  any  local  want,  or 
imposing  on  yourselves  anything  that  can  be  called  burdensome.  "8 

In  1847,  the  Eev.  James  Duggan,  ordained  on  May  29th,  of  that 
year,  had  been  appointed  acting  President  until  the  arrival  of  Father 
Anthony  0  'Regan.  The  new  President  had  been  Rector  of  St.  Jarlath  's 
College,  Tuam,  but  had  offered  his  services  to  Archbishop  Kenrick 
in  like  capacity.  Father  Duggan  remained  with  Father  0 'Regan.  The 
Seminary  building  was  given  to  the  Archbishop  by  Mrs.  Lawless.  It 
was  a  large  new  house  standing  in  a  spacious  garden,  near  the  Convent 
of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph.9 

In  1848  the  Society  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  remembered 
the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  with  a  remittance  of  $8600.,  and  then  for  the 
next  four  years  with  an  average  contribution  of  $2100.  But  in  1854 
the  Archbishop  announced  the  following : 

"The  aid  hitherto  supplied  to  this  diocese  by  the  Association  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  will  hereafter  be  no  longer  afforded.  AVe 
have  received  official  notice  of  the  fact,  which  may  be  attributed  to 
the  impression  entertained  by  the  Directors  of  that  Association,  that 
St.  Louis  ought  to  be  able  to  supply  its  own  wants,  as  well  as  to  the 
increasing  calls  on  the  funds  raised  in  Europe  for  the  support  of 
Foreign  Missions.  While  we  acquiesced  in  the  reasonableness  of  this 
determination,  we  cannot  but  feel  the  withdrawal  of  a  resource  which, 
hitherto,  has  principally  enabled  us  to  support  the  Theological  Seminary 
of  this  Diocese."10 

While  the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  0 'Regan  and  his  assistant  professor," 
as  Canon  O'Hanlon  informs  us,  "taught  the  classes  of  Logic,  Meta- 
physics and  Ethics,  of  Dogmatic  and  Moral  Theology,  as  also  of  Ritual 
and  Liturgy;  His  Grace,  the  Archbishop,  lectured  likewise,  on  Natural 
Philosophy  and  Science,  as  also,  on  Sacred  Scripture  and  Canon  Law, 
on  those  days  when  he  regularly  visited  Carondelet.  .  .  .1X 

As  to  his  own  connection  with  the  Seminary  Canon  O'Hanlon 
writes:  "While  I  was  acting  in  the  capacity  of  assistant  at  St.  John's 
church,  the  Archbishop  was  accustomed  twice  each  week  to  drive  in  a  bug- 
gy from  St.  Louis  to  Carondelet ;  he  expressed  a  desire  I  should  accom- 
pany him  on  those  days  he  drove  to  the  Seminary,  to  give  lectures  to  the 
students  in  English  Literature,  Rhetoric  and  Composition.  I  was  de- 
lighted to  comply.  ...  As  the  post  of  assistant  professor  at  the  Semi- 


s     Pastoral  Letter,  February  1849. 

9     Savage,    Sr.    M.    Lueida,    ' '  The    Congregation    of    St.    Joseph    of    Caronde- 
let," p.  98. 

10  Pastoral  Letter  of  1852. 

11  "Life  and  Scenery  in  Missouri,"  p.  227. 


842  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

nary  became  vacant,  about  the  commencement  of  September,  1851,  and 
as  I  had  been  applied  to  by  Very  Rev.  Dr.  O'Regar  to  accept  it,  at 
the  request  of  his  Grace,  the  Archbishop :  I  now  left  my  charge  in 
St.  Louis,  and  went  to  reside  at  Carondelet.  There  I  became  Prefect 
of  Studies,  and  in  addition  to  my  English  classes,  I  had  those  of 
Logic,  Metaphysics,  and  Ethics,  as  also  those  of  Sacred  Ceremonies  and 
Ritual,  with  Sacred  Scripture.  Besides  I  had  to  discharge  the  duties  of 
Chaplain  for  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  at  their  convent  in  the  town; 
celebrate  Mass  for  them  each  morning  in  their  chapel,  as  likewise  to 
give  catechetical  instruction,  to  the  young  ladies  educated  there,  once 
in  each  week.  .  . 

"Occasionally  on  Sundays,  I  went  into  the  city  at  the  Archbishop's 
request  to  preach  in  the  Cathedral,  but  seldom  otherwise ;  for,  our  city 
friends  were  frequent  visitors  to  our  Seminary,  while  our  servant  and 
van-driver  supplied  us  with  necessaries  for  the  house  or  conveyed 
messages.  At  intervals  we  had  visits  from  some  remarkable  strangers. 
I  recollect,  while  there,  the  distinguished  Orestes  A.  Brownson,  a 
Catholic  convert  and  litterateur,  had  come  to  St.  Louis  where  he  delivered 
a  course  of  lectures,  and  he  had  been  invited  with  the  Archbishop,  by 
Rev.  Dr.  0 'Regan  to  dine  at  our  Seminary. 

Toward  the  close  of  1852  we  had  accessions  to  our  ecclesiastical 
staff,  in  the  persons  of  two  very  talented  and  distinguished  young 
deacons,  Rev.  Patrick  A.  Feehan  and  Rev.  Patrick  John  Ryan.  They 
were  destined  to  remain  at  the  Seminary  until  of  age  for  ordination 
as  priests.  They  had  made  excellent  studies  in  their  respective  colleges 
of  Maynooth  and  Carlow,  so  they  were  now  required  to  take  charge  of 
the  various  classes  assigned  to  each.  This  work  undertaken  by  them 
afforded  to  myself  a  welcome  relief,  and  a  change  once  more  for  the 
city  of  St.  Louis.  I  continued  to  discharge  my  duties  at  the  Seminary, 
until  the  16th  of  November,  1852,  when  I  returned  to  my  former 
position,  as  assistant  to  the  Rev.  Patrick  O'Brien,  still  the  pastor  of 
St.  John's  Church."12 

In  1850  the  number  of  students  was  twenty-four.  Towards  the 
end  of  1851,  the  Archbishop,  was  seriously  thinking  of  discontinuing 
his  Seminary,  but  was  encouraged  by  his  brother  to  reject  the  plan : 
"The  thought  of  giving  up  your  Seminary  does  not  please  me.  A 
Metropolitan  See  needs  such  a  support  to  which  the  other  sees  may 
come."13 

When  the  see  of  Chicago,  became  vacant  through  the  resignation  of 
Bishop  Van  de  Velde,  Father  Anthony  0 'Regan,  the  President  of  the 


12     O'Hanlon,  "Life  and  Scenery  in  Missouri,"  pp.  227-229. 

is     Kenriok-Frenave  Correspondence,  p.  356. 


The  Diocesan  Seminary  843 

Seminary,  was  proposed  by  the  Kenricks  as  the  first  choice.  "There 
is  nothing  against  him  but  a  weak  voice,"  wrote  Francis  Patrick  of 
Baltimore.  At  the  appointment  of  Father  O 'Regan  as  successor  to 
Bishop  Van  de  Velde,  July  25th,  1854,  the  presidency  of  the  Seminary 
devolved  upon  Father  Feehan. 

The  Very  Reverend  Patrick  Augustin  Feehan  was  born  August 
28th,  1829,  in  County  Tipperary.  After  completing  a  five  years  course 
at  the  College  of  Maynooth,  the  young  levite  received  an  invitation  from 
the  Archbishop  of  St.  Louis  to  come  to  his  diocese.  Arriving  in  the 
city  he  was  sent  to  the  Seminary  at  Carondelet  to  prepare  for  his 
ordination,  which  took  place  on  November  1st,  1852.  From  the  time 
of  his  entering  the  ministry  Father  Feehan  taught  in  the  Seminary 
until  July  1853,  when  he  was  appointed  as  assistant  to  Father  O'Brien 
of  St.  John's  Church,  where  he  received  a  severe  training  in  missionary 
life. 

A  terrible  cholera  epidemic  raged  in  the  city,  which  called  forth 
all  the  self-sacrifice  of  the  devoted  young  priest.  Days  and  nights 
were  spent  in  administering  the  sacraments  and  consoling  the  poor 
sufferers ;  sometimes  even  preparing  them  for  burial,  when  kindred 
and  friends  deserted  them.  It  was  from  St.  John's  Parish  that  Father 
Feehan  was  sent  to  the  Theological  Seminary  in  Carondelet  to  succeed 
Rev.  Anthony  0 'Regan.  He  served  as  president  for  three  years,  taught 
Moral  Theology  and  Sacred  Seripture.  and  also  preached  once  a  month 
in  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis.  Fathers  John  Hennessy  and  James 
Scott  served  under  him  as  professors.  "He  was  then  as  now,"  said 
Bishop  John  Hennessy.  "kind,  gentle,  amiable,  and  a  great  favorite 
with  students  and  professors.  He  was  loved  by  all  who  knew  him  well 
enough  to  appreciate  his  rare  qualities."14 

Father  Feehan  was  appointed  pastor  of  St.  Michael's  Church 
in  St.  Louis  in  July  1858. 

Soon  after  the  departure  of  Father  Feehan  from  Carondelet,  the 
St.  Louis  Seminary,  as  conducted  by  secular  priests  came  to  an  end. 
The  last  Rector  was  Father  John  Hennessy.  the  future  Archbishop 
of  Dubuque,  and  one  of  the  great  pulpit  orators  of  his  day. 

John  Hennessy  came  to  St.  Louis  from  Ireland,  a  student,  about 
1847.  He  made  his  philosophicrl  and  theological  studies  partly  with 
the  Lazarists  at  St.  Vincent's  Church,  and  partly  in  the  Diocesan 
Seminary  at  Carondelet.  He  was  ordained  priest  on  the  1st  of  November, 
1850.  After  exercising  the  functions  of  the  minstry  in  New  Madrid 
and  Kirkwood,  in  the  Diocese  of  St.  Louis,  he  became  Professor  of 
Dogmatic   Theology    in   the   Diocesan    Seminary,    a    position    which   he 


14     Kirkfleet,  "The  Life  of  Patrick  Augustine  Feehan."  p.  26. 


844  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

filled  for  three  years.  He  was  then  President  of  the  Seminary  for  one 
year,  when  he  was  commissioned  by  the  Archbishop  and  the  Suffragan 
Bishops  to  bear  the  Decrees  of  the  Second  Provincial  Council  of  St. 
Louis  to  Kome. 

The  diocesan  Seminary  of  St.  Louis  herewith  ceased  to  exist. 
But  the  Lazarist  Fathers  had  all  these  years  conducted  a  College  at 
Cape  Girardeau  in  their  spacious  building  on  the  river  bank,  which 
now  had  to  undergo  the  change  from  a  secular  to  a  clerical  institution. 
The  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Smith  was  its  President  at  the  time,  but  soon  after 
became  the  Visitor  of  the  Western  Province  of  the  Lazarists. 

"In  1857,  St.  Vincent's  College  was  converted  into  a  seminary 
for  the  education  of  candidates  for  the  priesthood.  It  was  hoped  the 
institution  would  develop  into  a  great  provincial  seminary.  The  Bishops 
of  the  St.  Louis  Province,  some  of  them  at  least,  had  promised  it  their 
patronage,  and  the  superiors  of  the  Lazarists  were,  of  course,  most 
anxious  for  the  success  of  the  institution.  But  in  the  course  of  time, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Bishops  withdrew  their  patronage,  to  a  certain 
extent,  owing  also  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  great  Civil  War  and  the 
bad  name  of  Soiitheast  Missouri  for  health,  the  institution  did  not 
continue  to  prosper. 

"At  one  time  the  number  of  students  was  down  as  low  as  seven- 
teen." 

The  great  war  of  the  rebellion  was  casting  its  shadow  before. 
North  and  South  had  their  adherents ;  and  even  among  the  chosen  ones 
of  God,  brother  rose  in  strife  against  brother. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  professors  the  Seminary  at  Cape 
Girardeau  then  had  was  the  Poet-Priest  of  the  South  "who,  after  the 
war  broke  out,  followed  the  ' '  Sword  of  Lee  "  "  through  victory  and  defeat, 
until  the  Conquered  banner  was  furled  at  Appomattox."15  One  of 
the  diocesan  students  from  St.  Louis,  Christopher  Linnenkamp,  the 
future  Vicar  General  of  Kansas  City,  had  a  misunderstanding  with  one 
of  the  professors  about  the  war,  and  in  consequence  left  the  Seminary 
for  the  Salesianum  near  Milwaukee.  From  that  time  on  until  the 
restablishment  of  the  diocesan  Seminary  under  the  Lazarist  Fathers 
in  1893,  the  bulk  of  the  theological  students  of  St.  Louis  were  sent  to 
the  Salesianum  at  St.  Francis  near  Milwaukee,  the  great  foundation 
of  Dr.  Joseph  Salzmann  and  Father  Michael  Heiss.  Others  attended 
St.  Mary's  at  Baltimore,  and  only  a  small  number  the  St.  Vincent's 
Seminary  at  Cape  Girardeau. 


15  Abram  J.  Byan,  the  poet  of  the  "Conquered  Banner"  and  many  another 
beautiful  poem.  A  fine  appreciation  of  the  poet  may  be  found  in  "Good  Counsel," 
for  October  1928. 


Chapter  i 
NORTHEAST  MISSOURI 


The  wonderful  growth  of  the  Church  in  the  State  of  Missouri 
during  the  first  half  of  Peter  Richard  Kenrick's  administration  is 
mainly  due,  under  the  Providence  of  God,  to  the  unprecedented  influx 
of  Catholics  from  foreign  lands  into  the  new  land  of  glorious  promise : 
but  that  they  were  saved  for  the  Church,  and  organized  and  consolidated 
into  vigorous  parishes  is  due  in  a  large  measure  to  the  missionaries 
they  found  on  the  spot,  or  that  followed  them  into  every  nook  and 
corner  of  the  State,  especially  from  Ireland  and  Germany.  These  people 
came  in  thousands,  annually,  bringing  with  them  the  faith,  tried  and  true, 
a  faith  which  had  been  tried  in  the  crucible  of  suffering  and  sacrifice ; 
a  faith  which  had  become  part  of  them,  almost.  They  were  too  well 
accustomed  to  the  sacrifices  that  had  to  be  made  at  home  for  the  sake 
of  religion  to  hesitate  when  called  upon  to  rally  to  the  support  of  the 
same  Creed  here.  They  gave  gladly,  and  in  giving,  cemented  anew  the 
bond  of  love  and  affection  that  had  held  them  faithful  to  their  Church 
and  faith,  in  their  fatherland.  Those  two  peoples  were  signally  blessed 
above  all  other  European  immigrants,  in  that  priests  of  their  own  race, 
and  tongue  accompanied  them  and  zealously  ministered  to  their  wants 
in  the.  land  of  their  adoption.1 


i  Cf.  the  beautiful  passage  from  Bishop  McQuaid's  Sermon  before  the  Fathers 
of  the  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore :  ' '  The  first  immigrants  coming  in  large 
numbers  were  from  Ireland.  Of  all  the  peoples  of  Europe  they  were  the  best  fitted 
to  open  the  way  for  religion  in  a  new  country.  Brave  by  nature,  inured  to  poverty 
and  hardship,  just  released  from  a  struggle  unto  death  for  the  faith,  accustomed  to 
the  practice  of  religion  in  its  simplest  forms,  cherishing  dearly  their  priests  whom 
they  had  learned  to  support  directly,  actively  engaged  in  building  humble  chapels 
on  the  sites  of  ruined  churches  and  in  replacing  altars,  they  were  not  appalled  by  the 
wretchedness  of  religious  equipments  and  surroundings  in  their  new  homes  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  priest  was  always  the  priest,  no  matter  where  they  found 
him,  or  from  what  country  he  had  come;  the  Mass  was  always  the  Mass,  no  matter 
where  it  was  offered  up.  .  .  . 

Quickly  following  the  Irish  came  the  Germans  from  all  parts  of  the  fatherland. 
They,  too,  were  a  sturdy  race,  able  to  hold  their  own.  Many  of  them  had  also  known 
persecution  for  religion 's  sake ;  most  of  them  remembered  the  stories  of  bloody 
times  which  had  come  down  to  them  among  the  traditions  of  their  hearths.  They 
were  prompt  to  rival  their  Irish  brethren  in  building  up  the  Church.  At  home  they 
had  their  old  parish  churches,  with  the  chants  and  ceremonial,  which  lend  to  religion 
much  that  is  consoling  and  instructive.  The  religious  traditions  and  glories  of  the 
old  land  they  have  sought  to  emulate  in  this.  Better  than  all,  they  have  stood  fast  by 
the  duty  of  maintaining  Christian  schools  for  Christian  children.  There  is  much  that 
they  can  copy  from  the  Irish,  and  much  that  the  Irish  can  learn  from  the  Germans. 
Both  have  bravely  led  the  way  in  the  Church's  march."    Memorial  Volume,  p.  168. 

(845) 


846  I list 'or y  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

The  natural  increase,  even  if  all  the  children  had  been  saved,  would 
have  been  comparatively  small.  And  then,  there  is  a  strong  probability, 
that  if  the  Catholic  backbone  of  these  natives  had  not  been  strengthened 
by  the  generous  Catholic  spirit  of  the  new  arrivals,  it  might  have  grown 
pliant  and  at  last  given  way  to  the  surrounding  influences.  To  the 
Catholic  immigrants  from  Ireland  and  Germany  and  to  their  devoted 
priests,  who  cither  accompanied  them  on  the  voyage,  or  followed  them 
soon  after  their  departure,  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  State  is  indebted 
for  its  rapid  growth  and  continued  stability. 

Peter  Richard  Kenrick  saw  at  a  glance  that,  as  far  as  the  diocese 
of  St.  Louis  was  concerned,  the  French  language  was  doomed,  and  that 
English  as  the  language  of  the  country,  and  German,  as  the  language 
of  about  one  half  of  the  Catholics  of  his  diocese,  both  were  in  the 
ascendant.  Hence  he  insisted  so  earnestly  in  writing  to  the  absent 
Rosati :  "We  want  English  and  German  priests."  To  him  the  salus 
populi  was  ever  the  supreme  law.  Mere  sentiment  held  a  very  inferior 
place  in  his  judgments  and  acts. 

The  acquisition  of  English-speaking  and  German  priests  for  his 
diocese  was,  at  the  time  of  which  Ave  are  writing,  one  of  the  main  con- 
cerns of  Bishop  Kenrick  \s  life.  During  the  period  of  time  intervening 
between  the  beginning  of  his  Coadjutorship  and  his  elevation  to  the 
archiepiscopal  throne  Bishop  Kenrick  ordained  the  following  gentlemen 
for  his  diocese : 

On     August     25th,     1842 Reverend  Joseph  Kuenster 

On     August     25th,     1842 Reverend  Patrick  McCabe 

On     August     25th,     1842 Reverend  Thomas  Cusack 

On    December     8th,    1842 Reverend  Michael  Carroll 

On  September  23rd,   1843 Reverend  James  Murphy 

On  April  25th,   1845 Reverend  William  Wheeler 

On   May  17th.    1845 Reverend  Patrick  O'Brien 

On   May  17th,    1845 Reverend  Bernard  Donnelly 

On   September  21st,   1845 Reverend  Thomas  Scanlan 

On   September  21st,   1845 Reverend  Dennis  Byrne 

On  September  21st,  1845 Reverend  John  Higginbotham 

On   May  29th,   1845 Reverend  James  Duggan 

On   May  29th,   1845 Reverend  Patrick  Ward 

On    May  29th,   1845 Reverend  John   O'Hanlon2 

It  will  be  noticed  that  this  list  contains,  with  one  exception,  only  Irish 
names.  There  were  at  the  time  no  German  subjects  available  for 
ordination,  as  Father  Melcher's  first  caravan  of  theological  students, 
will  not  be  ready  for  the  Order  of  priesthood,  until  1848. 


Chancery   Records. 


Northeast  Missouri  847 

The  various  ordinations  of  members  of  the  Lazarist  and  Jesuit 
communities  are  also  reserved  for  another  chapter.  We  would,  however, 
add  to  this  list  of  honor  the  names  of  another  one  of  our  early  Irish 
priests,  who  received  holy  Orders  in  August  1840,  at  the  hands  of 
Bishop  Mathias  Loras  of  Dubuque :  the  Reverend  John  Cotter. 

As  the  Fathers  Joseph  Kuenster,  Patrick  McCabe  and  Michael 
Carroll  were,  immediately  after  their  ordination,  assigned  to  the 
mission  field  of  Illinois,  which  in  1844  became  a  separate  diocese,  we 
will  not  have  much  to  say  about  them. 

Father  Kuenster  was  appointed  pastor  of  Belleville,  and  as  much 
became  a  member  of  the  diocese  of  Chicago. 

Father  McCabe  was  sent  to  Alton  in  1843  and  transferred  to 
Prairie  du  Long  in  1843. 

Father    Carroll    succeeded    to    the    pastorship    in    Alton    in    1843. 

Of  the  remaining  Fathers.  William  Wheeler,  Patrick  O'Brien, 
and  John  Higginbothan  were  appointed  to  the  parishes  of  St.  Patrick, 
St.  John  and  St.  Michael  in  the  city  where  they  immortalized  their 
names  by  faithful  and  efficient  services,  as  the  sequel  will  show. 

Father  John  Cotter  obtained  the  ancient  Church  of  Old  Mines, 
with  its  dependencies. 

The  Fathers  Thomas  Cusack  and  Dennis  Byrne  were  commissioned 
to  establish  the  widely  separated  missions  of  northeast  Missouri  on 
a  firmer  basis ;  and  the  Fathers  Bernard  Donnelly,  Thomas  Scanlan 
and  Patrick  AVard  were  to  do  the  same  service  on  the  western  border 
of  the  state  and  in  the  newly  acquired  triangle  of  land  called  the 
Platte  Purchase. 

It  had  been  weighing  heavily  on  Bishop  Kenrick's  mind,  that  vast 
stretches  of  land  in  the  interior  of  the  state  were  still  terra  incognitao, 
in  as  far  as  religion  was  concerned:  "The  diocese  of  St.  Louis  which 
embraces  the  entire  State  of  Missouri :  and  the  Indian  Territory  to  the 
West,  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  United  States;"  he  wrote  to  the 
Leopoldine  Society  on  December  10th,  1844,  "The  Catholic  population  is 
estimated  to  be  50,000  souls,  of  whom  at  least  one  third  are  immigrants 
from  the  various  parts  of  Germany.  This  population  is  spread  unequally 
over  the  State.  The  larger  portion  dwells  in  the  cities,  or  at  least, 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  cities,  on  the  borders  of  the  Mississippi  and 
Missouri  Rivers.  Owing  to  this  circumstance  and  the  relatively  small 
number  of  priests  at  my  disposal,  we  know  but  little  of  the  interior 
of  the  state;  but  I  know  positively,  that  many  Catholics  live  there 
dispersed  among  the  non-catholics.  In  spite  of  my  earnest  wish,  I  was 
not  able  until  now,  to  send  out  missionaries,  to  explore  more  accurately 
this  part  of  my  diocese."3 


'Beriehte  der  Leopoldinen  Stiftung,"  Heft  XVIII,  p.  61. 


848  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Bishop   Kenrick 's  desire  was  now  to  be  realized,  at  least  in  part. 

The  six  Missouri  Counties  bordering  on  the  Mississippi  down  from 
the  Iowa  state  line  to  the  County  of  St.  Charles,  Clark,  Lewis,  Marion, 
Ralls,  Pike  and  Lincoln,  which  were  first  evangelized  by  thai  irrepress- 
ible Flemish  missionary,  Peter  Paul  Lefevere,  were,  after  Father 
Lefevere's  elevation  to  the  episcopal  dignity  in  Detroit,  taken  over  a 
band  of  young  generous  Irish  priests,  most  of  them  ordained  by  Bishop 
Kenrick  since  1842.  The  leader  of  the  movement  was  Father  Thomas 
Cusack,  who  immediately  after  his  ordination,  took  up  his  abode  at  the 
center  of  Father  Lefevere's  wide  missionary  district,  St.  Paul's  on  Salt 
Biver,  Balls  County. 

From  here  he  made  excursions  to  Indian  Creek  in  Monroe  County, 
North  Santa  Fe  in  Clark  County,  Palmyra  and  Hannibal  in  Marion 
County,  and  to  the  less  noted  missions.  In  1845,  however,  he  moved 
to  the  more  promising  parish  of  St.  Stephen  at  Indian  Creek,  a  large 
settlement  of  Kentucky  Catholics  that  had  built  a  little  church  and 
school  house.  Near  Indian  Creek  there  w7as  a  German  Congregation 
which  Father  Cusack  was  wont  to  visit,  as  also  the  American  Congre- 
gation at  Brush  Creek  in  Balls  County.4 

On  one  of  Bishop  Kenrick 's  Confirmation  trips  in  the  Fall  of  1845, 
Father  Cusack  saved  the  Bishop  from  drowning  in  one  of  the  swollen 
rivers,  into  which  the  prelate  had  fallen  from  his  carriage.  In  1851, 
Father  Cusack  was  transferred  to  Marshall  in  Saline  County,  south  of  the 
Missouri  Biver,  where  a  pretty  frame  church  crowned  the  summit  of 
a  hill  on  the  state  road  leading  from  Paris  in  Monroe  County.5 

In  1853  Father  Cusack  became  pastor  of  Jefferson  City  and  had  for 
his  Assistant  the  Bev.  Joseph  Blaarer.  In  1854  he  took  up  missionary 
work  among  the  Irish  laborers  on  the  railroad  between  Herman  and 
Jefferson  City. 

His  genial  ways  made  him  a  welcome  guest,  and  a  great  power  for 
good,  among  the  hardworking,  but  often  rather  rollicking  Irishmen. 
Father  Cusack  died  in  Mullanphy  Hospital,  St.  Louis,  on  February 
28th,  1887. 

Father  Cusack 's  successor  at  Salt  Biver  was  Father  James  Murphy 
Jr.  who  assumed  charge  in  1845.  His  missions  were  Louisiana  in  Pike 
County  and  Mudd  Settlement  in  Lincoln,  whilst  North  Santa  Fe, 
Edina,  Mudd  Settlement  in  Scotland  County,  were  attended  by  the 
two  Lazarist  Fathers,  Thomas  Burke  and  J,  De  Marchi.    But  in  the 


4  O'Hanlon,  "Life   and   Scenery  in   Missouri,"  p.  288. 

5  This  refers  to  Arrow  Bock,  celebrated  in  romantic  song  and  story,  once 
a  famous  trading  post  on  the  Sante  Fe  Trail,  now  the  center  of  a  State  Park 
on  Highway  Xo.  41,  a  place  of  which  Father  Cusack  was  pastor  in   1S50. 


Northeast  Missouri  849 

following  year  Father  Denis  Byrne  was  intrusted  with  the  missions 
that  surrounded  the  town  of  North  Santa  Fe,  in  Clark  County,  near 
the  Iowa  border.  This  place  was  the  starting  point  of  the  Santa  Fe 
Trail,  the  great  commercial  highway  to  the  Spanish  possessions  in  the 
Southwest. 

There  was  a  church  here  dedicated  to  the  Apostle  of  Ireland.  The 
stations  depending  on  it  were  Edina,  in  Knox  Co.,  Mudd  Settlement 
in  Scotland  Co.,  and  the  river-towns,  Tully  and  Alexandria. 

In  1852  Father  Byrne  chose  for  his  place  of  residence  the  pros- 
perous town  of  Edina  in  the  heart  of  Knox  County,  where  he  had  easy 
communication  by  rail  in  all  directions.  Here  he  remained  until  June 
11th,  1856. 

In  1848,  on  September  3rd,  Archbishop  Peter  Richard  Kenrick  was 
invested  with  the  pallium  in  St.  John's  Church  in  Philadelphia  at  the 
hands  of  his  brother,  Francis  Patrick.  In  the  same  year  Father  Kobert 
Wheeler  was  assigned  to  St.  Alphonsus  Church,  Millwood,  with  Louisi- 
ana and  Louisville  as  outmission.  In  the  following  year  St.  Paul's  at  Salt 
River  was  placed  in  charge  of  Father  John  0  'Hanlon.  Father  Cusack  's 
former  mission  at  Hannibal  and  Palmyra  were  now  attached  to 
St.  Paul's. 

Father  John  0 'Hanlon  comes  before  us  as  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished members  of  the  clergy  of  St.  Louis.  His  first  appointment 
was  St.  Patrick's  Church  at  Armagh  in  Franklin  County  with  which 
the  mission  of  Downpatrick,  now  Pacific,  was  connected.  Both  Congre- 
gations were  organized  in  1843  by  the  former  missionary  in  Arkansas, 
Father- Peter  Richard  Donnelly.  The  church  at  Downpatrick  was 
dedicated  in  honor  of  St.  Bridget.  But  ere  long  Father  0 'Hanlon  wras 
called  to  the  Cathedral,  as  assistant,  ostensibly,  but  mainly  to  fill  the 
post  of  editor  for  the  new  Catholic  paper  called  the  "Neivs  Letter," 
for  which  the  Archbishop  wrote  some  of  his  best  historical  articles. 

It  was  the  time  of  the  Mexican  war.  As  a  large  military  force, 
mostly  Irish  and  German  Catholics,  had  been  assembled  at  Jefferson 
Barracks,  Father  0 'Hanlon  with  two  other  priests,  were  sent  to  give 
them  a  mission,  at  the  end  of  which  a  very  large  number  of  the 
soldier  boys  received  holy  Communion,  "with  all  the  external  appear- 
ances of  recollection  .and  devotion." 

The  St.  Louis  News  Letter  was  not  a  financial  success  and,  in  April 
1848,  was  forced  to  suspend  publication :  so  its  editor  was  free  for  other 
employment.  The  town  of  Hannibal,  on  the  southeastern  corner  of 
Marion  County,  had  petitioned  Archbishop  Kenrick  for  a  resident 
priest.  There  was  no  church-building  there  as  yet,  but  the  little  band 
of  Catholics  in  and  around  the  town  promised  to  build  one,  if  their 
wish  were  gratified.    There  were  two  important  congregations  within 


850  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

reach  of  Hannibal:  Palmyra  in  the  same  Comity,  and  St.  Paul's  on 
Salt  River  to  the  south.  Of  these  three  places  St.  Paul's,  though  an 
inland  settlement,  was  in  matter  of  religion,  far  superior  to  the  other 
two  places. 

Father  O'Hanlon  chose  Hannibal  as  the  more  favorable  location. 
As  a  fair  sample  of  what  missionary  life  in  northern  Missouri  was  in 
the  forties  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a  brief  review  of  the  many 
vivid  glimpses  of  his  own  experiences  which  the  facile  pen  of  Canon 
O'Hanlon  has  enshrined  in  his  dear  little  book  'Life  and  Scenery 
in  Missouri,''  will  not,  we  hope,  be  out  of  place  here.  For  although  the 
author,  probably  writing  from  memory,  is  not  always  exact  in  his 
statements,  we  have  compared  those  we  quote  with  the  official  accounts, 
and  found  them  trustworthy  and  true  to  life.  Taking  leave  of  St. 
Louis,  Father  O'Hanlon  boarded  the  steamer  towards  evening  on  May 
8th,  1848,  and  within  a  few  hours,  passed  the  spot  where  "the  Missouri 
enters  the  Mississippi  with  the  pride  of  a  conqueror."  The  night  fell 
on  the  broad  waters.  At  early  dawn  Clarksville  on  the  Missouri  shore 
appeared,  then  Louisiana,  a  thriving  town,  handsomely  situated  and 
well  built  town."  A  little  farther  north  appeared  the  mouth  of  Salt 
River.  At  last  the  boat  approached  the  rising  town  of  Hannibal.  At 
the  landing  the  missionary  was  heartily  greeted  by  Mr.  Henry  Harrison, 
an  American  convert  to  the  Faith,  and  John  J.  Dowling  a  staunch 
Catholic  Irishman.  It  was  at  the  hospitable  home  of  Mr.  Harrison 
that  Father  O'Hanlon  was  entertained  during  his  stay  in  the  northern 
mission.  A  room  in  the  house  was  assigned  to  him  for  his  own  personal 
use,  and  in  close  proximity  to  the  house,  a  temporary  structure  of  wood 
was  fitted  up  for  a  chapel.  Specidation  was  then  rife  in  Hannibal  as 
to  a  railway  projected,  and  since  constructed,  between  that  city  and  St. 
Joseph  on  the  Upper  Missouri. 

Four  distinct  congregations  were  now  dependent  on  the  new 
shepherd  of  souls : 

Hannibal,  Palmyra,  Salt  River  and  Millwood.  On  the  first  Sunday 
of  each  month  Mass  was  held  at  Hannibal,  on  the  second  Sunday  at 
Palmyra,  on  the  third  at  St.  Paul's,  Salt  River,  and  on  the  fourth  at 
Millwood.  At  Palmyra  there  was  no  church  or  chapel :  services  were 
held  in  the  house  of  an  Irish  merchant,  a  Mr.  Conroy.  The  Salt  river 
congregation  still  used  the  old  log  church  that  had  cost  their  first  pastor,. 
Father  Lefevere,  so  much  trouble  and  disappointment. 

The  church  stood  within  an  enclosure  devoted  to  a  cemetery,  a 
true  God's  acre.  But  the  Congregation  owned  also  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres.  Here  Father  O'Hanlon  came  every  third 
Sunday  to  preach,  to  say  Mass  and  to  administer  the  holy  sacraments. 


Northeast  Missouri  851 

An  old  Kentucky  farmer,  Ralph  Leake,  the  same  that  had  gone  to  St. 
Louis  in  1832  to  bring  Father  Lefevere  to  his  first  missionary  charge, 
was  Father  O'Hanlon's  host  on  these  occasions.  The  fourth  Sunday 
of  the  month  was  devoted  to  visiting  the  settlement  of  Maryland  Cath- 
olics at  Millwood,  Lincoln  County.  As  this  place  was  about  sixty 
miles  due  south  from  Hannibal,  it  required  a  two  days'  ride  to  reach 
it.  The  traveller  usually  spent  the  intermediate  night  at  Bowling  Green, 
the  county  seat  of  Pike  County.  There  he  would  say  mass  for  the 
family  of  his  host,  and  his  friends  on  the  morning  of  his  departure. 
The  round  of  duties  continued  during  the  heats  of  the  summer  and 
the  rigorous  cold,  of  the  winter,  for  two  long  years.  On  account  of 
the  many  residents  bearing  the  name  of  Mudd,  the  place  was  long  known 
as  Mudd's  Settlement.  Father  O'Hanlon  usually  resided  at  the  home 
of  Dr.  George  Mudd.  The  log-church  was  dedicated  to  St.  Alphonsus 
Liguori.  All  day  Saturday  after  his  arrival,  the  church  would  be 
crowded  by  these  fervent  Maryland  Catholics.  The  slaves  also  were 
taught  their  catechism  and  encouraged  to  receive  the  sacraments.  Night 
prayer  was  said  in  common.  What  chiefly  excited  Father  O'Hanlon's 
admiration  was  the  fine  spirit  of  hospitality  evinced  by  the  host  and 
hostess,  who  had  a  large  table  spread  on  each  Sunday,  not  only  for  the 
entertainment  of  their  own  relatives  and  friends,  but  for  numbers  of 
other  Catholics  also,  who  could  hardly  be  expected  to  return  fasting 
after  Holy  Communion,  to  their  distant  homes. 

Returning  from  Millwood  to  Hannibal,  Father  O'Hanlon  regularly 
stopped  for  the  night  at  the  Hotel  in  New  London,  the  chief  town  of 
Ralls  County;  and,  as  it  was  conducted  by  good  Maryland  Catholics, 
he  generally  celebrated  mass  there  before  leaving  for  home  the  next 
morning. 

"The  greater  part  of  northern  Missouri,  except  along  its  chief 
river  courses,"  Father  O'Hanlon  tells  us,  "is  composed  of  prairies, 
totally  devoid  of  trees,  and  often  ranging  over  several  miles  on  the 
upper  plateaus  between  the  various  streams.  For  the  convenience  of 
building  log  houses,  of  rail-fencing  and  of  fire-wood  the  early  settlers  in 
the  state  usually  selected  farms  in  the  backwoods,  near  to  the  rivers 
and  springs,  or  at  least  near  the  belts  of  trees  bordering  on  thei  prairies. 
The  country  roads  through  the  woods  from  farmhouse  to  farmhouse  were 
easily  recognized  by  the  notches  on  the  trees;  but  the  roads  through 
the  open  prairie  were  unmarked  save  by  the  wheels  of  the  last  wagon 
that  passed  by.  It  was,  therefore,  much  more  difficult  to  find  your 
way  through  the  prairies,  than  through  the  woodland."  Father  O'Hanlon 
recounts  such  an  experience,  of  riding  round  and  round  in  the  prairie, 
now  following  one  road,  then  another,  almost  dying  from  thirst,  weary 
and  depressed,  almost  ready  to  give  up  the  quest,  when  toward  night- 


•s">-  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

fall,  he  dieoverecl  the  housetops  of  Bowling  Green  far  away,  and  just 
peering  over  the  distant  line  towards  the  east.0 

"One  of  the  great  spiritual  privations,"  Father  O'Hanlon  tells 
us,  "to  which  missionary  priests  were  then  subjected  in  the  remote  parts 
of  Missouri,  was  the  difficulty  of  meeting  with  and  enjoying  the  society 
of  brother  priests,  whose  stations  were  often  far  removed  from  each 
other."7  Father  O'Hanlon 's  only  accessible  neighbor  was  Father  Cusack, 
the  priest,  who  now  had  charge  of  Monroe  and  some  adjoining 
counties.  It  was  prearranged  between  the  two  that  on  alternate 
months  they  should  make  and  receive  mutual  visits.  This  involved  a 
ride  of  some  fourteen  or  fifteen  miles.  They  were  accustomed  to 
consult  with  each  other  on  various  matters  of  private  and  pastoral 
concern.  But,  however  pleasant  the  stay  at  Hannibal  had  been,  the 
keen  observing  eye  of  Father  O'Hanlon  soon  discovered  that  St.  Paul's 
Church  at  Salt  River  was  the  true  center  of  his  missionary  work.  So 
he  resolved  to  take  up  his  abode  in  the  old,  long-deserted  log  house  of 
Father  Lefevere's.  There  he  was  surrounded  by  Catholic  families:  from 
there  he  could  most  conveniently  reach  the  sick  members  of  his  flock. 

"Oceans  of  prairie  extended  on  every  side  at  the  time  I  travelled 
from  St.  Paul's  to  Millwood,"  writes  the  observant  Father;  yet  on 
the  occasion  of  each  visit,  I  found  farm-fences  being  extended  grad- 
ually out  upon  the  open."8  The  timberlands  were  now  all  occupied: 
and  the  prairie  was  losing  its  haunting  terrors.  The  newcomers  had  to 
take  what  was  left;  and,  as  it  happened,  the  prairie  proved  to  be  the 
best. 

Thus  the  care  for  the  sick,  the  instruction  of  children  and  converts 
and  the  regular  monthly  visits  to  his  three  outmissions  took  up  most 
of  the  missionary's  time.  And  these  appointments  each  month  had  to 
be  kept,  even  if  fits  of  ague  caused  by  exposure,  should  make  riding  very 
unpleasant.  One  Sunday  morning  when  starting  from  St.  Paul's  for 
Palmyra,  he  felt  unwell,  but  still  hoped  that  the  attack  might  pass 
away.  His  horse  was  prepared  and  he  mounted  it  for  the  ride  of  about 
fifteen  miles.  As  he  got  out  on  the  prairie,  he  found  himself  getting 
weak,  but  still  rode  on  and  crossed  the  river  at  the  pond.  After  another 
mile  through  the  woods,  a  cold  chill  seized  him  right  earnest.  He  dis- 
mounted, led  the  horse  to  a  thicket  a  little  distance  from  the  road, 
where  after  securing  the  bridle  to  a  branch,  he  fell  down  utterly 
exhausted :  The  chill  was  succeeded  by  a  burning  fever,  leaving  him 
weak  and  helpless   and  far   away   from   human   habitations.    After   a 


6  "Life  and  Scenery  in  Missouri,"  p.   178  and  179. 

7  "Life  and  Scenery  in  Missouri,"  p.  206  and  207. 

8  "Life  and  Scenery  in  Missouri,"  p.  215. 


Northeast  Missouri  853 

while  he  recovered  sufficient  strength  to  drag  himself  to  the  next  house 
on  the  road,  and  in  the  evening  to  proceed  on  his  way  to  Palmyra. 
The  effort  was  crowned  with  success,  but  the  penalty  was  a  week  in  bed 
with  raging  fever.9 

Towards  the  end  of  1850  Father  O'Hanlon  was  recalled  from 
his  northern  field  of  labor  to  serve  as  assistant  to  Father  Patrick 
O'Brien  in  the  newly  completed  Church  of  St.  John  the  Apostle  in 
the  western  part  of  St.  Louis. 


9     "Life  and  Scenery  in  Missouri,"  p.  219. 


Chapter  5 
LOSS  OF  TERRITORY  BUT  GAIN  OF  SOULS 


The  Fifth  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  which  was  held  under 
Archbishop  Eccleston  from  May  14th  to  20th,  1843,  was  attended  by 
the  Bishop  of  Drasa,  Coadjutor  of  St.  Louis  with  Father  John  B.  Torna- 
tore  CM.  as  his  Theologian.  Among  other  important  matters  the 
Fathers  of  the  Council  petitioned  the  Holy  Father,  that  a  number 
of  new  sees  be  erected  in  the  United  States :  namely  Chicago  with  the 
entire  state  of  Illinois  in  its  jurisdiction,  and  Little  Rock  with  the  state 
of  Arkansas  as  its  diocese.  The  Holy  See  speedily  acted  upon  this 
suggestion.  On  November  28th,  1843, 1  Pope  Gregory  XVI  erected 
both  dioceses,  with  William  Quarter  as  Bishop  of  Chicago  and  Andrew 
Byrne  as  Bishop  of  Little  Rock.  Both  Prelates  were  consecrated  by 
Bishop  Hughes  of  New  York  in  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Patrick  on  March 
10th,  1844.  Thus  a  large  part  of  the  territory  subject  to  St.  Louis 
was  withdrawn  from  its  jurisdiction ;  Milwaukee  was  also  made  a  diocese 
at  this  time,  but  as  the  jurisdiction  of  St.  Louis  over  any  part  of  Wis- 
consin had  ceased  with  erection  of  the  diocese  of  Dubuque  that  change 
did  not  affect  St.  Louis.  But  as  the  territory  beyond  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains and  north  of  California  was  at  the  same  time  erected  into  a 
Vicariate  Apostolic  with  Bishop  Francis  Norbert  Blanchet  as  its  head, 
the  diocese  of  St.  Louis  found  itself  restricted  to  the  state  of  Missouri 
with  the  wilderness  west  of  its  boundary  to  the  crest  of  the  Rockies. 
It  was  a  sufficiently  large  territory  for  the  most  zealous  missionary 
bishop:  but  beyond  the  Missouri  boundary  there  was  but  little  Chris- 
tianity and  civilization  save  a  few  Indian  Missions  conducted  by  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  of  the  St.  Louis  Province. 

But  before  Ave  turn  over  to  their  new  Ordinaries  the  Parishes  and 
Missions  established  and  conducted  until  then  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
.^t.  Louis,  it  may  be  deemed  proper  to  pay  each  one  a  brief  leave-taking 
visit,  and  first  in  Illinois. 

At  Alton  we  meet  Father  Michael  Carroll,  Pastor  of  St.  Matthew's 
church,  who  also  visits  Edwardsville  twice  a  month.  "The  corner 
stone  of  a  new  church  was  solemnly  blessed  by  the  Coadjutor  Bishop 
of  this  diocese,  at  Alton,  111.,  on  Sunday,  the  19th  of  July,  a  great 
number  of  citizens  from  St.  Louis  as  well  as  numbers  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Alton  were  present  at  the  ceremony.2 


1  The  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  was  notified  by  Propaganda  of  these  erections 
and  appointments  as  early  as  September  30,  1843.  The  Bull  bears  the  date  of 
November,   1843. 

2  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  June,  1843. 

(854) 


Loss  of  Territory  But  Gain  of  Souls  855 

Belleville  is  the  residence  of  Father  Joseph  Kuenster,  who  has  in  his 
charge  St.  Andrew's  and  St.  Thomas'  in  St.  Clair  and  Monroe  Counties, 
and  St.  Libory's.  On  Easter  Monday  the  first  stone  of  a  church  to  be 
built  in  Belleville,  Illinois,  was  solemnly  blessed  by  the  Coadjutor  Bishop, 
assisted  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kuenster,  Pastor  of  the  district,  Rev.  M. 
Cercos,  C.  M.,  and  several  of  the  alumni  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
of  St.  Louis.3 

At  Cahokia,  the  ancient  Church  of  the  Holy  Family  has  for  its 
Pastor  Father  Regis  Loisel.  The  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph 
under  Sister  Fontbonne,  is  bearing  up  bravely  under  adversities.  The 
Coadjutor  Bishop  of  St.  Louis  visited  French  Village  of  Illinois  on 
Sunday,  the  16th  Ult.,  where  he  administered  the  Sacrament  of  Con- 
firmation to  36  people. 

Galena,  Joe  Davies  Co.,  with  its  church  of  St.  Michael  and  its  self- 
sacrificing  priests,  Remigins  Petiot  and  C.  H.  Ostlangenberg,  is  the 
center  for  the  missions  of  Northwestern  Illinois,  Irish  Grove,  New 
Dublin  and  Freeport.  Kaskaskia,  the  glory  of  the  early  Jesuit  missions 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  its  Convent  of  the  Visitandines,  is  in 
temporary  charge  of  Father  Irenaeus  Saint  Cyr,  the  founder  of  the 
Church  in  Chicago.  But  he  is  about  to  leave  for  Ste.  Genevieve,  and 
the  twenty-three  sisters  of  the  Convent  will  ere  long  be  forced  to  leave 
their  sainted  walls  to  the  fury  of  the  greatest  flood  that  visited  the 
Mississippi  Valley  in  historic  times,  and  sad  to  say,  Kaskaskia  itself 
will  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  find  its  grave  at  the  bottom  of  the 
mighty  river.  But  these  things  are  as  yet  hidden  from  all  eyes.  The 
distribution  of  premiums  among  the  young  ladies  of  the  Academy  at- 
tached to  the  Visitation  Convent,  Kaskaskia,  took  place  on  Wednesday, 
the  26th  ult. ;  Bishop  Odin  distributed  the  prizes.  ' '  On  Wednesday  and 
Thursday  in  Easter  Week,  the  same  prelate  made  the  annual  visita- 
tion of  the  Convent  of  the  Visitation,  at  Kaskaskia,  on  which  occasion 
he  was  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Heim.  The  new  church  of  Kas- 
kaskia, 100  feet  long,  by  50  feet  broad —  which,  when  finished  will  be 
the  largest  and  most  beautiful  in  Illinois — is  almost  covered  and  will 
be  ready  for  consecration  this  summer."4 

The  Lasalle  Missions,  now  have  two  centers :  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Cross  at  La  Salle,  with  the  Lazarists  Louis  Parodi  and  Nicholas 
Stehle  as  missionaries  to  Ottawa  and  Black  Partridge ;  and  the  chapel 
at  Peoria  with  J.  B.  Raho  and  Montuori  visiting  Kickapoo,  Pekin, 
Fountain  Green  and  Lacon.  The  proposed  church  at  Peoria  is  not  yet 
built. 

Prairie  du  Long  in  Monroe  County  has  a  church  dedicated  to  St. 
Augustine.  Rev.  P.  McCabe,  its  pastor  attends  James  Mills,  New  De- 
sign, O'Hara's  Settlement  and  Harrisonville. 


3     "Catholic  Cabinet,"  May  1843. 
■*     "Catholic  Cabinet,"  May  1843. 


s">'i  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

Quincy  in  Adams  County,  has  for  its  Pastor  Father  Hilary  Tucker, 
who  also  visits  Versailles,  Mount  Sterling  and  Pittsfield. 

The  Coadjutor  Bishop  left  St.  Louis  in  the  early  part  of  the  last 
week  of  September  to  visit  the  following  places  agreeably  to  appoint- 
ment :  St.  Augustine,  Pulton  County,  111..  Sunday,  1st  of  October; 
Fountain  Green,  Hancock  County,  Sunday  8th  of  October ;  to  admin- 
ister the  sacrament  of  Confirmation.5 

Springfield,  Sangamon  County,  St.  John  Baptist  Church  is  about 
to  lose  its  pastor,  the  Lazarist  B.  Kollando,  in  exchange  for  Father 
George  Hamilton.  Shoal  Creek,  St.  Clair  County,  has  the  Church  of 
St.  Boniface,  with  Henry  Fortman  as  Pastor ;  and  New  Switzerland 
as  outmission.  Eleven  parishes  and  a  respectable  number  of  missions 
with  thirteen  priests  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  dowry,  the  new 
Bishop  of  Chicago  will  receive  from  the  mother  diocese  of  St.  Louis.6 
The  Bishop  of  Little  Rock  will  receive  much  less. 

The  City  of  Little  Rock  has  the  church  of  St.  Irenaeus,  with  the 
Rev.  Richard-Bole  as  its  pastor.  St.  Marj^'s,  New  Gascony,  and  Pine 
Bluff  are  vacant  whilst  the  Post  of  Arkansas  for  a  short  while  enjoyed 
the  ministrations  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Meleher.  But  he  was  recalled,  soon 
to  fill  the  position  of  Vicar  General  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis.  The 
Flathead  Indian  Mission  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  though  established 
and  supported  from  St.  Louis,  is  now  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Bishop 
Blanchet.  Yet,  at  least  a  part  of  the  glory  surrounding  the  work  of 
Father  De  Smet  and  his  companions  must,  fall  in  reflected  splendor 
upon  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis.7 

On  the  6th  of  July,  left  this  city,  the  Rev.  Tiberius  Soderini,  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  for  the  Indian  Missions  among  the  Potawatomi, 
Ottawas  and  Chippewas.  He  was  accompanied  by  two  Ladies  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  who  are  to  join  the  others  of  their  community,  who  so 
successfully  conduct  the  Free  School  among  the  Indians. 

Something  more  substantial,  however,  though,  not  as  memorable, 
fell  to  the  lot  of  the  diocese  this  time,  in  the  removal  of  the  Sisters  of 
St.  Joseph  from  Cahokia,  and  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Visitation  from  Kas- 
kaskia  to  the  safer  and  more  promising  ground  of  St.  Louis.  The  first 
to  move  from  their  old  habitat  on  the  Illinois  side  were  a  colony  of  the 
Vistandines.     The  Catholic  Cabinet  briefly  records  this  event: 

"On  the  same  day,  21st  of  April,  1844,  there  arrived  in  this  city, 
from  Kaskaskia,  111.,  seven  Sisters  of  the  Order  of  the  Visitation,  for 
the  purpose  of  opening  a  Female  Academy  in  this  city;  Sister  Mary 
Agnes  Brent,  superior."8  Further  particulars  are  given  in  the  next 
issue  of  the  Catholic  Cabinet: 


5  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  1843. 

6  Chancery  Records. 

7  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  1844. 
s  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  1844. 


Loss  of  Territory  But  Gain  of  Souls  857 

' '  Towards  the  close  of  May,  1844,  a  new  female  Academy  was  opened 
in  this  city,  on  Sixth  near  Pine.  This  establishment  is  conducted  by  the 
Religious  Sisters  of  the  Order  of  the  Visitation  of  the  B.  V.  M.,  founded 
at  Annecy  in  Savoi,  by  Francis  de  Sales,  and  Joanna  Frances  Fremiot 
de  Chantal  in  1610.  This  order  was  solemnly  confirmed  by  Pope  Paul 
V.  Its  principal  objects  are  the  sanctification  of  its  members  and  the 
education  of  youth."9 

This  transfer  was  effected  in  the  regular  order  after  due  prepara- 
tion, but  the  other  came  about  in  a  hurry  and  with  some  danger.  In 
explanation  we  would  again  quote  the  Catholic  Cabinet : 

"It  has  pleased  Divine  Providence  during  the  last  two  months, 
July  and  August,  1844,  to  visit  our  'Far  West'  with  an  inundation  un- 
paralleled in  western  history.  L'annee  des  grandes  eaux,"  of  1795, 
ever  remembered  by  the  old  French  inhabitants,  has  been  surpassed 
by  the  flood  of  1844,  by  which  hundreds  of  families  have  been  driven 
from  their  homes,  and  property  to  an  immense  amount  has  been  de- 
stroyed. 

' '  Charity,  ever  alert,  has  signalized  the  inhabitants  of  our  city,  and 
all  classes  of  men  and  denominations  of  Christians  have  come  forward 
to  alleviate  the  sufferings  and  supply  the  wants  of  the  destitute.  Ca- 
hokia,  Prairie  du  Rocher,  Prairie  du  Pont,  Village  Francais  and  Kas- 
kaskia,  places  where  for  centuries  the  peacful  and  gay  Frenchmen  and 
the  humble  Indian  found  their  happiness  to  be  seated  under  the  shadow 
of  the  cross-places  renowned  in  Spanish,  French,  English  and  American 
histories,  have  all  been  submerged.  Many  of  their  inhabitants  aban- 
doning their  homes,  stock  and  future  expectations  to  the  fury  of  the 
waters,  found  ready  shelter  with  their  friends  in  this  city  and  else- 
where. Their  churches,  especially  that  of  Cahokia,  have  suffered  ma- 
terially. The  "Ladies  of  the  Visitation"  of  Kaskaskia  have  been  obliged 
to  abandon  their  convent  and  take  refuge  in  our  hospitable  city, 
where  they  have  determined  to  remain."10 

Two  weeks  after  the  departure  of  Mother  Agnes  Brent  and  her 
associates,  the  waters  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  the  Mississippi  Rivers  began 
to  flood  the  tongue  of  land  on  which  the  town  of  Kaskaskia  was  built. 
Higher  and  higher  they  rose  covering  the  fields  and  meadows,  and  iso- 
lating the  scattered  homes  amid  the  half  submerged  trees.  As  the 
surface  of  Kaskaskia  plain  lay  on  a  stratum  of  quicksand,  it  was  feared 
that  the  entire  town  might  be  carried  away  by  the  mighty  flood.  The 
Sister's  Convent  showed  marks  of  impending  collapse.    Amadei  Menard, 


9  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  vol.  II,  3,  1844. 
10  "Catholic  Cabinet,"  vol.  II,  4,  1844.  This  was  not  the  entire  community 
of  the  Visit  an  dines,  but  only  a  colony  of  six  sisters  under  Mother  Agnes  Brent 
Bishop  Kenrick  had  invited  to  St.  Louis.  They  were  kindly  received  by  the  Sisters 
of  Charity  in  their  Hospital.  Within  a  fortnight  they  were  established  in  a  rented 
house  on  Sixth  street. 


858  History  of  the  Archdiocese  of  St.  Louis 

in  a  flatboat,  conveyed  a  number  of  the  Sisters  to  his  own  dwelling  on 
the  bluffs,  east  of  the  river.  For  those  that  remained  in  the  Convent 
Father  Saint  Cyr,  their  chaplain,  said  mass  in  the  chapel.  Then  the 
work  of  packing  up  began.  The  brick  floor  of  the  kitchen  sank  whenever 
they  stepped  on  it :  one  part  of  the  refectory  was  already  submerged. 
Carrying  all  their  belongings  to  the  second  floor,  all  the  Sisters  left 
the  doomed  Convent  and  were  rowed  to  the  bluffs.  Here  in  Mr.  Men- 
ard's mansion  the  homeless  Sisters  and  their  pupils  were  crowded  to- 
gether, awaiting  the  arrival  of  help.     And  help  eventually  came.11 

Bishop  Kenrick  was  on  his  way  to  Kaskaskia  in  company  with  the 
newly  consecrated  Bishop  of  Chicago,  William  Quarter.  Father  John 
Timon  and  Father  de  Saint  Pelais,  both  of  whom  were  destined  to  be- 
come bishops,  were  also  with  him.  They  had  no  knowledge  as  yet  of 
what  had  happened  at  Kaskaskia.  But  on  drawing  nearer  they  found 
a  foaming  sea  as  far  as  the  eye  could  carry,  and  in  it,  like  tiny  islands, 
lay  the  roofs  of  the  homes  of  what  had  been  Kaskaskia.  Father  Heim 
had  gone  in  quest  of  a  boat,  to  carry  the  Sisters  to  St.  Louis.  But  no 
Captain  was  willing  to  turn  his  boat  into  the  Kaskaskia  River.  Father 
Timon  had  better  success.  He  hailed  a  steamer  coming  up  from  the 
South  and  induced  him  to  undertake  the  dangerous  work.  On  "Wednes- 
day morning,  June  26th,  1844,  the  steamer  arrived  at  the  Menard  Man- 
sion on  the  Kaskaskia  River.  All  the  party,  Bishop,  priests,  sisters  and 
pupils  got  on  board,  and  the  steamer  nosed  its  way  between  roofs  of 
houses  and  SAvaying  tree  tops  to  the  deserted  convent.  Taking  on  board 
whatever  could  be  taken  pianos,  harps,  stoves,  desks,  benches  and  bed- 
ding, and  by  one  o'clock  on  Wednesday  the  Sisters,  bidding  adieu  to 
their  Convent  and  to  Kaskaskia,  started  for  St.  Louis,  where 
they  arrived  the  next  morning  at  dawn.12  They  were  taken  to  the 
house  on  Sixth  Street  where  Sister  Agnes  Brent  had  opened  the  Acad- 
emy for  Young  Ladies.  This  house  was  too  small  for  the  enlarged 
community,  but  the  great  benefactor  of  the  Church  Mrs.  Biddle  of- 
fered the  newcomers  her  own  house  on  Fifth  Street  for  a  Convent 
and  school,  reserving  for  herself  only  one  room  of  the  capacious  build- 
ing. The  superior  of  the  Broadway  Convent  was  Sister  Isabella  King, 
whilst  Sister  Agnes  Brent  remained  in  charge  of  the  convent  on  Sixth 
Street.  In  July  1846  the  two  communities  of  the  Visitandines  were 
reunited  under  Mother  Agnes  as  Superior,  taking  possession  of  the 
place  on  Ninth  Street  offered  them  by  the  Archbishop. 


ii  Cf.  Troesch,  Helen,  "The  First  Convent  in  Illinois,"  in  "Illinois  Catholic 
Historical  Keview, "  vol.  I,  p.  368.  The  account  was  written  by  an  eyewitness, 
Sister  M.  Josephine  Barber. 

12  Shipman,  Paul  E.,  "Establishment  of  the  Visitation  in  the  West,"  "Amer- 
ican Catholic  Quarterly, ' '  January,  1886. 


Loss  of  Territory  But  Gain  of  Souls  859 

Thus  Bishop  Quarter  of  Chicago  was  deprived  by  a  sudden  stroke 
of  adverse  fortune  of  the  first  Sisterhood  ever  established  in  the  soil 
of  Illinois.  But  this  was  not  his  only  loss.  The  raging  flood  that  forced 
the  Visitandines  to  leave  Kaskaskia,  in  like  manner  forced  the  Sisters 
of  St.  Joseph  to  leave  their  lonely  convent  in  Cahokia.  Mother  Febronic 
Fontbonne  and  her  little  community  sought  refuge  in  the  second  story 
of  the  convent.  In  the  meantime  the  Mayor  of  St.  Louis,  Bernard  Pratte, 
sent  a  number  of  boats  to  the  rescue.  The  entire  community  were 
brought  to  Carondelet;  all  had  suffered  greatly  from  exposure.  Though 
the  waters  gradually  subsided,  health  condition  in  Cahokia  remained 
unfavorable  to  their  return.  Father  Regis  Loisel,  the  pastor  of  Ca- 
hokia, visited  it,  and  paid  for  his  over-confidence  by  a  lingering  disease 
that  ended  his  life  on  May  10th,  1845. 

What  was  Bishop  Quarter's  loss  was  Bishop  Kenrick's  gain.  The 
Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  of  Carondelet,  thus  increased  in  membership, 
assumed  charge  of  three  institutions  in  St.  Louis.  Two  of  these,  St. 
Joseph's  Orphan  Asylum  and  St.  Vincent's  Parochial  School,  were  per- 
manent; the  third  was  short-lived,  yet  produced  some  excellent  results. 
It  was  the  School  for  Catholic  Colored  girls  established  by  Father  Au- 
gustin  Paris  on  Third  and  Poplar  Sts.  (Feb.  5th,  1845)  children  of 
Free  Negroes  were  the  pupils,  the  slave-children  were  instructed  in 
religion  after  school  hours  and  on  Sundays.  Bishop  Kenrick  took 
great  interest  in  the  school.  But  owing  to  a  strong  prejudice  of  the 
slave-holding  population  who  feared  serious  consequences  from  an  edu- 
cated Negro  element,  the  school  had  to  be  discontinued.13  The  only 
Sisterhood  established  in  the  state  of  Arkansas  as  a  part  of  the  diocese 
of  St.  Louis  was  that  of  the  Lorettines.  The  Sisters  were  invited  to 
St.  Mary's  near  Pine  Bluff  where,  in  1838,  a  small  strip  of  land  with 
a  few  log  and  frame  buildings  were  given  them.  The  Superior  was 
Sister  Agnes  Hart.  St.  Joseph's,  Little  Rock  was  established  from  this 
house  in  1841,  with  Sister  Alodia  Vessels  as  Superior.  In  August  1842, 
the  Sisters  of  St.  Mary's  were  removed  to  St.  Ambrose,  Post  Arkansas, 
and  recalled  to  Loretto  in  1845. 14 


13  Savage,  Sr.  Lucida,  "The  Congregation  of   St.  Joseph  of  Carondelet,"   pp. 
62    &    63. 

14  Maes,  "Life  of  Eev.  Charles  Nerinckx,"  p.  573. 


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